Zulu Lithium Drilling Update

RNS Number : 2724U

Premier African Minerals Limited

23 October 2017

 

Premier African Minerals Limited / Ticker: PREM / Index: AIM / Sector: Mining

23 October 2017

Premier African Minerals Limited

("Premier" or the "Company")

Premier intersects several high-grade multi-metre intervals in the Main Zone to the north and confirm the high-grade and tonnage potential of the New Zone

Premier African Minerals Limited (AIM: PREM), the London listed mining and exploration company, is pleased to announce further assay results from the current drilling programme underway at the Company's Zulu Lithium and Tantalum Project ("Zulu"). These results confirm high-grade continuity in the Main Zone as well as the high-grade and tonnage potential of the New Zone.

The objective of the current drilling programme is to expand and upgrade the resources in the Main Zone and develop the New Zone which lies to the south-east of the Main Zone. The New Zone has the potential to exceed the projected exploration target already established in the Main Zone. The Company previously declared a Maiden Inferred Mineral Resource Estimate at Zulu of 20.1 million tonnes grading 1.06% Li₂O including 7 million tonnes grading 1.5% Li₂O, and an exploration target of 60-80 million tonnes (See RNS 6 June 2017).

Highlights:

·     21 diamond drill holes completed, equivalent to 3,316.18m

·     Hole ZDD-23, drilled in the north of the Main Zone contains multiple high-grade intersections that include:

o  3.57m at 1.61% Li₂0 from 67.46m including:

§ 0.57m at 2.93% Li₂0 and 0.60m at 2.15% Li₂0

o  5.27m at 1.45% Li₂0 from 111.95m including:

§ 0.95m at 2.37% Li₂0 and 0.97m at 2.33% Li₂0

o  3.23m at 1.08% Li₂0 from 121.60m

·     Hole ZDD-21, drilled in the north of the Main Zone contains multiple intersections, including:

o  4.44m at 0.84% Li₂0 from 42.26m including:

§ 1.17m at 1.62% Li₂0

·     Hole ZDD-37, drilled in the New Zone, 220m south-east of the Main Zone contains multiple intersections, including:

o  6.22m at 0.98% Li₂0 from 26.36m

o  2.47m at 1.13% Li₂0 from 38.70m

o  7.41m at 0.96% Li₂0 from 46.68m

·     Assay results are still pending from a significant number of holes from the current drilling programme.

Further results will be reported when they become available.

George Roach, Premier's CEO, commented: "These initial assay results confirm the high-grade and tonnage potential of both the Main Zone as well as the recently discovered New Zone. Results from ZDD-21 and ZDD-23 are expected to add significantly to both confidence and grade in the maiden resource declared on 6 June 2017. We continue to encounter multiple wide drilling intersections of visible spodumene and petalite in both zones.  The Main Zone remains open on strike and at depth and the New Zone is open in all directions. We are increasingly confident that further assay results from the current drilling programme will support our view that the Zulu project is set to become a very significant and sizeable lithium deposit." 

Drilling at Zulu:

The Company has now completed a further 21 drill holes, equivalent to 3,16.18m since completion of the initial 2,500m drilling programme that resulted in the Maiden Inferred Mineral Resource Estimate at Zulu of 20.1 million tonnes grading 1.06% Li₂O (as announced on 6 June 2017). The current drilling programme is focussed on expanding as well as upgrading the resources in the Main Zone, and, to delineate further the Li mineralisation in the new south-eastern zone.

Lithium Results

The table below sets out the results for only a small number of holes from the current drilling programme. Samples from other drill holes have been prepared at the Company's sample preparation facilities and have been submitted to SGS South African, a leading minerals laboratory. The Company is expecting more assays from the drilling programme over the course of the next month.  

Table 1. Recent Drill Results.

Drill hole	Azimuth	Dip	Total length (m)	From (m)	To (m)	Interval length (m)*	Li2O (%)
ZDD-21	N323	-60	120.48	42.26	46.70	4.44	0.84
			including	45.53	46.70	1.17	1.62
ZDD-23	N330	-60	140.00	67.46	71.03	3.57	1.61
			including	70.46	71.03	0.57	2.93
			including	68.00	68.60	0.60	2.15
ZDD-23				111.95	117.22	5.27	1.45
			including	115.73	116.32	0.95	2.37
			including	114.40	115.37	0.97	2.33
ZDD-23				121.60	124.83	3.23	1.08
			including	121.60	122.83	1.23	1.29
ZDD-37	N217	-60	140.28	26.36	32.58	6.22	0.98
			including	26.36	28.17	1.81	1.44
ZDD-37				38.70	40.14	2.47	1.13
			including	38.70	40.14	1.18	1.53
ZDD-37				46.68	54.64	7.41	0.96
			including	46.68	47.88	1.20	1.47
ZDD-37				76.00	79.40	3.40	0.79
			including	77.00	78.00	1.00	1.54

*) Drilled widths

Figure 1: Location map showing Main Zone and New Zone. To view the graphic, please open the link here:  http://bit.ly/2zDZHSK

About Zulu:

The Zulu Lithium Project comprises 14 mineral claims covering a surface area of 3.5 km² which are prospective for tantalum and lithium mineralisation. The project is located 80 km as the crow flies east of Bulawayo. Fort Rixon is some 15 km further to the west of the project; the nearest village is Pioneer village n°2, some 1 km to the south. To date, three principal lithium bearing minerals, spodumene, petalite and lepidolite are known from the Zulu pegmatites.  Locally the host rocks of the pegmatites contain also noteworthy amounts of holmquistite, a lithium bearing amphibole. The Company declared a Maiden Inferred Mineral Resource Estimate of 20.1 million tonnes grading 1.06% Li₂0 using a cut-off grade of 0.5% LI₂0. The exploration target for the Zulu is Main Zone is believed to be between 120 - 160 million tonnes. Metallurgical testwork carried out by Dorfner Anzaplan achieved commercial grade lithium concentrate from both the spodumene and petalite mineralisation.      

Qualified Person:

Wolfgang Hampel, Senior Geologist with Premier African Minerals Limited, has reviewed and approved this release to the extent that reference is made to the Zulu Lithium Project. Mr Hampel has 26 years' experience in the African, American, European and Asian exploration and mining industry and holds a Diploma in Economic Geology (Dipl.-Geol.) from the Technical University of Munich. He is a registered European Geologist (EurGeol). n° 1261 with the European Federation of Geologists.

Enquiries:

Fuad Sillem	Premier African Minerals Limited	Tel: [phone]
Michael Cornish / Roland Cornish	Beaumont Cornish Limited (Nominated Adviser)	Tel: [phone]
Jerry Keen/Edward Mansfield	Shore Capital Stockbrokers Limited	Tel: [phone]
Jon Belliss	Beaufort Securities Limited	Tel: [phone]
Charles Goodwin/Harriet Jackson	Yellow Jersey	Tel: [phone]

Notes to Editors:

Premier African Minerals Limited (AIM: PREM) is a multi-commodity mining and natural resource development company focused in Southern and Western Africa with production started at its flagship RHA project in Zimbabwe.

The Company has a diverse portfolio of projects, which include tungsten, rare earth elements, gold, lithium and tantalum in Zimbabwe and Benin, encompassing brownfield projects with near-term production potential to grass-roots exploration. In addition, the Company holds 5,010,333 shares in Circum Minerals Limited ("Circum"), the owners of the Danakil Potash Project in Ethiopia, which has the potential to be a world class asset. At present those shares are valued at US$10.2 million based on the latest price at which Circum has accepted subscriptions. Premier also has an interest in Casa Mining Limited, a privately-owned exploration company that has a 71.25% interest in the 1.5 million ounce inferred resource Akyanga gold deposit in the DRC.

Forward Looking Statements:

Certain statements in this announcement are, or may be deemed to be forward looking statements. Forward looking statements are identified by their use of terms and phrases such as ''believe'', ''could'', "should", ''envisage'', ''estimate'', ''intend'', ''may'', ''plan'', ''will'' or the negative of those variations or comparable expressions including references to assumptions. These forward-looking statements are not based on historical facts but rather on the Directors' current expectations and assumptions regarding the Company's future growth results of operations performance future capital and other expenditures (including the amount. nature and sources of funding thereof) competitive advantages business prospects and opportunities. Such forward looking statements reflect the Directors' current beliefs and assumptions and are based on information currently available to the Directors.  A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements including risks associated with vulnerability to general economic and business conditions competition environmental and other regulatory changes actions by governmental authorities the availability of capital markets reliance on key personnel uninsured and underinsured losses and other factors many of which are beyond the control of the Company. Although any forward-looking statements contained in this announcement are based upon what the Directors believe to be reasonable assumptions. The Company cannot assure investors that actual results will be consistent with such forward looking statements.

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of EU Regulation 596/2014.

Glossary of Technical Terms:

"assay"	The laboratory test conducted to determine the proportion of a mineral within a rock or other material. For copper, usually reported as percentage which is equivalent to percentage of the mineral (i.e. copper) per tonne of rock.
"azimuth"	the "compass direction" refers to a geographic bearing or azimuth as measured by a magnetic compass, in true or magnetic north.
"dip"	A line directed down the steepest axis of a planar structure including a planar ore body or zone of mineralisation. The dip has a measurable direction and inclination from horizontal.
"Mineral Resource"	A "Mineral Resource" is a concentration or occurrence of diamonds, natural solid inorganic material, or natural solid fossilised organic material including base and precious metals, coal, and industrial minerals in or on the Earth's crust in such form and quantity and of such a grade or quality that it has reasonable prospects for economic extraction. The location, quantity, grade, geological characteristics and continuity of a Mineral Resource are known, estimated or interpreted from specific geological evidence and knowledge.
"Li2O"	means lithium oxide
"lepidolite"	is the mineral name for lithium bearing mica KLi2Al(Si4O10)(F,OH)2 an important ore of lithium.
"pegmatite"	is an exceptionally coarse-grained igneous rock, with interlocking crystals, usually found as irregular dikes, lenses, or veins, esp. at the margins of granitic intrusions.
"petalite"	is the mineral name for lithium aluminium silicate LiAl(Si4O10) an important ore of lithium.
"spodumene"	is the mineral name for lithium aluminium silicate LiAlSi2O6 an important ore of lithium.

ENDS

 

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