Vast Resources plc Jorc Resource Declared For Nkombwa Hill Phosphate And Rare Earth Element Project

 
TIDMVAST 
 
 
   Vast Resources plc / Ticker: VAST / Index: AIM / Sector: Mining 
 
   12 October 2016 
 
   Vast Resources plc 
 
   ("Vast" or the "Company") 
 
   JORC Resource Declared For Nkombwa Hill Phosphate and Rare Earth Element 
Project 
 
   Vast Resources plc, the AIM listed mining company focussed on Romania 
and Zimbabwe, announces that a maiden JORC Compliant Resource estimate 
has been completed for the Nkombwa Hill Phosphate and Rare Earth Element 
Project ("Nkombwa Hill" or the "Project") located in northern Zambia. 
 
   In February 2015, as part of an asset rationalisation process, Vast 
entered into an Earn-In arrangement ("Earn-In") with Kilimire 
International Limited ("KLL") whereby KLL would fund and manage a 36 
month exploration and assessment programme.  KLL can earn up to 65 per 
cent. equity in the Project through the achievement of certain 
milestones.  The funding and compilation of the JORC compliant Mineral 
Resource Statement increases KLL's interest in the Nkombwe Hill to 50.4 
per cent. For more information regarding the Earn-In, see the Company's 
announcement of 20 February 2015. 
 
   Overview 
 
 
   -- Total Mineral Resource (Indicated & Inferred) of 21.8Mt at a grade of 
      7.06% P2O5 and 1.17% Total Rare Earth Oxides ("TREOs") at a 3.0% P2O5 
      cut-off 
 
   -- Alternatively, and as a subset of the Total Mineral Resource above, a 
      Total Mineral Resource of 2.78Mt at a grade of 2.76% TREO and 6.43% P2O5 
      at a 1.0% TREO cut-off grade 
 
   -- The mineral Resource represents approximately 5% of the hill volume above 
      the valley floor highlighting the significant resource upside potential. 
      Phase 2 of the Earn-In will include KLL funding an additional 
      US$1,000,000 to de-risk the project 
 
   -- Following the publication of this maiden JORC Resource, Vast now has an 
      interest of 49.6% in Nkombwa Hill 
 
   Roy Pitchford, Chief Executive Officer of Vast, commented: 
 
   "The rationalisation process we undertook in February 2015 to focus on 
the Company's brownfields assets while retaining upside exposure to the 
exploration assets is bearing fruit and the declaration of this maiden 
JORC Resource funded by KLL is encouraging.  The Earn-In will now 
progress to Phase 2 with KLL committing to spending a further $1,000,000 
over the next 18 months in order to advance the Project towards the 
feasibility stage.  We hope that this next phase of work will deliver 
further attributable value to Nkombwa Hill as the Vast team remains 
focussed on its revenue generative operations in Romania and Zimbabwe." 
 
   Mineral Resource 
 
   The mineral resource was solely based on the drilling undertaken by KLL 
which comprises 11 diamond drill-holes.  The area drilled represents 
approximately 5% of the carbonatite pipe by volume.  The historical 
drill holes drilled by Rhodesian Selection Trust (RST) have only been 
sampled selectively and have not been used in the resource calculation. 
 
   The P(2) O(5) mineralisation was considered to have a near horizontal 
stratified configuration.  The material with less than 3% P(2) O(5) was 
considered to form the waste partings and these were modelled as such. 
The concentration of the TREOs is considered to be hosted by steeply 
dipping (70(o) to 80(o) plunge) to the south-east and NE-trending zones. 
 
 
   As a result of the limited number of drill holes and the spacing between 
sampling, estimation was by means of the Inverse Distance Squared (ID2) 
interpolation method. The search ellipse has a diameter of 100m and its 
orientation follows that of the mineralised zones for TREOs; north-east 
trending and south-west dipping and for the waste parting it was 
considered horizontal.  The specific gravity was averaged for each 
domain and used for the resource estimation. 
 
   The mineral resources for the Project are provided in Table 1 at various 
cut-off grades of P(2) O(5) with the P(2) O(5) grade and associated TREO 
grades reported. 
 
   Table 1 : Mineral Resource Estimate for the Nkombwa Hill Phosphate 
Project at varying P(2) O(5) cut-off grade percentages. 
 
 
 
 
               INDICATED                INFERRED                 TOTAL 
% P(2)          P(2)                     P(2)                     P(2) 
 O(5)    Tons    O5               Tons    O5               Tons    O5    TREO 
Cut-off  (Mt)    (%)   TREO (%)   (Mt)    (%)   TREO (%)   (Mt)    (%)    (%) 
  3.0     3.25  7.04%     1.59%   18.58  7.06%     1.10%   21.83  7.06%  1.17% 
  4.0     3.04  7.28%     1.56%   16.83  7.45%     2.39%   19.87  7.42%  2.26% 
  5.0     2.68  7.65%     1.55%   13.74  8.07%     2.70%   16.42  8.00%  2.51% 
  6.0     2.02  8.37%     1.50%   10.04  9.02%     3.31%   12.07  8.91%  3.01% 
 
 
   The mineral resources for the Project are provided in Table 2 at various 
cut-off grades of TREOs with the P(2) O(5) grade and associated TREO 
grades reported. 
 
   Table 2 : Mineral Resource Estimate for the Nkombwa Hill Phosphate 
Project at varying TREO cut-off grade percentages. 
 
 
 
 
              INDICATED                INFERRED                  TOTAL 
% TREO         P(2)                     P(2)                     P(2) 
 Cut    Tons    O5               Tons    O5               Tons    O5     TREO 
 Off    (Mt)    (%)   TREO (%)   (Mt)    (%)   TREO (%)   (Mt)    (%)    (%) 
 1.0     0.98  6.37%     2.73%    1.81  6.45%     2.78%    2.78  6.42%   2.76% 
 2.0     0.80  6.21%     2.97%    1.39  6.10%     3.15%    2.19  6.14%   3.08% 
 3.0     0.30  5.90%     3.67%    0.68  6.72%     3.80%    0.98  6.47%   3.76% 
 
   Phase 2 of Earn-In Agreement 
 
   Phase 2 of the Earn-In agreement will include KLL funding an additional 
US$1,000,000 to de-risk the project including metallurgical work to 
assist in providing indications of economic viability and to contribute 
towards possible future feasibility studies.  In this regard, 
representative ore samples have been delivered and a Scope of Work 
document is currently being agreed with appropriate laboratories. 
 
   Competent Person Statement 
 
   The information in this statement that relates to the Mineral Resource 
and Exploration Target is based on information compiled by Ms Gayle 
Hanssen who is a geologist and is registered as Competent Person with 
the South African Council for Professional Natural Scientific 
Professions. (SACNASP).  Ms Hanssen has sufficient experience relevant 
to this mineralisation style and to the activities which are being 
undertaken 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". Ms Hanssen accepts responsibility 
for the accuracy of the statements disclosed in this report. 
 
   **ENDS** 
 
   For further information, visit www.vastresourcesplc.com or please 
contact: 
 
 
 
 
Vast Resources plc 
 Roy Pitchford (Chief Executive Officer)                 [phone] - Office Romania 
                                                         [phone] - Mobile Romania 
                                                         [phone] - Mobile UK 
Strand Hanson Limited - Financial & Nominated Adviser  www.strandhanson.co.uk 
 James Spinney                                          [phone] 
 James Bellman 
Brandon Hill Capital Ltd - Joint Broker                www.brandonhillcapital.com 
 Jonathan Evans                                         [phone] 
Peterhouse Corporate Finance Ltd - Joint Broker        www.pcorpfin.com 
 Duncan Vasey                                           [phone] 
St Brides Partners Ltd                                 www.stbridespartners.co.uk 
 Susie Geliher                                          [phone] 
 Charlotte Page 
 
 
   The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the 
Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market 
Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014 ("MAR"). 
 
   This announcement is distributed by Nasdaq Corporate Solutions on behalf 
of Nasdaq Corporate Solutions clients. 
 
   The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely 
responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information 
contained therein. 
 
   Source: Vast Resources plc via Globenewswire 
 
 
  http://www.acrplc.com/ 
 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 12, 2016 06:15 ET (10:15 GMT)

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