Approval of exploration programmes for Greenland

RNS Number : 5194K

Bluejay Mining PLC

10 July 2017

 

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10 July 2017

Bluejay Mining plc / EPIC: JAY / Market: AIM / Sector: Mining

Bluejay Mining plc ('Bluejay' or the 'Company')

Approval of exploration programmes for Greenland projects

Bluejay Mining plc, the AIM and FSE listed company with projects in Greenland and Finland, is pleased to announce that its 2017 exploration programmes at its Pituffik Titanium Project ('Pituffik') and Disko-Nuussuaq Magmatic Massive Sulphide Nickel-Copper-Platinum Project ('Disko') in Greenland have been approved by the Mineral Licence and Safety Authority ('MLSA') in Greenland.

Overview

·    All work programmes for Pituffik and Disko approved by Greenland Government MLSA with work to commence imminently.

·    Key deliverables:

o Drilling designed to expand and upgrade the current resource of 23.6Mt at 8.8% ilmenite (see Figure 1).

o Bulk sampling designed for progressing offtake discussions.

o Geotechnical drilling and mapping designed to underpin localised civil construction requirements.

o Fjord scale bathymetric survey managed by Geological Survey of Denmark ('GEUS') designed to map the regional seafloor to facilitate future transport logistics.

o Advance exploitation permitting as well as continued intensive stakeholder engagement.

·    An independent peer comparison / benchmarking exercise confirms Pituffik as the highest-grade mineral sand ilmenite project globally. Bluejay to focus on the size characteristic of the project as key objective for 2017.

·    High-power ground based electromagnetic ('EM') survey to be completed at Disko. The Company continues to evaluate options for best path to value creation for its portfolio, including Disko.

·    EM survey sequenced to optimise cost and targeted for Q4 2017 completion.

Bluejay CEO Roderick McIllree said, "The 2017 work programme has begun. Development plans have been on the drawing board since the completion of our 2016 season and the finalised work programme is streamlined to deliver maximum result for cost. This will be a value add second half, as we demonstrate the true scale of this very unique project. Having proven that Pituffik is the highest-grade ilmenite project globally, we will now demonstrate the size characteristic and its ultimate commercial value.

"I would like to commend the team for their tireless preparation in getting us to this point, particularly as they have identified a strategic opportunity to undertake work at Disko for virtually no additional cost.  We are prepared and ready for a very exciting work season."

Ilmenite Project Benchmarking

Pituffik has been independently proven to be the highest-grade mineral sand ilmenite project globally. The objective for 2017 amongst many things is demonstrating the potential volume of the ilmenite rich sediments.

 Figure 1: Benchmarking of global ilmenite mineral sands projects - see PDF

Pituffik Titanium Project

Bluejay through its 100% owned Greenlandic domiciled subsidiary, Dundas Titanium A/S ('Dundas'), intends to complete three primary work programmes at Pituffik during its 2017 field season. These programmes are:

·    Expand and upgrade resources utilising both auger and sonic drilling

Pituffik has an Inferred resource of 23.6Mt at 8.8% ilmenite (in situ), including a high-grade zone of 7.9Mt at 14.2% ilmenite, both of which sit within an SRK Exploration Target of between 90Mt and 130Mt with an in-situ grade of between 6.3% and 8.4% ilmenite. Crucially, this resource and exploration target represents only 17% of the raised beach environment within the Moriusaq target area.  The raised beach environment is one of three types of domains within the licence area, with the other two being the active and drowned beach environments, and Moriusaq is one of two primary target areas, with the other being Interlak.

Drilling with both sonic and auger drill rigs will concentrate on increasing the total mineral inventory, demonstrating the project's global significance and ultimately building Pituffik's value potential.  Work will particularly focus on the Iterlak region, where some of the highest grades were encountered in 2016. Drilling is scheduled to commence in July 2017, and will continue until September 2017.

Figure 2: Drill hole locations for refining the global resource at Pituffik - see PDF

·    Proof-of-concept bulk sampling programme and production of geotechnical information for civil construction ahead of the potential construction of supporting infrastructure at Moriusaq in early 2018

Bluejay intends to undertake a bulk sample programme in July 2017, which will include the dredging of material from the active, raised and drowned beach environments in order to prove Bluejay's ability to deliver product based on its current production model. Target groups for the bulk sample and off-takers have been identified and the mechanics of delivery and other technical support are in place. Evaluation of ground conditions for civil construction will also occur during the programme to enable the best construction methods for the infrastructure required at Pituffik. The majority of the bulk sample will be shipped from site in early August 2017.

·    Bathymetric survey of a shipping channel to allow a bulk carrier to access Moriusaq

Side-scan sonar coupled with bathymetry surveying to identify shipping and transport logistics in and out of Moriusaq. Conducted by the GEUS, the survey is expected to take several weeks.

Disko-Nuussuaq Magmatic Massive Sulphide Nickel-Copper-Platinum Project

In addition to the Pituffik work programme approvals, the MLSA has also approved Bluejay's work programme at the Disko-Nuussuaq Magmatic Massive Sulphide ('MMS') Nickel-Copper-Platinum-Cobalt Project. The Disko-Nuussuaq work program will take place in Q4 2017.

Disko is a flood basalt magmatic massive sulphide polymetallic occurrence of copper, nickel, platinum & cobalt group elements ('PGE').  A 28 tonne boulder of MMS (assayed 7% nickel, 3% copper and 2ppm PGE) was found on Disko with all work to date pointing towards a direct analogy with Norilsk Nickel's Norilsk-Talnakh project in northern Russia ('Norilsk'), which recognised as the largest nickel-copper PGE and cobalt deposit in the world. Disko has been the subject of exploration work for more than three decades, with >US$50m invested in historical work by previous owners.  Following a thorough review of this data, Bluejay has formulated a development programme and accordingly intends to undertake a ground based electromagnetic survey ('EM') on the southern portion of the licence area.  This will focus on three primary target areas - Jose, Placido and Luciano.

Three ground based deep penetration EM surveys will be conducted with the aim of detecting strong bedrock conductors that might be associated with Norilsk-style (Ni-Cu-Pd bearing) sulphide mineralisation. Southern Geoscience Consultants has completed a full data compilation review and reprocess and has designed and will execute the next phase of work programmes designed to identify optimal drill hole locations during 2018. This programme will be conducted utilising equipment once it has been demobilised from Pituffik, which represents a huge cost saving in comparison to a standalone survey.

Figure 3: Field activities at Disko - see PDF

Figure 4: The three largest of the MMS targets at Disko - see PDF

Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) Disclosure

Certain information contained in this announcement would have been deemed inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 until the release of this announcement.

**ENDS**

For further information please visit http://www.titanium.gl or contact:

Roderick McIllree	Bluejay Mining plc	[phone]
Ewan Leggat	SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP	[phone]
Soltan Tagiev	SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP	[phone]
Charlotte Page	St Brides Partners Ltd	[phone]
Megan Dennison	St Brides Partners Ltd	[phone]

Notes

Bluejay has a number of highly prospective licences at various stages of development in Greenland and Finland.  The Company is dual listed on the London AIM market and Frankfurt Stock Exchange.

The Company is currently focussed on advancing the Pituffik project in Greenland, an area that has only recently revealed its mineral potential following changes in the climate.   Pituffik, which with an initial Inferred JORC resource of 23.6Mt at 8.8% ilmenite (in situ), including a high-grade zone equal to 7.9Mt at 14.2% ilmenite, and significant further upside, has been proven to be the highest-grade mineral sand ilmenite project globally.   

Pituffik comprises three main target areas along an >40km coastline historically proven to contain large and high-grade accumulations of primary ilmenite occurring as placer deposits in the following environments:

·    Raised beaches; containing ilmenite accumulations over widths of more than 1km, of unknown depths, along more than 30km of coastline;

·    Active beaches; which refer to the area seaward of the frontal dunes, including the beach, tidal zones and surf zone; and

·    Drowned beaches; refers to the areas seaward of active beaches.
 

The Company's strategy is focused on delivering a bulk sample for marketing and sales engagement "proof of concept" from the Pituffik Project in 2017 with the aim of ultimately generating cash flow to create a company capable of self-funding exploration on current projects and future acquisitions.

Bluejay also holds a 100% interest in a portfolio of copper, zinc and nickel projects in Finland.  This multi-commodity portfolio remains a strategic asset of importance and has been restructured to be cost-sustainable whilst determining the best plan for future development.

Pituffik Mineral Resource Estimate

The Pituffik mineral resource estimate has been prepared by SRK Exploration Services ('SRK') and is broken down into three components:

·    An Inferred resource of 23.6Mt at 8.8% ilmenite (in situ) for the total area tested

·    This includes a high-grade zone equal to 7.9Mt at 14.2% ilmenite (in situ) at Moriusaq which is the focus of the feasibility and production studies that are currently underway

·    A larger exploration target for the area, primarily encompassing potential mineralisation below and inland from the current drilling, of between 90Mt to 130Mt at an in-situ grade of between 6.3% and 8.4% ilmenite

SRK has produced a Mineral Resource Estimate for the Moriusaq onshore raised beaches target that forms part of Bluejay's exploration licence in Northwest Greenland (licence number 2015/08). This is the maiden Mineral Resource Estimate produced for the licence. The Mineral Resource Estimate report prepared by SRK will be made available during Q2 2017.

The Mineral Resource Estimate is based on all valid data available as at 1 March 2017.  A volume of the raised beaches has been modelled which encompasses the drilled portion of these areas with a maximum depth limit set at 3 metres below ground level.  The model covers a surface area of approximately 5km by up to 0.9km. The model was incorporated into a three-dimensional block model and the in situ titanium dioxide ('TiO2') grade and percent recoverable heavy mineral content were interpolated using an inverse distance weighted ('IDW') algorithm.

SRK considers that all the delineated mineralisation has reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction and the Mineral Resource Statement has been reported at a 0% cut-off grade using the terminology and guidelines set out in the JORC 2012 Code.

Table 1:                                      JORC Mineral Resource Statement for Moriusaq Onshore Target, April 2017

Classification	Volume (M.m3)	Tonnage (M.t)	Density (t/m3)	% THM	% >2mm	% >5mm	% <63µm	% TiO2  In HM	% TiO2   In-situ	% Ilmenite In-situ
Inferred	11.2	23.6	2.12	34.5	29.0	21.8	2.5	12.0	4.2	8.8

(1)   The effective date of the Mineral Resource is April 6th, 2017

(2)   The numbers are presented at a 0% cut-off grade

(3)   "THM" and "HM" mean Total Heavy Minerals and Heavy Minerals respectively

(4)   HM have been separated from a -2 mm +63 µm size fraction using heavy liquid separation at a density of 2.95 g/cm³

(5)   Preliminary mineralogical assessments suggest that the HM typically comprises 26.76% ilmenite and that there are no other valuable HM present. Additional mineralogical data is expected during April 2017

(6)   % TiO₂ in-situ assumes that all recoverable TiO₂ is in the HM component of the -2 mm +63 µm size fraction

(7)   % Ilmenite In-situ assumes that all TiO₂ is within ilmenite and that the ilmenite contains 47.65% TiO₂, based on historical exploration data

SRK has also produced a Mineral Resource Statement has been reported at a 5% in-situ TiO₂ cut-off grade using the terminology and guidelines set out in the JORC 2012 Code.

Table 2:             JORC Mineral Resource Statement for Moriusaq Onshore Target, April 2017. 5% in-situ TiO₂ cut-off grade applied.

Classification	Volume (M.m3)	Tonnage (M.t)	Density (t/m3)	% THM	% >2mm	% >5mm	% <63µm	% TiO2  In HM	% TiO2   In-situ	% Ilmenite In-situ
Inferred	3.7	7.9	2.12	44.3	22.2	16.7	2.1	15.3	6.8	14.2

(1)   The effective date of the Mineral Resource is April 6th, 2017

(2)   The numbers are presented at a 5.0% in-situ TiO₂ cut-off grade

(3)   "THM" and "HM" mean Total Heavy Minerals and Heavy Minerals respectively

(4)   HM have been separated from a -2 mm +63 µm size fraction using heavy liquid separation at a density of 2.95 g/cm³

(5)   Preliminary mineralogical assessments suggest that the HM typically comprises 26.76% ilmenite and that there are no other valuable HM present. Additional mineralogical data is expected during April 2017

(6)   % TiO₂ in-situ assumes that all recoverable TiO₂ is in the HM component of the -2 mm +63 µm size fraction

(7)   % Ilmenite In-situ assumes that all TiO₂ is within ilmenite and that the ilmenite contains 47.65% TiO₂, based on historical exploration data

SRK is of the opinion that there is a high probability that a proportion of this currently reported Inferred Mineral Resource can be upgraded to the Indicated category following additional exploration. Further, SRK considers that there is a high probability that the raised beaches hosting this Mineral Resource extend both at depth and laterally along the shoreline within Bluejay's licence area. The licence area includes a 30 km length of raised beaches and deltas and Bluejay has demonstrated mineralisation in several places in addition to the area covered by the Mineral Resource presented here.

In addition to the Mineral Resource Statement, SRK has derived an Exploration Target which is planned to be tested by the Company in the next field season. The Exploration Target tonnage range reflects SRK's opinion that the mineralisation h potential to be continuous between 9m and 12m below surface (SRK's Mineral Resource estimate has been restricted to 3m) which is based on a limited amount of outcrop exposure. In summary, it comprises potential mineralisation below the depth currently drilled. The exploration grade range is based on the grade of the overlying Mineral Resource.

SRK's Exploration Target is between 90Mt and 130Mt with an in-situ TiO2 grade of between 3% and 4% (assumed to be between 6.3% and 8.4% ilmenite) and a heavy mineral content of between 30% and 34% of which between 10% and 12% will comprise TiO2 (assumed to be between 21% and 25% ilmenite). It should be noted that this is an estimated range of tonnes and grade and is conceptual in nature, that there has been insufficient exploration to estimate a Mineral Resource and that it is uncertain if further exploration will result in the estimation of a Mineral Resource.

Qualified Persons

The information in this press release that relates to Mineral Resources is based on information compiled under the direction of Dr Mike Armitage C Geol., C Eng., who is a Member of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining which is a Recognised Overseas Professional Organisation ('ROPO') included in a list promulgated by JORC from time to time.

Dr Armitage is a full-time employee of SRK Consulting (UK) Ltd and has sufficient experience which is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity which he has undertaken to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2012 Edition of the 'Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves' (the JORC Code) and for the purposes of the AIM Rules. Dr Armitage has reviewed this press release and consents to the inclusion in the press release of the matters based on his information in the form and context in which this appears.

 

END

 

 

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