Baobab Resources plc (LON:BAO) South Zone Drill Programme Update
London, May 18, 2011 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Baobab Resources plc (
LON:BAO), the iron ore, base and precious metals explorer with a portfolio of mineral projects in Mozambique, is pleased to present an update on the exploration activities currently underway at the Tete iron/vanadium/titanium project.
Highlights:
- South Zone resource drilling programme is nearing completion with an aggregate total of c.15,000m already drilled.
- Consultants, Coffey Mining Pty Ltd, has commenced resource estimate due diligence and data review.
- Recent results received from five cross sections completed in Blocks 2, 6 and 7 include mineralised intercepts reporting best concentrate grades of:
SZRC0037 - Block 2 - three significant intercepts, totaling 84m, including:
36m @ 60.4% Fe, 0.62% V2O5 and 33.8% mass recovery from 51m
SZRC0040 - Block 2 - one significant intercept of:
148m @ 59.4% Fe, 0.62% V2O5 and 37.6% mass recovery from 52m
SZRC0050 - Block 6 - two significant intercepts, totaling 53m, including:
43m @ 58.2% Fe, 0.60% V2O5 and 22.6% mass recovery from 82m including
8m @ 62.4% Fe, 0.67% V2O5 and 35.0% mass recovery from 87m
SZRC0028 - Block 7 - two significant intercepts, totaling 87m, including:
77m @ 58.5% Fe, 0.60% V2O5 and 28.6% mass recovery from 52m
- 13 drill holes are currently undergoing analysis in Australia with an additional 14 drill holes either being processed at the Tete sample preparation facility or in transit to Australia.
- Resource and scout drilling is scheduled to commence in the Chitongue Grande Extension area and Tenge/Ruoni prospect within the next couple of weeks.
Mr Ben James, Baobab's Managing Director, said: "The results released today further demonstrate the robust nature of the South Zone prospect. The Company and its consultants are working to deliver a resource estimate for South zone as expediently as possible.
Drilling at South Zone has taken longer than anticipated due primarily to the substantial amount of step-out drilling required to close off mineralisation.
"Rigs will be mobilising shortly for the Chitongue Grande Extension area to commence resource drilling. Drilling is also scheduled to commence at Tenge/Ruoni where a substantial aeromagnetic target has been identified."
Resource Drilling Programme - South Zone Prospect (Massamba Group)
Due to the significant widths and interpreted lateral continuity of mineralisation at the South Zone, the prospect was prioritised for step-out reverse circulation (RC) drilling. The programme is systematically assessing a sequence of seven mineralised zones (Blocks 1 to 7) over a strike length of some 2km, drilling on traverses spaced 100m apart. A total of 96 RC drill holes have been completed for a combined metreage of c.15,000m.
Drilling in all Blocks has intersected stacked, 50m to 200m wide sequences of steeply dipping, heavily mineralised packages. The Blocks are generally oriented north-south and are cross cut by northeast striking dolerite dykes.
Please note that drill holes have not been drilled in sequence, consequently there are gaps in the hole numbering. Note also that hole prefixes have been updated from 'TRC' to 'SZRC'.
Internationally respected consultants, Coffey Mining Pty Ltd ('Coffey'), have been commissioned to complete a resource estimate at South Zone. Coffey completed a due diligence site visit during April and is currently reviewing data.
Forward Programme
The Company currently has three RC drill rigs on site. Upon completion of the South Zone drilling, all three rigs will be mobilised to the Chitongue Grande Extension area to complete a c.10,000m programme of resource drilling. A fourth RC rig, due on site within the next two weeks, will commence scout drilling at the Tenge/Ruoni prospect where the Company has identified a substantial aeromagnetic target (refer to announcement dated 29 March 2011).
The Company is waiting on the delivery of four diamond drill rigs which will be assigned to the Singore, Tenge/Ruoni, Monte Muande and Mundonguara projects. All rigs are expected to be on site and in production by early June.
Metallurgical test work on representative material from the Massamba Group Trend is on-going, with the first stage of analysis nearing conclusion. The Company is reviewing proposals for a second stage of test work which will include trial smelting and a high level marketing study.
Tete Project - Overview
The Tete Project, covering an area of 632km2, is located immediately north of the provincial capital of Tete and shares licence boundaries with Vale and Riversdale's mega coal projects. The project is strategically located to access abundant, low tariff hydro-electric power from existing and developing schemes on the Zambezi River. The ports of Beira and Nacala are being refurbished, as are the rail corridors through to Tete.
The project contains two areas of magnetite-ilmenite mineralisation; the Singore area to the south and the Massamba Group trend in the north. The 8km long Massamba Group trend is composed of a series of five prospects (Chitongue Grande, Pequeno, Caangua, Chimbala and South Zone) that have experienced little or no historical exploration.
The Company commenced exploration initiatives in mid 2008 and has focused its efforts to date on the Massamba Group area. The Singore area remains largely untested, but highly prospective (refer to announcement dated 28 January 2010 for results to date).
Work completed by the Company during 2009 culminated in the estimation of a 47.7mt maiden Inferred Mineral Resource over a 500m portion of the Chitongue Grande prospect and a 400mt to 700mt Exploration Target over the broader Massamba Group area. Independent scoping metallurgical studies and financial modelling indicate positive project economics in the production of high quality magnetite (iron and vanadium) and ilmenite (titanium) concentrate commodities (refer to announcements dated 24 September 2009, 29 September 2009 and 8 October 2009).
A scout drilling programme, designed to assess the Chimbala and South zone prospects of the Massamba Group trend, has been completed for an aggregate total of approximately 7,500m. The purpose of the campaign has been two-fold: to improve confidence in the Company's Exploration
Target and to clarify geological domains for continued metallurgical test-work. For detailed information on the scout drilling programme, please refer to announcements dated 1 February, 19 February, 17 May, 11 June, 15 July, 12 August, 2 September and 20 October 2010.
Baobab has entered into a strategic partnership with International Finance Corporation (IFC), the commercial arm of the World Bank, at both the corporate and project equity levels.
The information in this release that relates to Exploration Results is based on information compiled by Managing Director Ben James (BSc). Mr James is a Member of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, is a Competent Person as defined in the Australasian Code for Reporting of exploration results and Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves, and consents to the inclusion in the report of the matters based on the information in the form and context in which it appears.
For the complete Baobab announcement including tables and figures, please refer to the following link:
http://www.abnnewswire.net/media/en/docs/67522-PressRelease20110517_Tetedrilling.pdf
About Baobab Resources plc
Baobab Resources plc (LON:BAO) is a Mozambican-focused explorer with a large landholding in the central north of the country. The company's flagship project is the Tete iron ore deposit.
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