Amur Minerals Corporation, a nickel-copper sulphide mineral exploration and resource development company focused on the far east of Russia, has told DirectorsTalk that it has completed the construction of its 2016 winter ice road from the Baikal – Amur rail siding to its Kun-Manie project and begun the restocking of project for its 2016 field programme. To date, three convoys have delivered more than 114 tonnes of fuel and 85 tonnes of spare parts and supplies to the site. The annually constructed ice road covers a distance of approximately 350 kilometres.
In total, 240 tonnes of winter, summer and aviation fuel, and over 160 tonnes of supplies and spare parts will be delivered to the site to support the 2016 field work programmes and related activities. The complete resupply will enable the Company to drill up to 15,000 metres of diamond core holes which will result in the acquisition of a bulk metallurgical sample, infill drilling of areas that are classified as Inferred resources and to also continue with step out drilling to expand the existing resource. Already, the onsite mobile equipment has undergone a comprehensive maintenance programme bringing this component of the fleet to a fully operational status.
Newly acquired mobile equipment is presently in transit to the site which includes the recently purchased D9R Caterpillar dozers, an excavator, the newly purchased LF90 Boart Longyear diamond core drill rig, 2 additional crew cabins and a personnel carrier. The two purchased generators have already been delivered.
The Company’s 2016 field activities will be focused on the Maly Kurumkon / Flangovy deposit. Two categories of work will be pursued including resource related drilling and metallurgical sample collection. Drilling is planned to begin on or around 01 June 2016. The specific design of the drill programme is now being defined based on the preliminary resource results provided by SRK Consulting Ltd (“SRK”). The Company is completing its review of the results and will be releasing an update to the resources upon review completion. Results are anticipated to have successfully converted last year’s targeted Inferred resource area to Indicated and to have successfully added 400 metres of Inferred resource at the eastern end of the Flangovy deposit. The internal Company review of the Maly Kurumkon / Flangovy resource is complete and an RNS containing the results will be released shortly.
Robin Young, CEO of Amur Minerals, commented: “The annual mobilisation effort to resupply the Kun-Manie project site is the most cost effective way to support the project and is the culmination of 5 months of planning by our experienced staff. This is no small task. Identification of the field season work programme, staffing requirements and all the materials needed to accomplish a season’s objectives must be identified, purchased, and transported to our base station on the BAM rail line. Lead time planning is critical and our staff has again excelled in the successful startup of the ice road. A classic example of the team’s skill is exampled by the acquisition of our new Caterpillar dozers which had to be fabricated in Peoria, Illinois, transported to Russia, cleared through customs, railed to our base station and then transported to site. Other mobile equipment items were also transported from plants located near the Urals. I complement our team’s efforts to have all the materials to conduct a 15,000 metre drill programme requiring nearly 100 site staff ready for shipment along the Company constructed ice road during this seasonal window. We also look forward to updating the shareholders on the Maly Kurumkon / Flangovy resource upgrade from the 2015 drill season.”
