50% Mineral Resource Increase at Kun-Manie

RNS Number : 2055I

Amur Minerals Corporation

20 March 2018

 

20 March 2018

AMUR MINERALS CORPORATION

(AIM: AMC)

50% Mineral Resource Increase at Kun-Manie

Contains 1.58 M Nickel Equivalent Tonnes at 1.02 NiEq %

Amur Minerals Corporation ("Amur" or the "Company"), the nickel-copper sulphide mineral exploration and resource development company focused on the far east of Russia, is pleased to announce that RPM Global ("RPM") has updated the Mineral Resource Estimate ("MRE") for its Kun-Manie project ("Kun-Manie"), the largest undeveloped nickel sulphide project, located immediately adjacent to the three largest nickel consuming nations of China, Korea and Japan.

The MRE update includes all 2017 drill results derived at the Ikenskoe / Sobolevsky ("IKEN") and Kubuk ("KUB") deposits, resulting in the MRE expanding by 50%, the largest ever year-on-year ("y-o-y") increase. The total contained nickel equivalent ("Ni Eq") content at Kun-Manie is more than 1.58 million tonnes (2017:1.04 million Ni Eq tonnes) averaging 1.02% Ni Eq (2017: 1.03%).

Highlights:

·     The global Kun-Manie resource has been expanded by 50% and now stands at 155.1 million ore tonnes (2017: 101.3) having a nickel equivalent grade of 1.02% (2017: 1.03%) equating to a total of 1.58 million contained Ni Eq tonnes (2017: 1.04 million). 

·     Based on a 0.4% cutoff grade ("COG"), Kun-Manie now ranks third among the world's greenfield nickel sulphide deposits whilst being located immediately adjacent the three largest nickel consuming nations in the world.

·     All newly estimated resources identified by the 2017 drill programme are located within the IKEN and KUB deposits.  The 2018 global MRE (four deposits) has been increased by 538 million tonnes (55% increase) of new ore, an additional 387,000 nickel tonnes (50% increase) of new nickel, and 112,000 (54% increase) new tonnes of copper.  The total cobalt content is 23,500 tonnes with 23.5 tonnes of platinum and 26.0 tonnes of palladium also present.

·     The 2017 drill programme successfully linked the neighbouring IKEN and KUB deposits together forming the largest mineralised zone at Kun-Manie.  The updated and consolidated resource for these two deposits (89.5 million ore tonnes, 645,000 nickel tonnes and 178,000 copper tonnes) surpasses the Maly Kurumkon / Flangovy ("MKF") deposit, formerly the Company's largest deposit containing approximately 60.9 million ore tonnes, 472,000 nickel tonnes and 131,000 copper tonnes.

·     The global average grade of nickel is 0.75%, copper is 0.21%, cobalt is 0.015%, platinum is 0.16 g/t and palladium is 0.17 g/t. 

·     Using March 2018 metal prices for all commodities, the Ni Eq grade is 1.02% (2017: 1.03%) containing a total in situ metal value estimated to be in the order of US$ 21.3 billion (2017: US$ 10.4 billion).  The in ground value increase of 105% is due to the addition of 50% more metal and the increase in nickel, copper and cobalt prices during the most recent 12 months.  Metal price changes account for US$ 3.6 billion of the increase over the 2017 MRE with the remainder (US$ 7.3 billion) being attributable to the newly defined resource.

·     The Kun-Manie nickel copper sulphide deposit contains the commodities suitable for inclusion in the manufacture of batteries for Electronic Vehicles ("EV's") and large scale power storage facilities (national power grid type).  Nickel and cobalt are key components for the batteries, whilst copper will be required for electrical grid expansion that will be required to allow for battery charging.

·     During the 2018 drill season, metallurgical drill sample collection and relevant test work will continue. This will allow the Company to refine the processing flowsheet to establish the capability of generating an additional copper concentrate (potentially allowing for streaming of a copper concentrate product) and the ability to identify the requirements necessary to generate a nickel sulfate product for direct sale into the EV battery market.

·     The all-in Russian expenditures to discover a pound of nickel is US$ 0.014 (US$ 31.81 per tonne).  All-in includes all Russian operating and capital cost expenditures.

·     For every metre drilled to define resources at Kun-Manie, a total of 34,175 pounds (15.5 tonnes) of nickel is discovered.  At March 2018 metal prices, this equates to US$ 285,000 in metal value being identified per drilled metre.

·     Substantial exploration potential remains untested and is located within the Kun-Manie production licence area.  Drilling for resource expansion is no longer required and can be delayed to early production years when resources begin to be mined.

Robin Young, CEO of Amur Minerals, commented:

"The newly derived 2018 MRE represents a substantial and material increase of more than 50% from previously reported estimates of the Kun-Manie resource.  Having surpassed key institutional bench marks of 1.0 million contained nickel tonnes and maintaining a plus 1.0% nickel equivalent grade, we shall be positioning the Company as a ready source for EV battery market participation. In addition, the significant resource increase will allow for us to identify institutional investors to work with and we will be undertaking an aggressive Asian marketing programme focused on China, Korea and Japan.

"We continue to monitor the nickel and copper sulphide market with regard to EV potential.  Though not fully inclusive, we have examined 23 western listed companies which report resource inventories for 20 greenfield projects. Using a 0.4% nickel cutoff grade, Kun-Manie ranks third largest among the greenfield projects containing approximately 18% of the total greenfield nickel resource.  Of course, this is an indicator of our world position with regard to reported greenfield projects, but it does provide valuable insight into the potential status of Kun-Manie being located in the immediate proximity of the three largest nickel consuming nations in the world."

Company Amur Minerals Corp.	Nomad and Broker S.P. Angel Corporate Finance LLP	Public Relations Yellow Jersey
Robin Young CEO	Ewan Leggat Soltan Tagiev	Charles Goodwin Harriet Jackson
[phone]	[phone]	[phone]

For additional information, visit the Company's website, www.amurminerals.com.

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.

Notes to Editors

The information contained in this announcement has been reviewed and approved by the CEO of Amur, Mr. Robin Young.  Mr. Young is a Geological Engineer (cum laude), a Professional Geologist licensed by the Utah Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing, and is a Qualified Professional Geologist, as defined by the Toronto and Vancouver Stock Exchanges.  An employee of Amur for 12 years, previously Mr. Young was employed as an independent consultant with Fluor Engineers, Fluor Australia and Western Services Engineering, Inc. during which time his responsibilities included the independent compilation of resources and reserves in accordance with JORC standards.  In addition, he was the lead engineer and participant of numerous studies and projects requiring the compilation of independent Bankable Studies utilised to finance small to large scale projects located worldwide.  Mr. Young is responsible for the content of this announcement which includes information derived by RPM and Gipronickel Institute.

For further information, see the Company website at www.amurminerals.com. 

Mineral Resource Statements - Competent Persons Criteria

Amur Minerals Corporation reports resources based on JORC 2012 standards.  This requires that the Mineral Resource Estimates ("MRE") be independently compiled from audited information attained using best industry practices.  AMC has engaged RPM Global ("RPM") as the qualified company responsible completion of this important and mandatory task to assess its Kun-Manie nickel copper sulphide project located in the far east of Russia.

RPM have conducted the mandatory site visit allowing it to audit the Company's field procedures, sample handling and preparation techniques, analytical procedures, results and Quality Assessment / Quality Control ("QAQC") systems (check assaying) that it implements.  RPM confirms that AMC has undertaken its exploration programmes using industry best practices enabling AMC to issue this update to the global MRE for the Maly Kurumkon / Flangovy ("MKF"), Ikenskoe / Sobolevsky ("IKEN"), Kubuk ("KUB"), and Vodorazdelny ("VOD") deposits are reported in accordance with JORC (December 2012) standards. 

Material Considerations in Compilation of the Mineral Resource Estimates

Modelling of the mineralisation includes the following specific considerations:

·     An MRE must have the potential to become a mine based on reasonable mining and processing information whilst simultaneously demonstrating the potential to represent an economically viable operation.  At Kun-Manie, mining by a combination of open pit and underground operations has been confirmed by RPM with available metallurgical test work confirming an economically marketable concentrate can be generated.  RPM has also reviewed projected operating costs.  The combination of these results allows AMC to report JORC compatible resource statements.

·     For Kun-Manie, mineralisation is defined to be those continuous zones that can be identified and modeled.  A natural cutoff grade ("COG") exists at approximately 0.3% nickel providing the basis for determining the limits of the mineralisation.  Resources are reported using a 0.4% nickel COG which allows the Company to derive optimised production schedules based the combination of open pit and underground mining methods.

Mineral Resource Estimates

The global MRE statement is based on a 0.4% nickel COG with individual statements being reported for the deposits of MKF, IKEN, VOD and KUB.   Each MRE statement reports the content for ore tonnage, nickel (%), copper (%), cobalt (%), platinum (g/t), palladium (g/t) and a nickel equivalent (%).  Minor gold and silver is present but have not been calculated.

RPM Ordinary Kriging Mineral Resource Estimates

March 2018

0.4% Nickel Cutoff Grade

Resource Classification	Ore Mt	Ni %	Cu %	Co %	Pt g/t	Pd g/t	Eq Ni (%)	Contained Metal (t)
								Ni (1000's)	Cu (1000's)	Co (1000's)	Pt (t)	Pd (t)	Eq Ni (1000's)
MKF - Updated February 2017
Measured
Indicated	57.5	0.77	0.22	0.015	0.15	0.16	1.06	445	124	8.9	8.8	9.3	606.5
M+I	57.5	0.77	0.22	0.015	0.15	0.16	1.06	445	124	8.9	8.8	9.3	606.5
Inferred	3.4	0.80	0.22	0.017	0.16	0.15	1.06	27	7	0.6	0.5	0.5	36.1
MKF TOTAL	60.9	0.78	0.22	0.015	0.15	0.16	1.06	472	131	9.5	9.3	9.8	643.0
IKEN - Updated March 2018
Measured	10.6	0.71	0.18	0.011	0.22	0.26	0.98	75	19	1.1	2.3	2.8	103.2
Indicated	13.6	0.66	0.17	0.012	0.18	0.20	0.91	89	24	1.7	2.4	2.8	123.7
M+I	24.2	0.68	0.18	0.012	0.19	0.23	0.94	164	43	2.8	4.7	5.6	226.9
Inferred	27.8	0.80	0.23	0.017	0.19	0.19	1.10	222	63	4.6	5.2	5.3	306.5
IKEN TOTAL	51.9	0.75	0.20	0.014	0.19	0.21	1.03	386	106	7.5	9.9	10.8	534.0
KUB - Updated March 2018
Measured													-
Indicated	32.9	0.69	0.19	0.014	0.13	0.12	0.93	226	63	4.7	4.3	3.9	306.0
M+I	32.9	0.69	0.19	0.014	0.13	0.12	0.93	226	63	4.7	4.3	3.9	306.0
Inferred	4.7	0.7	0.19	0.014	0.12	0.12	0.94	33	9	0.7	0.6	0.6	44.5
KUB TOTAL	37.6	0.69	0.19	0.014	0.13	0.12	0.93	259	72	5.3	4.9	4.5	349.9
VOD - Updated February 2017
Measured	0.6	0.74	0.22	0.012	0.29	0.32	1.24	5	1	0.1	0.2	0.2	7.6
Indicated	3.2	0.85	0.21	0.017	0.16	0.16	1.13	27	7	0.5	0.5	0.5	36.0
M+I	3.8	0.85	0.21	0.016	0.20	0.19	1.15	32	8	0.6	0.7	0.7	43.9
Inferred	1.0	0.81	0.22	0.016	0.17	0.16	1.06	8	2	0.2	0.2	0.2	11.0
VOD TOTAL	4.8	0.83	0.21	0.016	0.18	0.18	1.13	40	10	0.8	0.9	0.9	54.6
TOTAL
Measured	11.2	0.71	0.18	0.011	0.23	0.26	0.99	80	20	1.3	2.5	3.0	110.8
Indicated	107.0	0.74	0.20	0.015	0.15	0.15	1.00	787	217	16.2	16.0	16.6	1,075.1
M+I	118.2	0.73	0.20	0.015	0.16	0.17	1.00	867	237	17.5	18.5	19.6	1,185.9
Inferred	37.0	0.79	0.22	0.017	0.17	0.18	1.08	290	81	6.0	6.4	6.6	398.2
TOTAL	155.1	0.75	0.21	0.015	0.16	0.17	1.02	1,157	319	23.5	24.9	26.0	1,581.6

Numbers may not be concise due to rounding.

The nickel equivalent (Ni Eq) grades reported above were derived based on 9 March 2018 metal prices.  The following table presents the contained in situ metal value by resource category and commodity.  Approximately 75% (80% - 2017) of the resource value is defined to be Measured and Indicated (suitable for reserve classification as Prove or Probable).  By commodity, 73% (74% - 2017) of the value is contained in nickel, 10% (12% - 2017) in copper, 9% (5% - 2017) in cobalt, and 7% (9% - 2017) in PGM's (platinum group metals).

In Situ Value (US$ Billion) and Nickel Equivalent Calculation Data

March 2018 Metal Pricing

Pricing	Nickel	Copper	Cobalt	Platinum	Palladium	Total
Imperial	$6.10	$3.10	$37.77	$950.00	$970.00	US$ b
Metric	$13,450	$6,835	$83,250	$30,544	$31,187	Value
Measured	$1.08	$0.14	$0.11	$0.08	$0.09	$1.49
Indicated	$10.59	$1.48	$1.35	$0.49	$0.51	$14.42
M+I	$11.66	$1.62	$1.46	$0.57	$0.61	$15.91
Inferred	$3.90	$0.55	$0.50	$0.20	$0.20	$5.36
TOTAL	$15.56	$2.17	$1.96	$0.76	$0.81	$21.27
2018 % Value Content	73.2%	10.2%	9.2%	3.6%	3.8%	100.0%
2017 % Value Content	73.6%	11.7%	5.3%	5.1%	4.2%	100.0%

Numbers may not be concise due to rounding.

The MRE update was completed for the IKEN and KUB deposits where drilling was completed over the 2017 drill season.  A comparison of the resource increase for each of the two areas is provided in the following table.

Resource Classification	Ore Mt	Ni %	Cu %	Co %	Pt g/t	Pd g/t	Eq Ni (%)	Contained Metal (t)
								Ni (1000's)	Cu (1000's)	Co (1000's)	Pt (t)	Pd (t)	Eq Ni (1000's)
IKEN
2018 IKEN	51.9	0.75	0.20	0.014	0.19	0.21	1.03	386	106	7.5	9.9	10.8	534.0
2017 IKEN	21.1	0.69	0.17	0.012	0.20	0.25	0.96	146	36	2.6	4.2	5.2	201.8
KUB
2018 KUB	37.6	0.69	0.19	0.014	0.13	0.12	0.93	259	72	5.3	4.9	4.5	349.9
2017 KUB	14.5	0.77	0.20	0.016	0.16	0.15	1.04	112	30	2.3	2.3	2.2	149.5

Cutoff Grade Considerations

The MRE is defined as that mineralisation estimated to be in excess of 0.40% nickel (excluding all other by-product metal) and contained within continuous zones having a minimum grade of 0.30% nickel.  Based on RPM audited operating costs of US$ 24.16 per ore tonne (using the higher underground mining only configuration), an average nickel recovery of 80% (sourced by Gipronickel Institute) and nickel only content, the breakeven nickel price is projected to be US$ 3.71 per pound (approximately US$ 8,175 per tonne).  The current nickel price is approximately US$ 6.10 per pound (approximately US$ 13,450 per tonne) providing an indicated potential operating profit margin to be in the order of US$ 2.39 per pound of recovered nickel to concentrate.  Recovered by-product metal is not included in the potential operating profit margin.

Key Nickel Discovery Statistics

The MRE is defined based on a total of 74,613.5 metres of drilling.  An additional 10,203.3 metres of core have been drilled for the recovery of metallurgical sample, twinned verification holes, unmineralised wildcat holes, and other holes defining other potential mineral zones to be drilled in the future when Kun-Manie is in operation.

Since 2010, 816,000 tonnes (1.8 billion pounds) of nickel have been discovered.  The total all-in Russia based expenditures for the same period indicate a discovery cost of US$ 0.014 per pound (approximately US$ 31.81 per tonne of nickel) or 0.23% of the current nickel price.  The all-in Russian costs includeall field costs, all ice road construction and transport costs, all costs to maintain our Ulak support station on the Baikal Amur ("BAM") rail line, all Khabarovsk, Russia office costs  and all new / spare equipment purchases.

In addition to the low discovery price per nickel pound, a total of 15.5 tonnes (34,175 pounds) of nickel are defined for every metre drilled.  Based on the nickel equivalent in situ metal value of $US 21.3 billion, every metre drilled at Kun-Manie has defined approximately US$ 285,000 of metal. 

Website Update

The results reported within this RNS will be updated to the Company website.  Whilst accessing our website, it is important to examine the information closely to ensure that the March 2018 results contained herein have been included.  The Company is in the process of updating the website to reflect the significant changes reported herein.  http://amurminerals.com/project-details/resources-and-reserves/

Glossary

DEFINITIONS OF EXPLORATION RESULTS, RESOURCES & RESERVES

EXTRACTED FROM THE JORC CODE: (December 2012) (www.jorc.org)

A 'Mineral Resource' is a concentration or occurrence of material of intrinsic economic interest in or on the Earth's crust in such form, quality and quantity that there are reasonable prospects for eventual 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. Mineral Resources are sub-divided, in order of increasing geological confidence, into Inferred, Indicated and Measured categories.

An 'Inferred Mineral Resource' is that part of a Mineral Resource for which tonnage, grade and mineral content can be estimated with a low level of confidence. It is inferred from geological evidence and assumed but not verified geological and/or grade continuity. It is based on information gathered through appropriate techniques from locations such as outcrops, trenches, pits, workings and drill holes which may be limited or of uncertain quality and reliability.

An 'Indicated Mineral Resource' is that part of a Mineral Resource for which tonnage, densities, shape, physical characteristics, grade and mineral content can be estimated with a reasonable level of confidence. It is based on exploration, sampling and testing information gathered through appropriate techniques from locations such as outcrops, trenches, pits, workings and drill holes. The locations are too widely or inappropriately spaced to confirm geological and/or grade continuity but are spaced closely enough for continuity to be assumed.

A 'Measured Mineral Resource' is that part of a Mineral Resource for which tonnage, densities, shape, physical characteristics, grade and mineral content can be estimated with a high level of confidence. It is based on detailed and reliable exploration, sampling and testing information gathered through appropriate techniques from locations such as outcrops, trenches, pits, workings and drill holes. The locations are spaced closely enough to confirm geological and/or grade continuity.

An 'Ore Reserve' is the economically mineable part of a Measured and/or Indicated Mineral Resource. It includes diluting materials and allowances for losses which may occur when the material is mined. Appropriate assessments and studies have been carried out, and include consideration of and modification by realistically assumed mining, metallurgical, economic, marketing, legal, environmental, social and governmental factors. These assessments demonstrate at the time of reporting that extraction could reasonably be justified. Ore Reserves are sub-divided in order of increasing confidence into Probable Ore Reserves and Proved Ore Reserves.

 

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