13 June 2018
AMUR MINERALS CORPORATION
(AIM: AMC)
May 2018 Drill Programme Update
Amur Minerals Corporation ("Amur" or the "Company"), a nickel-copper sulphide mineral exploration and resource development company focused on the Far East of Russia, is pleased to announce its inaugural 2018 drill results through to 31 May 2018 at its wholly owned Kun-Manie nickel copper sulphide project. With drilling targeting the development requirement of the project, a total of 5,078.2 metres (approximately 25% of the planned drilling for this year) was drilled during May with a total of 41 drill holes being completed. Significant portions of the drill programme have been completed for the fulfillment of Russian licensing requirements allowing the Company to progress towards mine design and production.
Highlights
· On 6 May 2018, the 20,300 metre drill programme, which is designed to accomplish three objectives over the course of this drill season, commenced.
· The objectives of the programme include detailed infill drilling for the purposes of developing detailed mine designs allowing for the approval of mine operations, acquisition of a large scale representative metallurgical sample along the Ikenskoe / Sobolevsky ("IKEN") and Kubuk ("KUB") mineral trend and the conversion of a large high grade block of Inferred Mineral Resources to that of Indicated Mineral Resources.
· Throughout May, 5,078.2 metres of drilling (nearly 25% of planned 2018 drill programme) was completed, with 41 holes being drilled. From these holes, 1,085 mineralised samples have been prepared and analysed on site by the Company and these samples are now in transit to Alex Stewart Laboratory ("ASL") located in Moscow, Russia. The sample material will be analysed for nickel, copper, cobalt, platinum and palladium. When available, the ASL results are intended for use in future Mineral Resource Estimate ("MRE") updates.
· To fulfill Russian licensing requirements and to progress towards mine design and production, detailed infill drilling is a necessity. This work has now been completed at both Maly Kurumkon / Flangovy ("MKF") and IKEN. Additional infill drilling (totaling c.2,800 metres) is planned at both Vodorazdelny ("VOD") and KUB and will begin this month.
· With regard to infill drilling results, 33 holes (for a total of 3,663.2 metres) were completed, confirming the continuity of the mineralisation and indicated metal content at both IKEN and MKF. The May 2018 drill programme has determined that the average vertical thickness of the mineralisation per ore drill hole for both IKEN and MKF is 20.6 metres containing a length-weighted nickel grade of 0.84% and 0.22% copper (as calculated by the Company*). Existing pre-2018 drill holes indicated an average thickness of 21.9 metres per hole with average grades of 0.77% nickel and 0.20% copper for the delineated areas. A grade thickness comparison (average grade multiplied by average thickness) of pre-2018 drilling versus 2018 drill hole results indicates a total metal difference between the historical and 2018 results of less than 1% for the two areas already drilled (MKF and IKEN).
· At IKEN, the 2017 drill programme identified a large (15 to 20 million tonnes identified as Inferred Mineral Resource by RPM Global ("RPM")) high grade ore block (ranging from 0.9% to 1.0% nickel) which could positively impact the economic potential of the project. Based on wide spaced drilling from 2017, 15 holes with an average vertical thickness of 28.7 metres of 0.92% nickel and 0.25% copper (as calculated by the Company*), this part of IKEN was designated to contain an Inferred Mineral Resource. Resource conversion drilling began on 21 May 2018, and four holes, out of a total of 16 planned holes, have now been completed. The Company has calculated* that these four holes contain an average vertical mineralised thickness of 31.3 metres at length weighted average grades of 0.95% nickel and 0.25% copper. An additional 6,000 metres of drilling is planned for conversion and potential expansion of this Inferred high grade block.
· In addition to the above drilling, four metallurgical sample collection holes containing a total of 463 drilled metres of the budgeted 6,800 drill metres have been completed along the mineralised length from IKEN to KUB. The mineralised portion of the core has been delivered to the Khabarovsk core storage facility.
Robin Young, CEO of Amur Minerals, commented:
"I am delighted to provide our 2018 maiden drill progress report for May. Drilling nearly 200 metres per day using two Company-owned Boart Longyear diamond core drill rigs, nearly 25% of the 2018 drill programme has already been completed in just 26 days of drilling. Having planned to drill approximately 20,000 metres over the course of the season, and having already completed more than 5,000 metres of drilling, we are rapidly advancing towards the completion of our 2018 drill objectives.
"The Russian Federation infill drilling requirement allows the Company to complete detailed exploration, post reserves with the State Reserves Committee, ("GZK"), and progress towards mine designs and approval for the construction phase. This infill drilling has already been completed at two of the four deposits.
"We have also commenced drilling on the large high grade Inferred Mineral Resource block located at Ikenskoe / Sobolevsky, which could represent two to three years of production. We are already seeing that there is continuity of the mineralisation through the middle of this block where drilling had not been previously committed, and initial in-house results are supporting the indicated near 1.0% nickel-only grades. Continued success here will be highly beneficial, allowing us to move this high grade metal content area forward in our planned production schedule and generating further improvement in Kun-Manie's project economics."
Enquiries:
Company Amur Minerals Corp. |
Nomad and Broker S.P. Angel Corporate Finance LLP |
Public Relations Blytheweigh |
Robin Young CEO |
Ewan Leggat Soltan Tagiev |
Megan Ray Tim Blythe |
+7(4212)755615 |
+44(0)20 3470 0470 |
+44 (0) 20 7138 3203 |
Notes to Editors
The information contained in this announcement has been reviewed and approved by the CEO of Amur, Mr. Robin Young. Mr. Young is a Geological Engineer (cum laude), a Professional Geologist licensed by the Utah Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing, and is a Qualified Professional Geologist, as defined by the Toronto and Vancouver Stock Exchanges. An employee of Amur for 12 years, previously Mr. Young was employed as an independent consultant with Fluor Engineers, Fluor Australia and Western Services Engineering, Inc. during which time his responsibilities included the independent compilation of resources and reserves in accordance with JORC standards. In addition, he was the lead engineer and participant of numerous studies and projects requiring the compilation of independent Bankable Studies utilised to finance small to large scale projects located worldwide. Mr. Young is responsible for the content of this announcement.
For further information, see the Company website at www.amurminerals.com.
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2018 Drilling Programme Update
The planned 20,300 metre drill programme for 2018 is focused on the acquisition of specific information related to obtaining necessary technical information associated with the development of the Kun-Manie nickel copper sulphide project located in the Russian Far East. Key objectives related to the drill programme include:
· Infill drilling of small selected areas of previously drilled areas for the purpose of confirming the continuity of the mineralisation, mineral thicknesses and the contained average grade. By successfully proving that there is a limited difference in these parametres between the previous existing wider spaced pattern and that of the infilled pattern, the Company fulfills Russian licensing requirements allowing for the acquisition of approved mine and production designs suited for operational startup. Infill drilling at MKF and IKEN has already been completed with an additional 2,836.8 metres to be drilled at VOD and KUB.
· During the 2017 drill programme, a large high grade mineralised zone was drill identified by widely spaced holes. This near 1.0% nickel zone is estimated to contain 10 to 15 million tonnes of ore and it is anticipated that this zone has the potential to generate the highest operational profit per ore tonne within the Kun-Manie production licence area. Classified as an Inferred Mineral Resource by JORC (2012) standard, successful infill drilling would allow Amur to fully include this area within the mine production plan without any limitations. The zone is also located in such a manner as to allow for its potential mining at an early stage in the mine life providing production of greater tonnages of nickel than is currently being considered in the mine production schedule. Drilling is underway with approximately 6,050 metres remaining to be completed.
· Acquisition of a representative large scale bulk metallurgical sample along the mineralised length from IKEN to KUB. The early stage of core acquisition is underway and will be used by the Company to develop an operational metallurgical profile to quantify metal recoveries and the variability of the mill feed over the life of the mine. With 463 metres already completed, drilling for sample recovery is presently planned to require a further 6,337.0 metres.
The planned distribution of drilling and the portion that has been completed is summarised in the following table. During the first 26 days of drilling, approximately 25% of the total planned drilling for 2018 has been completed which totals 5,078.2 metres as of 31 May 2018. A total of 1,085 drill core samples are in transit to ASL for the derivation of certified analytical results necessary for use in the determination of an updated MRE. It is anticipated the Company will be able to announce these final results in Q3 2018.
2018 Drill Programme
Drill Objective |
Planned (m) |
Completed (m) |
Remaining (m) |
Mining Design Considerations |
6,500.0 |
3,663.2 |
2,836.8 |
High Grade Zone Confirmation |
7,000.0 |
952.0 |
6,048.0 |
Metallurgical Sample |
6,800.0 |
463.0 |
6,337.0 |
Total |
20,300.0 |
5,078.2 |
15,221.8 |
*Analytical Results - Cautionary Comment
Analytical results presented in this and upcoming RNS announcements are internally generated by the Company using one of two Niton XL2 500 X-Ray Fluorescence units ("RFA"). The RFA units provide initial results allowing for a rapid turnaround to assist in decision making to finalise drill hole site selections and are indicative. Use of these results is not without risk if the units have not been rigorously tested and calibrated. Annually and at the beginning of every field season, these units undergo a calibration programme that uses standards provided with the units and existing samples that have been analysed by external facilities (ASL).
The final and definitive source of analytical results is produced by Alex Stewart Laboratories ("ASL") located in Moscow, Russia. This fully independent, licenced and certified laboratory provides the results that are used in resource estimation and is of a greater accuracy than that of the RFA unit especially for values in excess of 1.0% nickel.
Glossary
DEFINITIONS OF EXPLORATION RESULTS, RESOURCES & RESERVES
EXTRACTED FROM THE JORC CODE: (December 2012) (www.jorc.org)
A 'Mineral Resource' is a concentration or occurrence of material of intrinsic economic interest in or on the Earth's crust in such form, quality and quantity that there are reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction. The location, quantity, grade, geological characteristics and continuity of a Mineral Resource are known, estimated or interpreted from specific geological evidence and knowledge. Mineral Resources are sub-divided, in order of increasing geological confidence, into Inferred, Indicated and Measured categories.
An 'Inferred Mineral Resource' is that part of a Mineral Resource for which tonnage, grade and mineral content can be estimated with a low level of confidence. It is inferred from geological evidence and assumed but not verified geological and/or grade continuity. It is based on information gathered through appropriate techniques from locations such as outcrops, trenches, pits, workings and drill holes which may be limited or of uncertain quality and reliability.
An 'Indicated Mineral Resource' is that part of a Mineral Resource for which tonnage, densities, shape, physical characteristics, grade and mineral content can be estimated with a reasonable level of confidence. It is based on exploration, sampling and testing information gathered through appropriate techniques from locations such as outcrops, trenches, pits, workings and drill holes. The locations are too widely or inappropriately spaced to confirm geological and/or grade continuity but are spaced closely enough for continuity to be assumed.
A 'Measured Mineral Resource' is that part of a Mineral Resource for which tonnage, densities, shape, physical characteristics, grade and mineral content can be estimated with a high level of confidence. It is based on detailed and reliable exploration, sampling and testing information gathered through appropriate techniques from locations such as outcrops, trenches, pits, workings and drill holes. The locations are spaced closely enough to confirm geological and/or grade continuity.
An 'Ore Reserve' is the economically mineable part of a Measured and/or Indicated Mineral Resource. It includes diluting materials and allowances for losses which may occur when the material is mined. Appropriate assessments and studies have been carried out, and include consideration of and modification by realistically assumed mining, metallurgical, economic, marketing, legal, environmental, social and governmental factors. These assessments demonstrate at the time of reporting that extraction could reasonably be justified. Ore Reserves are sub-divided in order of increasing confidence into Probable Ore Reserves and Proved Ore Reserves.
