Robin Young, CEO of Amur Minerals LON:AMC, commented: “We are pleased to report that we are at the end of this year’s drill programme and our field team has completed an outstanding job. With the early start and availability of sufficient fuel stocks, we have drilled nearly 4,400 metres more than the planned 15,000 metres and generated a 7.5 tonne bulk sample which is 50% larger than anticipated.
“Drilling has expanded the Maly Kurumkon / Flangovy deposit by nearly 50% to a total length of 3,000 metres. We have also drilled the entire structure at a spacing which should allow us to report a substantial increase in the Indicated resource which was previously identified to be only 1,400 metres in length. We now have the luxury of being able to include the entire deposit in the identification of reserves. This could have a substantial and highly positive impact on the Definitive Feasibility Study results.
“As we move into our planning cycle for next year’s field programme, we will be considering where our prime drill targets and objectives will be for next year. Previously, the priority target was Kubuk, but with the identification that MKF and Gorny could be that same mineralised structure, we will be reviewing our drill priority list in the very near future.”
Amur Minerals Corporation a far east Russian sulphide nickel copper explorer, has provided DirectorsTalk a summary update on the 2016 drill results for its Maly Kurumkon / Flangovy (“MKF”) drill programme at Kun-Manie, located in the far east of Russia. This season’s drilling is now essentially complete and all planned objectives have been accomplished. A maximum of three holes remain to be completed.
With the completion of 80 holes containing a total of 19,400.8 metres of drilling as of 24 September 2016, the Company has now drill confirmed the presence of continuous mineralisation along a 3,000 metre length of MKF. This represents an increase of nearly 50% from that known to be present at the start of this year’s drill programme. Continuous open pit and underground economic grades (0.5% nickel cutoff grade) of mineralisation have now been proven to exist along the entire drilled length of the deposit.
All MKF drill identified mineralisation is now completed at a spacing used by SRK Consulting UK Ltd (“SRK”) to define Indicated resources. This represents a substantial potential expansion in the Indicated resource which had been defined (May 2016) to be 1,400 metres in length. Having more than doubled the length of the Indicated resource, the Company anticipates that there is substantial potential to increase the reserve inventory at MKF for inclusion in the Definitive Feasibility Study (“DFS”). The grade of the mineralisation is suitable for both open pit (0.2% nickel cutoff grade) and underground (0.5% nickel cutoff grade) production.
Upside potential for resource expansion remains to the east of the last row of drill holes at MKF. Approximately 400 metres of undrilled potential remain to be tested. Beyond this geographically defined MKF limit is the Gorny target area. Limited shallow drilling at Gorny indicates the presence of mineralisation. Drilling of the MKF target and western area of Gorny is necessary. The Company believes that the Gorny deposit could be a continuation of the MKF deposit and successful future drilling could confirm these two deposits may actually be one larger deposit having a length of up to 5 kilometres.
Highlights:
· A record drill season with 19,400.5 metres of drilling having been completed through 24 September 2016 is now essentially complete. A total of 80 holes have been drilled within the MKF deposit and fall into one of two groups, resource definition and metallurgical sample collection.
· The intent of the resource definition phase of the programme was two-fold. This included infill drilling of the May 2016 defined Inferred resources to a spacing allowing for the Inferred resource being upgraded to that of Indicated and to identify new mineralisation through step out drilling. New mineral was also to be drilled at a spacing allowing for it to be classified as Indicated resource.
· A total of 59 (15,213.3 metres) resource definition holes were successfully completed. Using a 0.2% nickel cutoff grade (typical of open pit production criteria), the 2016 holes intersecting ore grade mineralisation indicated the average mineralised thickness per ore interval was 13.5 metres. The average cumulative thickness per hole was 23.6 metres. The average length weighted nickel grade is 0.76% with copper being 0.21%. These thicknesses and grades are suitable for open pit production.
· The previously identified high grade structure containing in excess of 0.5% nickel (typical of underground production criteria) has also been confirmed to exist along the entire 3,000 metre length of MKF. The 2016 drill results average 0.90% nickel and 0.25% copper. Average thicknesses of the high grade mineralisation by interval and per hole are 10.5 metres and 19.7 metres, respectively. The structure contains 85% of the total drill defined nickel, hence the primary target of reserve definition.
· As noted, the successful infill and step out phases of the programme have now expanded the MKF deposit to 3,000 metres in length with all mineralisation being drilled to the Indicated resource category spacing. Previously (May 2016), the Indicated resource of MKF was identified to be 1,400 metres in length. With the expansion of the deposit and its being comprehensively drilled at the spacing of Indicated, the Company anticipates a substantial upgrade in the next resource update. Once all information is available from Alex Steward Laboratories (“ASL”), a resource update of the MKF deposit is planned for Q1 2017.
· The configuration of the mineralisation at MKF is conducive to both open pit and underground mining. Where mineral is located at and near the surface, open pit production is the preferred mining method. As the stripping ratio increases in the open pit production environment, underground production becomes the preferred extraction method as the profit per underground produced ore tonne exceeds that of the open pit ore tonne. This requires a trade-off study to identify the portions of the mineralisation that are best mined by one of the two production alternatives.
· The final limits of the MKF deposit have not yet been defined. An additional 400 metre resource expansion target remains to be drilled at the eastern limits of the MKF area. The eastern limit of the drill target is an arbitrarily selected limit. Beyond this 400 metre exploration potential block, the Gorny deposit is present which contains limited drill information at the shallow near surface mineral outcrops. Drilling within the remaining MKF target and at Gorny is necessary which could result in confirmation that Gorny may be an extension of the MKF deposit resulting in a single deposit having a total length of nearly 5 kilometres in length.
· The remaining 21 holes (4,187.5 metres) completed at MKF have allowed the Company to generate a 7.5 tonne bulk metallurgical sample for use flowsheet determination and process plant design. The bulk metallurgical sample has been transported to our Khabarovsk core storage facility for future metallurgical treatment.
· ASL has now delivered analytical results for 63% of the drill samples. It is anticipated that the final ASL results will be available in 6 to 8 weeks.
