Zebediela Assay Results

RNS Number : 9201H

URU Metals Limited

16 March 2018

 

URU Metals Limited

("URU Metals" or "the Company")

Assay Results

Drill results exceed Company's expectation. Recent drilling successful in obtaining further intersections of PGE-Nickel-Copper mineralisation

URU Metals is pleased to announce the assay results from the successful additional three-hole drilling programme that targeted platinum group element (PGE) nickel copper (PGE-Ni-Cu) mineralisation on the Company's Zebediela Project, located on the largest known PGE repository in the world, the Bushveld Complex, Limpopo Province, South Africa.

In addition to the three holes concluded in Q3 2017 which discovered PGE mineralisation, a further three inclined holes (Z020, Z021 and Z022) were completed in December 2017 with the aim of intersecting further PGE mineralisation and to further understand the geology and geometry of the body hosting the PGE mineralisation.

All three additional holes intersected PGE-Ni-Cu mineralisation, and the results are summarised in the table below:

Drill hole ID	Depth From	Depth To	Sample Interval	Depth Below Surface	Cu	Ni**	Ni***	3PGE + Au*
	meters	meters	meters	meters	%	%	%	g/t
Z020	55.0	65.0	10.0	43.2	0.18	0.52	0.43	2.39
Z020	174.0	176.1	2.1	137.0	0.15	0.59	0.42	2.00
Z021	194.0	198.8	4.8	176.0	0.12	0.48	0.34	2.15
Z022	38.1	41.7	3.6	28.9	0.09	0.35	0.33	0.89
Z022	95.0	95.5	0.5	70.0	0.13	0.39	0.37	6.37

* 3PGE+Au equals platinum + palladium + rhodium + gold by fire assay with ICP-MS Finish

**Total Ni assay by complete digestion, representing the Ni in both silicate and sulphide minerals

***Citric acid leach, representing mostly the Ni in sulphide minerals

The company is pleased to highlight the relatively high base metal content along with significant PGE grades in the intersections at shallow depths. Due to the high Ni values, the basket price in drill intersections for Zebediela is higher than that at Anglo American Platinum's Mogalakwena Mine, the world's largest open pit platinum mine. The basket price of the drill intersections also compares favourably with that of other major platinum projects and mine reserves on the Bushveld Complex, South Africa. The Company believe that the shallow depths of the intersections will translate into a lower mining cost.

The Bushveld Complex is the world's largest known repository of platinum group metals.

Average grade relative to other PGE-Ni-Cu producers in South Africa

Company	Project/Reef	3PGE + Au * g/t	Pt g/t	Pd g/t	Rh g/t	Au g/t	Ni %	Cu %
Anglo Platinum	Mogalakwena	2.73	1.14	1.35	0.09	0.15	0.18	0.10
PTM Waterberg Project	T-Zone	3.94	1.14	1.93	0.04	0.83	0.08	0.16
	F-Zone	3.69	1.11	2.36	0.04	0.18	0.16	0.07
Ivanplats	Flatreef	4.40	1.95	2.01	0.14	0.30	0.34	0.17
URU	Zebediela	1.67	0.55	0.96	0.10	0.05	0.55	0.14
Merensky Reef	Mine reserves	4.11	2.52	1.18	0.21	0.21	0.15	0.06
UG2 Reef	Mine reserves	4.80	2.54	1.64	0.46	0.16	0.04	0.02

Basket price comparison with other PGE-Ni-Cu producers in South Africa

Company	Project/Reef	Pt $/t	Pd $/t	Rh $/t	Au $/t	Ni $/t	Cu $/t	Basket Price  $/t
Anglo Platinum	Mogalakwena	35.52	43.58	5.01	6.39	25.05	7.01	122.55
PTM Waterberg Project	T-Zone	35.52	62.30	2.22	35.36	11.13	11.22	157.75
	F-Zone	34.58	76.18	2.22	7.67	22.26	4.91	147.83
Ivanplats	Flatreef	60.75	64.88	7.79	12.78	47.31	11.92	205.43
URU	Zebediela	17.13	30.99	5.56	2.13	76.53	9.82	142.17
Merensky Reef	Mine reserves	78.51	38.09	11.68	8.95	20.87	4.21	162.31
UG2 Reef	Mine reserves	79.13	52.94	25.59	6.82	5.57	1.40	171.44

Combined with the previous Q3 drilling results, the Company is developing an exploration strategy to define a PGE-Ni-Cu resource. This exploration programme would include induced polarization (IP) and soil geochemistry to the north and south, along strike of the targeted PGE-Ni-Cu zone, to identify zones for future drilling. It is anticipated that this would be followed up with drilling of six inclined diamond drill holes.

Metallurgical testwork to determine PGE-Ni-Cu recoveries will be conducted in due course during resource definition drilling.

John Zorbas, CEO of URU Metals, commented:

''We are extremely excited about the additional discovery of what appears to be a continuous horizon that contains PGE-Ni-Cu at potentially economic grades at an extremely shallow depth. By comparison, similar projects with a similar basket price are mining, or plan to mine, at greater depths. The team is now working on a strategy to conduct further exploration with the goal of defining a mineral resource. The aim of the program is to prove a shallow Ni-PGE resource with high base metal credits that, due to the width and depth, sits in the lowest quartile of the cost curve of PGE producers and highest equivalent PGE quartile, thanks to the high base metal credits. Our project was initially based only on nickel, but this discovery means that the Zebediela Project can potentially generate a significant revenue stream from the PGE credits."

A complete summary of drill results from the recently completed drill programme targeting PGE-Ni-Cu mineralisation at Zebediela

Drill hole ID	Depth From	Depth To	Sample Interval	Depth Below Surface	Cu	Ni**	Ni***	3PGE + Au*
	meters	meters	meters	meters	%	%	%	g/t
Z019	133.0	142.0	9.0	78.92	0.15	0.43	0.34	1.97
Z019	169.0	170.8	1.8	100.28	0.10	0.44	0.34	1.60
Z020	55.0	65.0	10.0	43.2	0.18	0.51	0.43	2.39
Z020	174.0	176.1	2.1	137.0	0.15	0.59	0.42	2.00
Z021	194.0	199.0	5.0	176.0	0.12	0.48	0.34	2.15
Z022	38.1	41.7	3.6	28.9	0.08	0.35	0.33	0.89
Z022	95.0	95.5	0.5	70.0	0.13	0.39	0.37	6.37

Competent Person Statement

The information in this release has been compiled and reviewed by Richard Montjoie, the Exploration Manager for the Zebediela Project. Mr. Montjoie holds a B.Sc. Honours in Geology from the University of Witwatersrand, South Africa, and is fellow of the Geological Society of South Africa (GSSA), a member of the Society of Economic Geologists, and a registered member of the South African Council for Natural Scientific Professions (SACNASP).  He has over 15 years' experience in mineral project development globally. Richard has been involved in several exploration programs in South Africa and Northern Canada, including various Ni-PGE, diamond, coal, coal bed methane and gold exploration and mining projects. Richard provides sound geoscientific input in development planning to ensure effective data acquisition, management and project execution.  Richard successfully acted as Project Manager for a 39 million ounce platinum feasibility study, advancing the project from exploration stage to a completed bankable feasibility study with proven and probable reserves, on time and under budget, managing all aspects of the programme, from exploration programme design to various licencing applications. Mr. Montjoie is a Qualified Person for the purposes of the AIM Note for Mining and Oil & Gas Companies.

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.

For further information, please contact:

URU Metals Limited John Zorbas (Chief Executive Officer)	[phone]
SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP (Nominated Adviser and Broker) Ewan Leggat & Charlie Bouverat	+ 44 (0) 203 470 05470
SVS Securities Plc (Joint Broker) Tom Curran	[phone]

 

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