Update on Exploration Activities

 

Kibo Mining Plc

(Incorporated in Ireland)

(Registration Number: 451931)

(External registration number: 2011/007371/10) Sharecode on the JSE Limited: KBO

Share code on the AIM: KIBO ISIN: IE00B61XQX41

("Kibo" or "the Company")

 

 

Dated: November 19, 2013

 

Update on Exploration Activities at Kibo's Rukwa and Imweru Projects in Tanzania

 

·    Topographical survey of boreholes on the Rukwa Coal Resource completed.

 

·    Imweru Drill Programme 20% ahead of schedule and nearing completion.

 

Kibo Mining PLC ("Kibo" or the "Company") (AIM: KIBO; AltX: KBO), the mineral exploration and development company focused on gold, nickel, coal and uranium projects in Tanzania, is pleased to announce the following progress on its Rukwa coal and Imweru gold exploration projects :

Rukwa

A topographical survey of the Rukwa coal resource drill collars was completed on 15 November 2013. The results of this survey will be used in the preparation of a new resource statement for Rukwa where it is anticipated that they will allow a large part of the existing Indicated Resource to be upgraded to the Measured Resource under JORC. Re-statement of the resource in the "Measured" category is necessary in preparation for the commencement of the next stage of development of the Rukwa Coal to Power Project (RCPP) and marks commencement of the first phase of the feasibility studies that are planned for the RCPP during 2014. The new Resource Statement is expected early in Q1 of 2014.

 

Imweru

The recently announced drill program on Kibo's newly acquired Imweru project is now nearing completion. The exploration drill programme was announced on October 28, 2013, commenced drilling on November 01, 2013 and has since commencement, maintained an execution rate well ahead of schedule.

To date the average daily drilling rate stands at 109 m, which is well above the planned 75 m p/d for Reverse Circulation drilling (RC), with the daily Diamond Drill (DD) rate averaging 70m p/d compared with the planned rate of 40m p/d. The current status of the Imweru programme can be summarized as follows:

·    DD-drilling was completed within 7 days, well ahead of the scheduled completion date, with a total of 488 m drilled versus the planned 450 m.

·    RC-drilling is currently 20% ahead of schedule with 65% of the program completed at this stage (1850 m have been drilled to date versus the 1275 m planned). At the current rate, and subject to favorable weather conditions, it is estimated that the project will reach completion during the first week of December 2013.

First samples from the drill programme were submitted to the analyses laboratory on November 11, 2013 and the final results for the entire project, are expected during the second week of  January 2014, assuming no delays at the analyses laboratory over the next 8 weeks. A site visit by the appointed independent Competent Person (CP) was also completed on November 18, 2013.

The Imweru drill programme intends to improve the current resource statement on the project both qualitatively and quantitatively as a prerequisite to advancing to the scoping study stage as soon as possible. A second stage drill programme has already been planned for the project and will be implemented early in 2014 contingent on satisfactory results being received from the current programme. Prior to this drilling phase the project has a NI 43-101 compliant Inferred Resource of 629,600 oz. of gold.

 

Louis Coetzee, CEO of the Company, commented today:  

"The Company is impressed with the progress on Rukwa and Imweru this far.

The Rukwa survey will allow an independent restatement of the resource, with the expectation that a large portion thereof will be classified as "Measured". This survey marks the beginning of the feasibility studies for the RCPP as announced earlier and the first step that can be viewed as the actual start of development work on the RCPP.

Imweru is currently delivering exciting new observations of mineralization and quartz veins, which bodes well for the phase 2 drill programme, planned for as early as possible in FY 2014. The current Imweru programme also, once again, highlighted Kibo's operational readiness and capacity to plan, implement and execute exploration programmes very successfully"

Contacts

 

Louis Coetzee	+27 (0)83 2606126	Kibo Mining plc	Chief Executive Officer
Andreas Lianos	+27 (0)83 4408365	River Group	Corporate and Designated Adviser
Jon Belliss	+44 (0) 20 3216 2630	XCAP	Broker
Stuart Laing	+61 8 94802500	RFC Ambrian Limited	Nominated Adviser on AIM
Matt Beale	+44 (0)7966 389196	Fortbridge	Investor Relations

 

Updates on the Company's activities are regularly posted on its website www.kibomining.com

 

General Background & Strategy

 

Kibo was established in early 2008 to explore and develop mineral deposits in Tanzania, East Africa and was admitted to AIM in London on 27 April 2010 and AltX in Johannesburg on 30 May 2011.  The Board of Kibo is composed of professionals whose experience include mineral exploration, mine development, mining finance, tax, law, mergers and acquisitions, and financial control of public companies. It is supported by competent and motivated a Tanzanian staff that operates from Kibo's operations office in Dar es Salaam.

 

The mineral assets of the Company comprise five projects areas in Tanzania - Haneti (nickel, PGE and gold), Morogoro (Gold), Lake Victoria (Gold), Rukwa (Coal) and Pinewood (Coal & Uranium).

 

The Lake Victoria project covering a gold prospective licence portfolio in Tanzania's premier gold mining region, the Lake Victoria Goldfield, been recently enhanced by the addition of two brownfield gold projects Imweu and Lubando. Both projects have NI 43-101 compliant total gold resource of approximately 798,000 ounces (total of Measured, Indicated and Inferred for both projects).

 

TABLE1: IMWERU MINERAL RESOURCE SUMMARY-BASECASE*
Category	Measured Resource	Indicated Resource	Inferred Resource
Resource (t)	-	-	17,649,900
Grade (g/t)	-	-	1.11
Grade (oz/ton)	-	-	0.032
Total Gold (oz)	-	-	629,6000

*Numbers are rounded. Composites capped at 25g/t gold. Cut-off grade of 0.5g/t gold based on a gold price of US$850/oz and assumed100% metallurgical recovery .CIM definitions were followed for Mineral Resources.

 

 

 

TABLE2:LUBANDO MINERALRESOURCE SUMMARY-BASECASE*
Category	West Zone	East Zone South	East Zone Mid	East Zone North	Total
Measured Resource
Measured Resource (t)	107,900	4,880	16,900	54,440	184,150
Grade (g/t)	1.69	2.52	1.72	2.48	1.95
Total Gold (oz)	5,900	400	950	4,340	11,500
Indicated Resource
Indicated Resource (t)	280,710	18,330	61,000	149,350	509,420
Grade (g/t)	1.61	2.23	1.89	2.73	1.99
Total Gold (oz)	14,500	1,300	3,700	13,120	32,600
Inferred Resource
Total Resource (t)	1,090,000	65,470	209,340	535,330	1,900,140
Grade (g/t)	1.27	1.56	3.34	3.13	2.03
Total Gold (oz)	44,550	3,300	22,500	53,900	124,200

*Numbers are rounded. Composites capped at10.85g/tgold. Cut-off grade of 0.5g/t gold based on a gold price of US$850/oz and assumed100% metallurgical recovery .CIM definitions were followed for Mineral Resources.

 

These projects provide the Company with drill ready targets supporting its objective to increase the size and quality of the existing resource in the short term.

 

The Haneti project is the subject of a joint venture with Brazilian Votorantim Metais Participações Ltda, a member of Votorantim Group. The Rukwa and Pinewood projects are situated close to the Mtwara Corridor, an area where the Tanzanian Government has committed to significant infrastructure development and which has seen recent multi-million dollar investment in coal and coal-fired power stations and uranium exploration.

 

The Rukwa project is substantially more advanced than Kibo's existing exploration projects, with a significant Mineral Resource of thermal coal already defined. The project enjoys strong support expressed by the Tanzanian Government for the expedited development of a coal mine and mine-mouth coal-fired power plant and which is further enhanced by the now formal relationship between the Korean Government owned Korean East - West Power Co. Ltd. ("EWP") and Kibo. In this relationship the parties have entered into a formal MOU which states the parties' respective commitments towards the joint development of the Rukwa Coal to Power Project ("RCPP"), where EWP will be responsible for developing and operating the power generation side of the RCPP and Kibo will be responsible for developing and operating the mining side of the RCPP.

 

 

 

RUKWA COAL RESOURCE SUMMARY- GEMECS (Pty) Ltd
	SEAM	NI 43-101	IN SITU
SEAM	THICKNESS	CLASS	MILLION TONS
S4	1.14	Indicated	2.17
S3U	2.04	Indicated	6.92
S3L	2.3	Indicated	12.63
S2	3.45	Indicated	23.43
S1U	2.48	Indicated	7.34
S1L	2.92	Indicated	17.4
S0	1.08	Indicated	1.44
Total Indicated Resources			71.34
S4	1.31	Inferred	1.38
S3U	2.24	Inferred	2.94
S3L	2.27	Inferred	3.86
S2	3.42	Inferred	7.94
S1U	2.05	Inferred	6.5
S1L	3.15	Inferred	12.83
S0	1.06	Inferred	2.6
Total Inferred Resources			38.05
TOTAL RESOURCES			109.39

 

 

Kibo's objective is to build shareholder value in a sustainable manner.  This objective will be pursued primarily through active exploration of its own projects and by using the Company's experience in Tanzania to acquire attractive exploration and development assets on competitive terms that can be moved swiftly up the value curve by using the Company's own skills base whilst also seeking to benefit from strategic collaborative relationships with industry leaders who have special skills and competencies within their chosen fields of focus.  Kibo will undertake continual risk assessment of its projects and take whatever actions it believes are necessary to ensure that these risks are mitigated.

 

Review by Qualified Person

 

The information in this announcement that relates to the Imweru and Lubando mineral resources is taken from reports titled "Technical Report on the Imweru property (Updated), Mwanza, Tanzania" dated March 1, 2010 and "Technical Report on the Lubando property, Mwanza, Tanzania" dated 31^st August 2009" (the "Reports") Both Reports are NI 43-101 compliant and were prepared for Great Basin Gold Rusaf Gold Limited by Nathan Eric Fier C.P.G., P.Eng. Market Director for EBA Engineering Consultants Ltd and a Senior Mining Consultant. Mr. Fier is registered as a Certified Professional Geologist with the American Institute of Professional Geologists, Registration No 10062, and a professional Engineer in British Columbia, Canada Registration No. 135165. He has extensive experience in the evaluation and reporting of Archaean Gold projects and is a "Qualified Person" for reporting gold resources to the NI 43-101 Standard.  The information in this announcement that relates to the Rukwa coal resource is taken from  a report "Independent Technical Report for the Rukwa Coal Project, Mbeya Region, United Republic of Tanzania" dated 19^th April 2012 by CD van Niekerk Director and Principal Geologist with  the firm GEMECS (Pty) Ltd. Mr van Niekerk is a Professional Natural Scientist with the South African Council for Natural Scientific Professions (SACNASP), Registration No. 400066/98 and a Fellow Member of the Geological Society of South Africa. He has relevant experience and technical qualifications to be a "Qualified Person" for reporting coal resources to the NI 43-101 Standard.The Company's Exploration Director, Noel O'Keeffe has also reviewed the technical reports and the references to them in this announcement.

 

Johannesburg

19 November 2013

 

Corporate and Designated Adviser

River Group