European Metals Holdings Limited (ASX & LON:EMH) has continued to progress in the development of its 100% owned globally significant Cinovec Lithium/Tin Project in Czech Republic during the three month period ending March 2017.
- Drilling program completed & appointment of Czech Country Manager
- *Initial steps towards mining licence achieved * Final drilling results
- Substantial increase in Indicated Resource at Cinovec
- Preliminary Feasibility Study confirms Cinovec as potentially low cost lithium carbonate producer
DRILL PROGRAM COMPLETED & APPOINTMENT OF CZECH COUNTRY MANAGER
The planned core drillhole programme was completed in mid-January 2017 on time and on budget and without time loss incidents. In total 17 drillholes were drilled to a summary depth of 6,081 meters.
The Company also announced the appointment of Richard Pavlik, a highly experienced mining executive to the role of Country Manager. Mr Pavlik holds a Masters Degree in Mining Engineer from the Technical University of Ostrava in Czech Republic. He is the former Chief Project Manager and Advisor to the Chief Executive Officer at OKD. OKD has been a major coal producer in the Czech Republic. He has almost 30 years of relevant industry experience in the Czech Republic.
Mr Pavlik also has experience as a Project Analyst at Normandy Capital in Sydney as part of a postgraduate programme from Swinburne University. Mr Pavlik has held previous senior positions within OKD and New World Resources as Chief Engineer, and as Head of Surveying and Geology. He has also served as the Head of the Supervisory Board of NWR Karbonia, a Polish subsidiary of New World Resources (UK) Limited. Mr Pavlik’s primary responsibilities will be to manage the in-country aspects of the Cinovec development programme, coordinate technical work and liaise with Government authorities on permitting and licensing of the project.
INITIAL STEPS TOWARDS MINING LICENCE ACHIEVED
The Company was informed in late January that the Cinovec South resource estimate was approved by a Committee of Experts and was subsequently added to the Czech State Register of Mineral deposits, which is the first step towards achieving a mining licence.
FINAL DRILLING RESULTS
The analytical results from the final seven drillholes were received by early February and they were excellent in terms of Lithium grade and the length of the mineralised intervals. A summary of the results are as follows:
* Hole CIW-22 contains the best lithium intercept to
date from the Company's drill programme of 264.5m
averaging 0.54% Li(2) O. This hole, collared in the
central part of Cinovec main, also contains
significant tin, tungsten, niobium and tantalum
mineralisation. An unexpected bonus was the
high-grade zone of tungsten, intersected by drillhole
CIW-22 at 238m depth which graded almost 3% of
tungsten
* Centrally located, hole CIW-25 contains the Company's
longest lithium intercept to date with a length of
361.5m averaging 0.43% Li(2) O, including a high
grade lithium interval of 14.7m averaging 0.93% Li(2)
O, and significant intervals of Sn and W
* Hole CIW- 23, also located in the central part of
Cinovec main, returned an interval of 261.1m
averaging 0.50% Li(2) O
* Hole CIW-26, located at the western edge of the
deposit, returned an interval of 236.25m averaging
0.49% Li(2) O
* Hole CIW-10, also located at the western edge of the
deposit, returned an interval of 233.9m averaging
0.43% Li(2) O
* Hole CIW-27, located in the central part of Cinovec
main, retuned a Li intercept of 235m averaging 0.49%
Li(2) O incl. high grade zones of 14m @ 0.97% Li(2) O
and 2m @ 1.79% Li(2) O
* Hole CIW-06, also centrally located, returned a Li
intercept of 258.5 m averaging 0.44% Li(2) O
including high grade zones of 3m at 1.11% Li(2) O,
2.75m at 0.91% Li(2) O and 2m at 1.03% Li(2) O
SUBSTANTIAL INCREASE IN INDICATED RESOURCE AT CINOVEC
On completion of the extensive seven-month drilling program, the Company has successfully been able to increase the confidence in the resource base and substantially upgrade a significant part of the resource from the Inferred category to the higher confidence JORC compliant Indicated Mineral Resource category as follows;
* Lithium Indicated Resource increased 50% to 3.9 Mt
LCE, contained in 347.7 Mt @ 0.45% Li(2) O and 0.04%
Sn (0.1% Li cut-off)
* Lithium Total Resource increased 11.8% to 7.0 Mt LCE,
contained in 656.5 Mt @0.43 % Li(2) O and 0.04% Sn
(0.1% Li cut-off)
* Total contained tin in the Total Mineral Resource
increased to 262,600 tonnes
* Lithium Exploration Target remains 350 to 450 Mt @
0.39% to 0.47% for 3.4 Mt to 5.3 Mt of LCE
DEVELOPMENTS POST REPORTING PERIOD
Preliminary Feasibility Study confirms Cinovec as potentially low cost lithium carbonate producer
The company successfully completed the Preliminary Feasibility Study and the results highlight that Cinovec can be a low cost lithium carbonate producer. The highlights of the study are as follows ($ figures quoted in USD):
- $3,483 / tonne
* Net overall cost of production Li(2) CO(3)
- $540 M (post
* Net Present Value (NPV) tax, 8%)
- 21% (post tax)
* Internal Rate of Return (IRR)
* Total Capital Cost - $393 M
- 20,800 tonnes
* Annual production of Battery Grade Lithium Carbonate
* Study based on only 9.9% of defined Indicated Mineral
Resources
The completion of the PFS follows a comprehensive metallurgical testwork campaign managed by European Metals. The PFS was undertaken by independent consultants who are specialists in the required areas of work. These included:
* Resource Estimation - Widenbar and Associates Pty Ltd
* Mining - Bara Consulting Ltd
* Front--End Comminution and Beneficiation ("FECAB") -
Ausenco Limited
* Lithium Carbonate Plant ("LCP") - Hatch Pty Ltd
The study is based upon a mine life of 21 years processing on average 1.7 Mtpa of ore, producing 20,800 tpa of battery grade lithium carbonate via a sodium sulphate roast.
SUMMARY
