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Savannah Resources plc (LSE:SAV), has said that it has completed its first drilling programme at the Company’s 80% owned Jangamo heavy mineral sands project, located in a world-class mineral sands province in southern Mozambique.
Highlights:
· 27 holes, for a total of 1,812m of reverse circulation (‘RC’) drilling were completed to assess the prospectivity of the key dunal systems within the Jangamo Project area
· Drilling intersected a sequence of red, beige and grey sands with geological logging showing that all holes intersected display visible signs of heavy minerals
· Assay results to confirm the presence and grades of heavy minerals are expected to be available in Q1 2014
· The Project is adjacent to Rio Tinto’s major Mutamba1 mineral sands deposit which, together with another licence area in Mozambique, has an exploration target of 7-12 billion tonnes at 3-4.5% THM
Savannah’s CEO, David Archer, said “This is an exciting time for the Company having been able to plan, mobilise and complete our maiden drilling campaign at our flagship Jangamo project so soon after acquisition of the Project in October 2013. Our geologists have noted the occurrence of heavy minerals in all the holes completed over the key dunal systems and we eagerly await the results of the sample analysis to confirm their observations and the grade and quality of the heavy minerals. We believe that the Project has the potential to generate significant value, and we look forward to reporting the assay results and the conclusions drawn in due course.”
Drilling Programme Completed:
This initial drill programme completed a total of 27 RC drill holes for approximately 1812m and focused on defining the stratigraphy of the three main morphological zones and those parts of the stratigraphy which are thought to be more prospective for mineral sands. All holes were vertical, with a maximum depth of drilling reaching 98m (locations are shown in Figure 1). Drilling intersected a sequence of red, beige and grey sands of variable thicknesses, with all holes showing visible signs of heavy minerals in the geological logging. The drill samples will be prepared by Bureau Veritas in Mozambique before being shipped to Australia for final analysis to confirm the presence and grades of any heavy minerals within the drill samples. Further details of the drilling will be released once the assaying results have been received by the Company.
Further Information:
Jangamo Project – Exploration Licence 3617L:
The Jangamo Project is located in Southern Mozambique within a world class mineral sands province and is highly prospective for mineral sands including zircon, ilmenite and rutile. The Project covers an area of 180 km² along an extensive dune system near the village of Jangamo, about 350km to the North East of the capital, Maputo.
Jangamo lies immediately to the west of Rio Tinto’s (‘Rio’) Mutamba deposit, one of two major deposits Rio has defined in Mozambique1, which collectively have an exploration target of 7-12 billion tonnes at 3-4.5% THM (published in 2008). Importantly, exploration work conducted at the Project to date indicates that the geology and geomorphology of Jangamo is similar to that of Rio’s adjacent Mutamba deposit.
Furthermore, a field trip conducted by Savannah in May 2013 and scout sampling in the region confirmed the presence of significant heavy minerals with samples returning up to 18.1% THM with ilmenite, zircon and rutile recorded in the mineral concentrate.
The Project area features excellent infrastructure with both grid power and the main EN1 highway cutting through the middle of the Project. The nearby town of Inhambane is serviced daily by LAMAir flights out of Maputo and there is excellent logistics in place to support operations, including a small port. The licence is valid until 10 December 2017.
