Operational Update: Tete Global Inventory Exceeds 720 Million Tonnes
London, Feb 22, 2013 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Baobab Resources Plc (
LON:BAO) the iron ore, base and precious metals explorer with a portfolio of exploration projects in Mozambique, is pleased to present the results of the resource re-estimation and up-grade at the Tenge/Ruoni prospect at its 85% owned Tete pig iron, vanadium and titanium project (the "Tete Project") in which International Finance Corporation ('IFC') hold a 15% participatory interest.
Commenting today, Ben James, Baobab's Managing Director, said: 'The Company is very pleased to announce the expansion of the global resource inventory to 725Mt. The Tenge/Ruoni prospect's compact 2.5 square kilometre footprint now hosts over half a billion tonnes of iron ore grading 36.4% Fe, sufficient to underpin a large scale, vertically integrated pig iron operation over a significant life of mine. Of particular encouragement is the high conversion rate of 85% from inferred to indicated mineral resources on the Ruoni North resource and the plus 70Mt defined so far at Tenge.'
TENGE/RUONI RESOURCE STATEMENT
Tenge/Ruoni is the easternmost prospect area of the Massamba Group, Tete Project. Mineralisation in the area has been synformally folded with the fold hinge plunging gently to the west-northwest. The northern and southern limbs of the fold comprise the Ruoni North and Ruoni South resource blocks, while the outcropping fold hinge comprises the Tenge resource block to the east. The buried central portion of the fold comprises the Ruoni Flats resource block.
Internationally respected consultant, Coffey Mining Limited ('Coffey'), has revised the resource estimates for the Tenge/Ruoni resource blocks based on the infill drilling programmes completed at Ruoni North and portions of the Tenge block during 2012. An additional 59Mt was classified in the inferred resource category across the prospect. In addition, a total of 152.3Mt was up-graded to an indicated resource category: 79.8Mt of the original 93.4Mt Ruoni North resource was upgraded, representing an 85% conversion, and 72.6Mt was upgraded to an Indicated Resource category at the Tenge resource block with an additional seven drill holes still to be analysed. Infill drilling during 2012 was also completed at the Ruoni South resource block, however results are still to be returned from the laboratory.
Coffey's estimates of inferred and indicated mineral resources, including the South Zone estimate (announced on 30 August 2011) and Chitongue Grande (announced on 31 October 2011) are summarised below. All estimates have been compiled in accordance with the Joint Ore Reserves Committee (JORC) Code guidelines. Notes on the estimation parameters are presented as Annexure 1.
Coffey Mining has estimated the expected average concentrate characteristics for the mineralised material for the combined Tenge/Ruoni resource as: 59.7% Fe, 0.8% V2O5, 10.5% TiO2, 0.9% SiO2, 3.2% Al2O3, 0.001% P and 0.2% S at a Mass Recovery of 42.9%. A detailed summary of the expected concentrate grades of the individual ore domains is tabulated in Annexure 1.
Where no lower cut-off grade has been applied, the resource blocks have been constrained by geologically defined mineralised zones and therefore reported accordingly; it is currently assumed that mining selectivity is limited within the mineralised zones. A three-dimensional block model was generated for the Tenge deposit to enable grade estimation. Coffey Mining has based its grade interpolation on Ordinary Kriging. Whole rock and concentrate grades were interpolated based on 4m composite samples using domain control for both composite and block selections applying hard boundaries between the zones. A service variable approach to the estimation of block concentrate grades required to account for the variation in percent recovery weight. The concentrate grades (Fe, V2O5, TiO2, SiO2, Al2O3, P, LOI, CaO, K2O, MgO, Mn, and S) were then back calculated from these estimates. Ordinary Kriging was also used to obtain estimates of DTR and service variables for Ruoni South. For the concentrate grades of all other resource blocks, a similar approach was adopted. However, insufficient DTR test work resulted in a lower confidence in the estimate, precluding their classification.
The Company owns 85% of the Tete Project after IFC acquired a 15% participatory interest in the project by way of an unincorporated joint venture in 2009. Please refer to RNS dated 17 January 2009 for further details of the joint venture.
View the complete Baobab Resources announcement at the link below:
http://www.abnnewswire.net/lnk/PMOT28D0
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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