Hanns Camp Project - Exploration Update

RNS Number : 6789C

Strategic Minerals PLC

24 January 2018

 

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.

24 January 2018

Strategic Minerals plc

("Strategic Minerals", "SML" or the "Company")

Hanns Camp Cobalt / Nickel Project - Exploration Update

Strategic Minerals plc (AIM: SML; USOTC: SMCDY), a diversified mineral production and development company, is pleased to announce the results for the 1 metre sampling for the nickel and cobalt targets at Central Australian Rare Earths' ("CARE") tenements at Hanns Camp, Western Australia, east of Laverton.

Key Highlights

·     Confirmation of the 1,000m x 500m extent of the Cobalt - Nickel mineralisation

·     Stronger intersections include:

HCAC004: 10m @ 0.65% Ni and 0.05% Co (0.93% Ni eq. or 0.18% Co eq.) from 9m

HCAC015: 10m @ 0.63% Ni and 0.04% Co (0.83% Ni eq. or 0.16% Co eq.) from 16m

HCAC028: 17m @ 1.20% Ni and 0.07% Co (1.57% Ni eq. or 0.31% Co eq.) from 31m

HCAC029: 4m @ 1.35% Ni and 0.16% Co (2.18% Ni eq. or 0.43% Co eq.) from 17m

HCAC030: 6m @ 0.72% Ni and 0.10% Co (1.24% Ni eq. or 0.24% Co eq.) from 8m

HCAC039: 3m @ 1.11% Ni and 0.23% Co (2.28% Ni eq. or 0.45% Co eq.) from 37m

HCAC048: 12m @ 1.04% Ni and 0.06% Co (1.36% Ni eq. or 0.27% Co eq.) from 29m

HCAC049: 16m @ 0.93% Ni and 0.07% Co (1.30% Ni eq. or 0.26% Co eq.) from 48m

·     Moderate uplift in grade, especially nickel grades, when compared to 4m interval assays

·     Maximum 1 metre Nickel equivalent grade of 3.44% Ni Eq. (1.74% Ni and 0.34% Co)

·     Identified the existence of komatiite lava channel-facies rocks within the Hanns Camp ultramafic, one of the key requirements for the potential accumulation of nickel sulphides

[1] Nickel and Cobalt equivalent (NiEq. or CoEq.) calculations based on a Nickel price of US$ 5.35 / lb and a cobalt price of US$ 27.1/ lb.

Chairman of Strategic Minerals, Mr Alan Broome AM, commented:

"The ongoing assaying from the recent air core drilling at Hanns Camp has delivered better than expected results and gives us great confidence as we move into the next phase of exploration.

"Following his appointment in November 2017, Dr Martin Gole has added a fantastic level of expertise to CARE. The excellent work completed by Dr Gole alongside our geological team has given a whole new perspective on the nickel sulphide resource potential at this exploration project.

 "In light of this recent review of nickel potential, the Board feels justified in undertaking further significant exploration at Hanns Camp over the course of 2018 and expects to be able to fully fund these activities internally." 

CARE Tenements

In 2016, the Company funded a drilling programme at the highly prospective Hanns Camp located within CARE's Laverton Project. In doing so, it acquired 50% of the ownership of CARE from Rarus Limited. Subsequently, in May 2017, the Company acquired the balance of the ownership of CARE, which is now wholly owned by the Company.

CARE holds tenements and has access to mining rights for cobalt, nickel, rare earth elements and gold in these tenements in Western Australia.

The Laverton Project is located in the 'Eastern Yilgarn Craton Nickel Sulphide Province' in Western Australia that is most notable for hosting the Mount Windarra and South Windarra nickel sulphide deposits located 12km west of the Laverton Project which together produced 8.1 million metric tonnes (Mt) at 1.51% nickel (Ni) between 1974 and 1992. Other more recent discoveries located distally north and south along strike of the Laverton Project include;

·     Duketon Mining's Rosie Deposit that has a Mineral Resource estimate of 1.74Mt at 1.7% Ni including a best intercept of 5.2 metres at 9.13% Ni, 1.09% copper (Cu) and 2.22grams/ tonne platinum (Pt) from 599.71 metres down hole

·     Rox Resources' Fisher East Project (Mineral Resource 3.6Mt at 2.0% Ni)

·     Impact Minerals' Mulga Tank Project which returned a best intercept of 0.25 metres at 3.8% Ni and 0.7% Cu from 212.6 metres down hole

Hanns Camp Cobalt - Nickel Exploration

In September 2017, a 49-hole air core drilling programme was completed across the extent of the known Hanns Camp ultramafic rocks. The drilling targeted a concentration of cobalt and nickel within the lateritic weathering profile. All holes were drilled vertically for a total of 1,915 metres drilled with an average depth of 39m. 

23 of the 49 holes intersected nickel cobalt mineralisation. The initial results of the drilling programme were released to the market on 2 November 2017. The assays as that time were based on 4 metre sample intervals. A follow up, more focussed sampling and assaying campaign was completed on the 1 metre sample intervals in December 2017. The mineralised portions of the 23  holes were resampled and assayed for a total of 261 samples.

The stronger intersections are included below:

·     HCAC004: 10m @ 0.65% Ni and 0.05% Co (0.93% Ni eq. or 0.18% Co eq.) from 9m

·     HCAC015: 10m @ 0.63% Ni and 0.04% Co (0.83% Ni eq. or 0.16% Co eq.) from 16m

·     HCAC028: 17m @ 1.20% Ni and 0.07% Co (1.57% Ni eq. or 0.31% Co eq.) from 31m

·     HCAC029: 4m @ 1.35% Ni and 0.16% Co (2.18% Ni eq. or 0.43% Co eq.) from 17m

·     HCAC030: 6m @ 0.72% Ni and 0.10% Co (1.24% Ni eq. or 0.24% Co eq.) from 8m

·     HCAC039: 3m @ 1.11% Ni and 0.23% Co (2.28% Ni eq. or 0.45% Co eq.) from 37m

·     HCAC048: 12m @ 1.04% Ni and 0.06% Co (1.36% Ni eq. or 0.27% Co eq.) from 29m

·     HCAC049: 16m @ 0.93% Ni and 0.07% Co (1.30% Ni eq. or 0.26% Co eq.) from 48m

The resampling has resulted in a moderate increase in the final grades mostly as a result of improved assaying techniques. Over equivalent intervals the NiEq grade has increased by approximately 10%.

The full results are included in the table at the end of this announcement.

Hanns Camp Nickel Sulphide Exploration

As previously announced, SML has engaged Dr Martin Gole, an internationally recognised expert in ultramafic hosted nickel sulphides to review the exploration potential of the Hanns Camp Project. This initial review was completed in January 2018. 

In an exciting new development for the Project, Dr Gole has identified the existence of komatiite lava channel-facies rocks within the Hanns Camp ultramafic which is one of the key requirements for the potential accumulation of nickel sulphides. The recent air core drilling was a major contributing factor to this development, with geological and geochemical analysis allowing discrimination of the previously unrecognised channel. This is a highly significant finding and potentially has major implications for nickel sulphide exploration both at Hanns Camp and of other CARE tenements within the district.

SML are currently reviewing the geochemistry of the base of the air core holes and historic electromagnetic (EM) geophysical surveys to further identify and refine potential targets for additional exploration. The Board considers that, during 2018, further substantial exploration is warranted to further test the potential for nickel sulphides.    

Significant Intersections

Table 1 summarises the significant drilling results from the recent air core drilling at Hanns Camp.   

Table 1 Significant Intersections

Hole	Easting	Northing	From	To	Interval	Nickel Grade (%)	Cobalt Grade (%)	Ni Eq. Grade (%Ni)	Co Eq. Grade  (%Co)
HCAC004	452200	6837400	9	19	10	0.65	0.05	0.93	0.18
HCAC006	452100	6837600	16	23	7	0.52	0.08	0.91	0.18
HCAC008	452000	6837800	16	20	4	0.69	0.06	0.99	0.19
HCAC013	451600	6838900	16	21	5	0.74	0.05	0.97	0.19
HCAC014	451500	6839000	20	22	2	0.69	0.10	1.21	0.24
HCAC015	451591	6839094	16	26	10	0.63	0.04	0.82	0.16
HCAC024	451596	6839291	29	30	1	1.66	0.09	2.11	0.42
HCAC025	451511	6839181	29	34	5	0.86	0.08	1.24	0.25
HCAC025	451402	6839099	34	37	3	1.04	0.07	1.36	0.27
HCAC026	451907	6839801	21	24	3	0.62	0.05	0.86	0.17
HCAC027	451799	6839699	12	13	1	0.69	0.07	1.05	0.21
HCAC028	451699	6839598	31	48	17	1.20	0.07	1.57	0.31
HCAC029	451602	6839504	17	21	4	1.35	0.16	2.18	0.43
HCAC030	451403	6839300	8	14	6	0.72	0.10	1.24	0.24
HCAC032	451403	6839300	23	29	6	0.49	0.12	1.10	0.22
HCAC033	451302	6839199	25	28	3	0.70	0.16	1.52	0.30
HCAC037	451504	6839601	32	36	4	0.75	0.08	1.14	0.23
HCAC039	451501	6839793	37	40	3	1.11	0.23	2.28	0.45
HCAC040	451695	6839805	16	19	3	0.88	0.04	1.10	0.22
HCAC041	451600	6839902	12	20	8	No significant assays >0.5% Ni or 0.06% Co
HCAC042	451699	6839991	21	25	4	0.81	0.06	1.11	0.22
HCAC048	451291	6839991	29	41	12	1.04	0.06	1.36	0.27
HCAC049	451398	6839901	48	64	16	0.93	0.07	1.30	0.26

Competent Persons Statement

The Exploration results in this announcement are based on information compiled by Mr. Graeme Purcell, who is a Member of the Australasian Institute of Geoscientists.  Mr Purcell is the Principal of Petrichor Geological and is a consultant to the Company. He has sufficient experience relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity he is undertaking 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 and a qualified person as defined in the AIM Note for Mining and Oil & Gas Companies dated June 2009.  Mr Purcell has over 20 years' Australia and international experience in exploration for precious and base metals.

For further information, please contact:

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Notes to Editors

Strategic Minerals Plc is an AIM-quoted, diversified mineral development and production company with projects in the United States of America, the UK and Australia. The Company is focused on acquiring and developing cash generative, high quality projects which meet local market demand for commodities and utilising this cash flow to undertake value added exploration. 

In September 2011, Strategic Minerals purchased its first cash-generating asset; the Cobre magnetite tailings dam project in New Mexico, USA which it brought into production in 2012 and which continues to provide a revenue stream for the Company. The portfolio was expanded in January 2016 with the acquisition of shares in Central Australian Rare Earths Pty Ltd, which holds tenements in Western Australia and the Northern Territory that are prospective for cobalt, gold, nickel sulphides and rare earth elements. The Company has since acquired all shares in Central Australian Rare Earths Pty Ltd. In May 2016, an additional exploration asset was acquired when the Company entered into an agreement with New Age Exploration Limited to acquire up to 50% of the Redmoor Tin/Tungsten project in Cornwall, UK. This 50% acquisition was completed in February 2017 and drilling at the project has commenced. The Company is also currently in the process of finalising the acquisition of the Leigh Creek Copper Mine situated in the copper rich belt of South Australia.

 

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