Eurasia Mining plc (AIM: EUA)
("Eurasia" or the "Company")
Positive drilling results at Monchetundra PGM licence, Kola Peninsula
Eurasia Mining plc, the Russia focused PGM exploration and development company, is pleased to report positive intermediary drilling results from the 2015/16 drilling programme at the Monchetundra Project on the Kola Peninsula, northwest Russia. Core drilling and shallow geochemical sampling of glacial till commenced on the licence in August 2015 and focussed on the West Nittis and Loipishnune Areas. The shallow geochemical drilling program is 100% complete with 20% of holes already assayed and the remainder to be processed and announced in due course. Core logging and assaying is still in progress on 12 of a total of 22 core drilling holes. The positive findings here reported should therefore be regarded as intermediary.
Highlights:
- Total of 4,163.9m of core drilling completed in 2015/2016 to date.
- Infill drilling at West Nittis confirms continuous mineralisation and should allow definition of a C1 Reserve (see below).
- 339 drill core assay results have been received from the internationally accredited Irgiridmet laboratory facility in Irkutsk. 542 geochemical samples processed.
- Geochemical till sampling effective in defining mineralised areas. A total of 10,000m of shallow geochemical drilling was undertaken at the West Nittis and Loipishnune areas.
- 320m3 of trenching completed.
- Site visit by a Rosprirodnadzor (Russian Natural Resources Inspectorate) expert group in late March confirms the work and licence to be in good standing. No issues have been identified.
Background to West Nittis Area exploration
The West Nittis Area was identified as prospective for high grade PGM mineralisation in 2011 and is considered a continuation of the known Nittis-Kumuzhya-Travyanaya Massif. Drilling by Eurasia has, to date, been to the east of a north/south trending geological contact in norite and plagio-pyroxenite rocks, with two types of mineralisation identified. The shallow or near surface zone, further from the contact is referred to as Hanging Wall ("HW") mineralisation while a deeper zone and closer to the contact is referred to as the Foot Wall zone("FW") (see RNS dated 2nd September 2013 for further details). Both are constituents of a proposed open pit mine at West Nittis; higher grade HW mineralisation will be encountered as the pit progresses to lower grade but wider intervals of FW mineralisation. Drilling in the West Nittis Area is focussed on defining a Reserve to Russian C1 standards, broadly similar to a Measured and Indicated Resource, and with average drill hole spacing of 40 to 60m to meet these requirements.
The Company plans to define a maiden C1 Reserve at West Nittis and to subsequently apply for a discovery certificate on the area. It is anticipated this will be completed during 2016. It should be noted that a Reserve to JORC standards would follow from detailed economics and engineering which form part of a feasibility study that is already being prepared.
2015/16 Infill drilling supports previous structural models while also demonstrating that the HW mineralisation at West Nittis is enclosed by a broader envelope of low-grade mineralisation, possibly remobilised from the FW zone. Drill core logging and sample preparation is ongoing for drill core from the West Nittis Area, results from which will be reported as and when available. Data from these subsequent drill holes will define the southern extent of mineralisation at West Nittis and may allow for an expansion of these Reserves. Results from infill drilling which are already available are sufficient to define a C1 Reserve at West Nittis.
Analyses received from the first twelve holes from West Nittis indicate that weighted averages for Palladium equivalent range from 1.06g/t over 1.45m and 4.07g/t over 0.7m in the HW Zone to 0.51g/t over 4.75m and 0.71g/t over 2.5m in the FW Zone. In this batch of holes, the depth tested was from surface to 208m. The thickness in metres and grades of some significant intersections in the HW zone are shown in Table 1 as follows:
Drill Hole |
from |
to |
length |
Au* |
Pd* |
Pt* |
Cu* |
Ni* |
S* |
Pdeq* |
Mineralized zone |
m |
m |
m |
g/t |
g/t |
g/t |
% |
% |
% |
g/t |
|
MT-104 |
29.60 |
40.00 |
10.40 |
0.03 |
0.67 |
0.10 |
0.09 |
0.06 |
0.08 |
1.07 |
HW mineralization |
Incl. |
31.2 |
33.6 |
2.4 |
0.09 |
1.40 |
0.20 |
0.28 |
0.08 |
0.17 |
2.30 |
HW mineralization |
MT-105 |
19.60 |
23.10 |
3.50 |
0.04 |
1.95 |
0.75 |
0.20 |
0.13 |
0.14 |
4.61 |
HW mineralization |
Incl. |
21.5 |
23.1 |
1.6 |
0.05 |
3.58 |
1.19 |
0.21 |
0.19 |
0.27 |
7.79 |
HW mineralization |
MT-105 |
66.60 |
67.30 |
0.70 |
0.05 |
2.96 |
0.29 |
1.60 |
0.13 |
1.65 |
4.07 |
HW mineralization |
MT-105 |
108.50 |
109.60 |
1.10 |
0.07 |
1.25 |
0.16 |
0.10 |
0.20 |
0.39 |
1.97 |
HW mineralization |
Au* -gold. Pd* - Palladium. Pt* - Platinum. Cu*- Copper. Ni*- Nickel. S* Sulphur. Pdeq*- Palladium equivalent which is a summation of all recoverable metals weighted according to their relative market values.
Geochemical sampling
A sampling grid was established over both the West Nittis and Loipishnune areas. Shallow drill holes sampled glacial till over the bedrock in these areas and the collected material was sent for assaying. To date, 20% of samples collected have been assayed and this method has identified mineralised bedrock beneath the till. A graphic showing the results of geochemical sampling at the West Nittis Area has been uploaded to the Eurasia website and can be reached by copying the link below into a web browser. Both HW and FW mineralised zones are readily identified by Palladium values in geochemistry sampling, as well as a new zone, provisionally named the 'Monchetundra FW geochem anomaly', which occurs at the contact with the Monchetundra Massif. This zone has yet to be tested by core drilling.
http://www.eurasiamining.co.uk/operations/kola.aspx
Further detail: Loipishnune
A shallow geochemistry sampling grid has covered part of the Loipishnune Area and the Company is encouraged by the success of this significantly cheaper means of exploration at West Nittis. Loipishnune is a bulk mineable target of podiform mineralisation with currently two identified lodes with a combined strike length of more than 1 kilometre.
Trenching
320m3 of trenching in one trench was excavated in the West Nittis Area through a glacial boulder conglomerate overlying bedrock. West Nittis style HW mineralisation was evident in the trench floor as a fault breccia with Iron Hydroxide minerals. Samples were taken by rock saw and will be prepared for assay.
Rosprirodnadzor is the federal agency responsible for land usage rights and in the case of mineral exploration licences is obliged to ensure high standards of mineral exploration work and that licences are maintained as a going concern. The principal means of ensuring this is to ensure work volumes are met. Experts from Rosprirodnadzor visited the site and surveyed the work in late March and have been satisfied that work volumes and standards are to best industry practice. They confirmed the licence to be in good standing.
Christian Schaffalitzky, MD at Eurasia Mining comments, 'These results from Monchetundra are hugely positive and we look forward to seeing the remaining core assays at West Nittis, and indeed the results of geochemical sampling at Loipishnune. The 2015/16 campaign has in a sense reignited exploration at the Monchetundra licence even as discussions with interested parties are further advanced. Our aim with this drilling programme at West Nittis was to define a C1 Reserve by in-filling on our previous drilling grid. Initial results suggest that this has been a success and a C1 Reserve will be defined at West Nittis, in due course. We look forward to reporting on a more complete data set in due course. In the meantime we are heading to production of our first platinum in West Kytlim that will start this summer now that all permitting is in place.'
Consent for release
EurGeol Christian Schaffalitzky, FIMMM, PGeo, MIEI, CEng, is a director of the Company. He has reviewed the update and consents to the inclusion of the exploration information in the form and context in which it appears here. He is a Competent Person for the purposes of the reporting of these results.
Enquiries:
Eurasia Mining Plc
Christian Schaffalitzky/Michael de Villiers
+44 (0)207 932 0418
WH Ireland Limited
Katy Mitchell/Liam Gribben
+44 (0)161 832 2174
Beaufort Securities
Elliot Hance
+44 (0)207 382 8300
