18 July 2017
Bluejay Mining plc / EPIC: JAY / Market: AIM / Sector: Mining
Bluejay Mining plc ('Bluejay' or the 'Company')
SRK appointed to facilitate Pituffik project construction
Bluejay Mining plc, the AIM and FSE listed company with projects in Greenland and Finland, is pleased to announce that it has appointed SRK Exploration Services Limited and SRK Consulting (UK) Ltd (collectively 'SRK') to commence work on a mining and infrastructure study for the raised and active beach areas at its Pituffik Titanium Project ('Pituffik' or the 'Project') in Greenland.
Overview
· Deliverables include infrastructure and logistic development as well as geotechnical, hydrological and mining studies - all to be completed during 2017.
· The studies will be executed in parallel with the ongoing fieldwork programme during the coming 6 months, which includes drilling to expand and upgrade the current resource of 23.6Mt at 8.8% ilmenite, bulk sampling and progression of the permitting process.
· Work programmes required to finalise an exploitation licence application continue on schedule.
o The Environmental Impact Assessment ('EIA') and the Social Impact Assessment ('SIA') have now been through the public consultation process and will shortly be re-submitted inclusive of all stakeholder comments to the Greenlandic Government to continue the approval process in the coming weeks.
Bluejay CEO Roderick McIllree said, "SRK have a thorough understanding of our Pituffik project having produced the Maiden Mineral Resource Estimate, which underpinned the Project as the highest-grade mineral sand ilmenite project globally. It is this proven knowledge combined with their ability to deliver quality technical consultancy services on time and within budget that made them the number one choice. We are accordingly delighted to add this industry leader to our team of advisors once more as we look to define processing and development plans for the Project. With licence applications progressing, drilling to due to commence shortly and multiple studies underway to better define processing routes and support project construction, the second half of this year is going to be very productive."
Pituffik Titanium Project
Bluejay intends to complete the following work programmes to define locations and conditions for mine construction at Pituffik. This work will primarily focus on the raised beach environment, where the current resource of 23.6Mt at 8.8% ilmenite and exploration target of between 90Mt and 130Mt with an in-situ grade of between 6.3% and 8.4% ilmenite has been defined. Crucially this resource and exploration target represents just 17% of the raised beach area and is one of three types of domains within the licence area, with the other two being the active and drowned beach environments.
· Infrastructure study
SRK will look at options for product storage and transfer options to ocean-going vessels by evaluating likely production rates and other similar infrastructure projects in the industry and in country.
This study will include geotechnical and hydrological aspects for civil engineering required by the mining and processing flowsheet and facility layout. Initial works will focus on methods of infrastructure construction and the suitability of local raw materials such as rock fill and stability of potential construction locations. Understanding the surface water and groundwater regimes, and the interaction of fresh and saline waters will be critical to the operational strategy for mining.
· Mining study
This will include a review of similarly high-latitude mining projects in order to understand what methods or infrastructure they have in place for winter operations and how these may be applied at Pituffik. Risks or opportunities that are specific to Pituffik will also be considered (as far as current understanding allows) and the study will assess if these may be addressed by existing technologies.
SRK will highlight primary risks and opportunities in respect to different mining options based on current understanding and regional scale water considerations. This will include considering the option to allow operations to continue year-round. It is accepted that mining will not be necessary during the winter due to the extremely high grade nature of the Project and the lack of infrastructure required to move what will be a relatively small tonnage throughput to deliver our operational rates compared to a conventional mineral sand operation, but consideration should be given to what facilities would be required to allow mineral processing to continue throughout the winter periods once the Project is ready for scaling.
· Site Visit
SRK will mobilise a Principal Exploration Geologist to the Project to coincide with the start of the field programme and assist with the start-up of the sonic drilling by implementing logging and sampling protocols, with particular emphasis on the infrastructure, geotechnical and hydrological studies. This work will include undertaking test work and obtaining samples for laboratory tests in areas that may be used for construction. Trial pits, sonic drill core samples of sediments or bedrock and recording basic geotechnical parameters in outcropping geology will be used.
SRK will also obtain samples of materials (such as coarse oversize) that could be used for infrastructure construction and will either conduct testing of them on site or dispatch them for analysis elsewhere. This also applies to samples of in-situ bedrock taken from areas in which infrastructure may be constructed. They will also obtain samples of ore materials to analyse how the material behaves when stockpiled.
Observations and measurements of local water sources that could be used as supply for future mining, processing and infrastructure operations will also be undertaken. In addition to this, SRK will assist in the installation of hydrogeological monitoring equipment and obtain measurements.
Finally, SRK will test an alternative Ground Penetrating Radar system that may produce improved results compared to that used in 2016.
Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) Disclosure
Certain information contained in this announcement would have been deemed inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 until the release of this announcement.
**ENDS**
For further information please visit http://www.titanium.gl or contact:
Roderick McIllree |
Bluejay Mining plc |
+44 (0) 20 7907 9326 |
Ewan Leggat |
SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP |
+44 (0) 20 3470 0470 |
Soltan Tagiev |
SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP |
+44 (0) 20 3470 0470 |
Charlotte Page |
St Brides Partners Ltd |
+44 (0) 20 7236 1177 |
Megan Dennison |
St Brides Partners Ltd |
+44 (0) 20 7236 1177 |
Notes
Bluejay has a number of highly prospective licences at various stages of development in Greenland and Finland. The Company is dual listed on the London AIM market and Frankfurt Stock Exchange.
The Company is currently focussed on advancing the Pituffik Project in Greenland, an area that has only recently revealed its mineral potential following changes in the climate. Pituffik, which with an initial Inferred JORC resource of 23.6Mt at 8.8% ilmenite (in situ), including a high-grade zone equal to 7.9Mt at 14.2% ilmenite, and significant further upside, has been proven to be the highest-grade mineral sand ilmenite project globally.
Pituffik comprises three main target areas along an >40km coastline historically proven to contain large and high-grade accumulations of primary ilmenite occurring as placer deposits in the following environments:
· Raised beaches; containing ilmenite accumulations over widths of more than 1km, of unknown depths, along more than 30km of coastline;
· Active beaches; which refer to the area seaward of the frontal dunes, including the beach, tidal zones and surf zone; and
· Drowned beaches; refers to the areas seaward of active beaches.
The Company's strategy is focused on delivering a bulk sample for marketing and sales engagement "proof of concept" from the Pituffik Project in 2017 with the aim of ultimately generating cash flow to create a company capable of self-funding exploration on current projects and future acquisitions.
Bluejay also holds a 100% interest in a portfolio of copper, zinc and nickel projects in Finland. This multi-commodity portfolio remains a strategic asset of importance and has been restructured to be cost-sustainable whilst determining the best plan for future development.
Pituffik Mineral Resource Estimate
The Pituffik mineral resource estimate has been prepared by SRK Exploration Services ('SRK') and is broken down into three components:
· An Inferred resource of 23.6Mt at 8.8% ilmenite (in situ) for the total area tested
· This includes a high-grade zone equal to 7.9Mt at 14.2% ilmenite (in situ) at Moriusaq which is the focus of the feasibility and production studies that are currently underway
· A larger exploration target for the area, primarily encompassing potential mineralisation below and inland from the current drilling, of between 90Mt to 130Mt at an in-situ grade of between 6.3% and 8.4% ilmenite
SRK has produced a Mineral Resource Estimate for the Moriusaq onshore raised beaches target that forms part of Bluejay's exploration licence in Northwest Greenland (licence number 2015/08). This is the maiden Mineral Resource Estimate produced for the licence. The Mineral Resource Estimate report prepared by SRK will be made available during Q2 2017.
The Mineral Resource Estimate is based on all valid data available as at 1 March 2017. A volume of the raised beaches has been modelled which encompasses the drilled portion of these areas with a maximum depth limit set at 3 metres below ground level. The model covers a surface area of approximately 5km by up to 0.9km. The model was incorporated into a three-dimensional block model and the in-situ titanium dioxide ('TiO2') grade and percent recoverable heavy mineral content were interpolated using an inverse distance weighted ('IDW') algorithm.
SRK considers that all the delineated mineralisation has reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction and the Mineral Resource Statement has been reported at a 0% cut-off grade using the terminology and guidelines set out in the JORC 2012 Code.
Table 1: JORC Mineral Resource Statement for Moriusaq Onshore Target, April 2017
Classification |
Volume (M.m3) |
Tonnage (M.t) |
Density (t/m3) |
% THM |
% >2mm |
% >5mm |
% <63µm |
% TiO2 In HM |
% TiO2 In-situ |
% Ilmenite In-situ |
Inferred |
11.2 |
23.6 |
2.12 |
34.5 |
29.0 |
21.8 |
2.5 |
12.0 |
4.2 |
8.8 |
(1) The effective date of the Mineral Resource is April 6th, 2017
(2) The numbers are presented at a 0% cut-off grade
(3) "THM" and "HM" mean Total Heavy Minerals and Heavy Minerals respectively
(4) HM have been separated from a -2 mm +63 µm size fraction using heavy liquid separation at a density of 2.95 g/cm3
(5) Preliminary mineralogical assessments suggest that the HM typically comprises 26.76% ilmenite and that there are no other valuable HM present. Additional mineralogical data is expected during April 2017
(6) % TiO2 in-situ assumes that all recoverable TiO2 is in the HM component of the -2 mm +63 µm size fraction
(7) % Ilmenite In-situ assumes that all TiO2 is within ilmenite and that the ilmenite contains 47.65% TiO2, based on historical exploration data
SRK has also produced a Mineral Resource Statement has been reported at a 5% in-situ TiO2 cut-off grade using the terminology and guidelines set out in the JORC 2012 Code.
Table 2: JORC Mineral Resource Statement for Moriusaq Onshore Target, April 2017. 5% in-situ TiO2 cut-off grade applied.
Classification |
Volume (M.m3) |
Tonnage (M.t) |
Density (t/m3) |
% THM |
% >2mm |
% >5mm |
% <63µm |
% TiO2 In HM |
% TiO2 In-situ |
% Ilmenite In-situ |
Inferred |
3.7 |
7.9 |
2.12 |
44.3 |
22.2 |
16.7 |
2.1 |
15.3 |
6.8 |
14.2 |
(1) The effective date of the Mineral Resource is April 6th, 2017
(2) The numbers are presented at a 5.0% in-situ TiO2 cut-off grade
(3) "THM" and "HM" mean Total Heavy Minerals and Heavy Minerals respectively
(4) HM have been separated from a -2 mm +63 µm size fraction using heavy liquid separation at a density of 2.95 g/cm3
(5) Preliminary mineralogical assessments suggest that the HM typically comprises 26.76% ilmenite and that there are no other valuable HM present. Additional mineralogical data is expected during April 2017
(6) % TiO2 in-situ assumes that all recoverable TiO2 is in the HM component of the -2 mm +63 µm size fraction
(7) % Ilmenite In-situ assumes that all TiO2 is within ilmenite and that the ilmenite contains 47.65% TiO2, based on historical exploration data
SRK is of the opinion that there is a high probability that a proportion of this currently reported Inferred Mineral Resource can be upgraded to the Indicated category following additional exploration. Further, SRK considers that there is a high probability that the raised beaches hosting this Mineral Resource extend both at depth and laterally along the shoreline within Bluejay's licence area. The licence area includes a 30 km length of raised beaches and deltas and Bluejay has demonstrated mineralisation in several places in addition to the area covered by the Mineral Resource presented here.
In addition to the Mineral Resource Statement, SRK has derived an Exploration Target which is planned to be tested by the Company in the next field season. The Exploration Target tonnage range reflects SRK's opinion that the mineralisation h potential to be continuous between 9m and 12m below surface (SRK's Mineral Resource estimate has been restricted to 3m) which is based on a limited amount of outcrop exposure. In summary, it comprises potential mineralisation below the depth currently drilled. The exploration grade range is based on the grade of the overlying Mineral Resource.
SRK's Exploration Target is between 90Mt and 130Mt with an in-situ TiO2 grade of between 3% and 4% (assumed to be between 6.3% and 8.4% ilmenite) and a heavy mineral content of between 30% and 34% of which between 10% and 12% will comprise TiO2 (assumed to be between 21% and 25% ilmenite). It should be noted that this is an estimated range of tonnes and grade and is conceptual in nature, that there has been insufficient exploration to estimate a Mineral Resource and that it is uncertain if further exploration will result in the estimation of a Mineral Resource.
Qualified Persons
The information in this press release that relates to Mineral Resources is based on information compiled under the direction of Dr Mike Armitage C Geol., C Eng., who is a Member of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining which is a Recognised Overseas Professional Organisation ('ROPO') included in a list promulgated by JORC from time to time.
Dr Armitage is a full-time employee of SRK Consulting (UK) Ltd and has sufficient experience which is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity which he has 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' (the JORC Code) and for the purposes of the AIM Rules. Dr Armitage has reviewed this press release and consents to the inclusion in the press release of the matters based on his information in the form and context in which this appears.
