Cameroon - Significant Exploration Results

RNS Number : 1681J

Power Metal Resources PLC

15 August 2019

 

15 August 2019

Power Metal Resources plc ("POW" or the "Company")

Cameroon Project - Significant Exploration Results  

Power Metal Resources plc (LON:POW) the AIM listed African focused metal exploration and development company is pleased to announce positive preliminary findings from the pitting, mapping and sampling programme at its 100% owned Cobalt-Nickel project (the "Project") in Cameroon.

Exploration Background:

In 2018 the Company acquired license interests in south-eastern Cameroon including 4 licenses adjacent or near to the Nkamouna cobalt-nickel deposit of Geovic Mining Corporation ("Geovic"). Nkamouna is believed to be the largest defined cobalt Resource outside the Democratic Republic of the Congo and is exceptional among laterites for its high cobalt to nickel ratio.

Geovic identified and holds 7 lateritic plateaus in its 1,250 sq km permit area, of which Nkamouna and Mada have been explored, and the 4km by 2km Nkamouna deposit is the most defined.

The Company holds nearly 2,000 sq km containing a number of potentially similar plateaus. A short-notice programme was undertaken in June and July 2019 to dig 6 pits through the hypothesised lateritic profile and 65 samples were taken for X-ray Fluorescence ("XRF") testing.

The principle purpose of this work was to test the hypothesis that the POW licenses bear geological similarity to that found at the Nkamouna deposit adjacent or near to POW licenses.

Highlights:

·    POW's Cameroon project, in the key respects, has been confirmed as having similar geology as that found at Nkamouna; 

·    XRF testing of samples has identified anomalous cobalt across all pits with samples grading up to 1m at 0.23% cobalt which is in line with Nkamouna grades;

·    XRF testing also identified precious metals in samples, which was unexpected as Geovic had not referred to them in their results at Nkamouna, however technical review has confirmed that the presence of precious metals may not be anomalous given the nature of the geological system encountered;

·    POW is continuing its technical review of the results and will be submitting samples for full laboratory assay tests to validate the results identified;

·   Further updates to follow as our work continues at what is now a highly significant project for the Company.

Paul Johnson, Executive Director of Power Metal Resources commented: "We consider this programme to have been successful in demonstrating that our project, in the key respects, has similar geology as at the large scale Nkamouna cobalt deposit, our neighbour.

This is highly significant, demonstrating the potential for a new cobalt district within which our project is positioned.

The identification of precious metals in numerous samples was initially surprising and we are taking care to fully investigate this, including assay testing, before we conclude.

The results of this exploration programme have exceeded our expectations and affirms the Company's Cameroon project as a very important strategic project for the Company."

Exploration Programme - Further Information

The four pits NGP003 to NGP006 dug across two licenses achieved target depths of between 10m and 12m and penetrated as far as the bottom, saprolitic, part of the lateritic profile;

The final two pits NGP002 and NGP001 were dug in a third license as poor weather began to affect access and working conditions and reached 9m and 5m respectively, with the lateritic profile only partially penetrated;

The sequence of lithologies and the pattern of mineralisation appears to share certain differentiating features with the adjacent Nkamouna deposits, including the presence of an occasionally thick ferricrete breccia or hardpan above the mottled limonite/ferralite, a high cobalt to nickel ratio, and the cobalt mineralisation typically occurring fairly high in the profile in lithologies containing little accompanying nickel;  

65 homogenised samples (including 6 duplicates) of 2 kg were collected at each metre of depth and submitted to the Mississauga Mining and Exploration Cameroon sarl ("MMEC") laboratory in Douala for sample preparation and preliminary X-ray fluorescence ("XRF") multi-element analysis with a XL3 Niton XRF analyser;

11 samples tested over 0.09% cobalt, with a further 2 samples over 0.08%, and these grades were encountered in every pit except the shallower NGP001; 6 of these samples were in NGP006, where over a 4 metre interval the grade was 0.2% (including 1 metre at 0.23%), which is comparable with the Nkamouna grades; 

Low nickel readings were recorded even compared with Nkamouna, which may in part reflect calibration factors for the hand-held XRF device; samples have been prepared for a multi-element laboratory analysis in South Africa next week;

High concentrations of cobalt in assay results were mainly associated with indurated/hardpan laterite profiles and were more significant in profiles with thicker lateritic cover; POW's consultants recommend concentration of future work at higher elevations where these thicker profiles are more likely to occur.

At Nkamouna the cobalt is carried in a coarse crystalline type of Asbolane mineral, which Geovic's testwork indicated could be concentrated physically by up to 3.1x prior to leaching, with a significant impact on the project economics.  Our next phase of work will need to include some mineralogical testwork as well as further pitting.

Precious metal grades were also encountered, which was unexpected in this area as Geovic had not referred to them in their results at Nkamouna, and we have asked for the raw data from the XRF testwork to check the elemental analysis.    

Note: With respect to Nkamouna Geovic published an NI 43-101 compliant Mineral Resource¹ on the Nkamouna deposit with a total Measured, Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resource of 323mt of 0.21% cobalt, 0.61% nickel and 1.26% manganese.

 ¹ Source: NI 43-101 Technical Report, Geovic Mining Corp by SRK Consulting, 02 June 2011 (viewable at Edgar Online)

Competent Person Statement

The technical and related information in this report relates to exploration results based on information from third parties and data compiled by Mr John Asafo-Akowuah who is a member of Australian Institute of Geoscientists. Mr John Asafo-Akowuah has sufficient experience in the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration. Mr John Asafo-Akowuah consents to the inclusion in this announcement of the matters based on their information in the form and context in which it appears.

The information contained within this announcement is considered to be inside information prior to its release, as defined in Article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation No.596/2014 and is disclosed in accordance with the Company's obligations under Article 17 of those Regulations.

For further information please visit https://www.powermetalresources.com/ or contact:

Power Metal Resources plc
Paul Johnson (Executive Director)	[phone]
SP Angel Corporate Finance (Nomad and Joint Broker)
Ewan Leggat	[phone]

SI Capital Limited (Joint Broker)

Nick Emerson                                                                                                                    [phone]

Notes to Editors:

Power Metal Resources plc (LON:POW) is an AIM listed African focused metals exploration and development company exploring for the key metals used in power generation, transmission, storage and utilisation. The Board and team of advisors, who have proven expertise in exploration, mining and project generation, have identified an opportunity to utilise the Company's position to become a leader in the London market for investors to gain exposure to the power metal commodity suite, particularly cobalt, lithium, copper and nickel. 

 

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