Dundas Ilmenite Project 2019 Work Programme

Bluejay Mining plc / EPIC: JAY / Market: AIM / Sector: Mining

18 June 2019

Bluejay Mining plc ('Bluejay' or the 'Company')

Dundas Ilmenite Project 2019 Work Programme

 

Bluejay Mining plc, the AIM and FSE listed company with projects in Greenland and Finland, is pleased to provide an updated 2019 work programme for its 100% owned Dundas Ilmenite Project in Greenland ('Dundas' or the 'Project'), the world's highest-grade mineral sands ilmenite project.

 

Key focus & deliverables for the 2019 work programme

·    Focus on preparing bulk smelter sample for shipment to Rio Tinto Iron and Titanium Canada Inc.'s ('RTIT') Sorel-Tracy plant in Quebec, Canada

·    Construction of 2,400t per week ROM demonstration plant for processing of ilmenite-bearing sand sample into a heavy mineral concentrate

·    Completion of the final year of the shallow-marine Environmental Base-Line Study

·    Continue with onsite infrastructure development

·    Lodgement of mining licence application

 

Bluejay continues to progress the development of its advanced flagship asset, Dundas, where it recently upgraded the Mineral Resource to 117 million tonnes at 6.1% ilmenite in-situ and submitted key modules in the Mining Licence application process including the Environmental Impact Assessment ('EIA'), the Social Impact Assessment ('SIA') and the pre-feasibility study ('PFS').

 

The Company has now finalised the 2019 Dundas work programme, prioritising shipping and processing of the 40,000-tonne ilmenite-bearing sand bulk sample to produce a smelter sample of minimum 5,000 tonne heavy mineral concentrate for shipment and analyse at RTIT's Sorel-Tracy plant in Quebec, Canada. This follows the recent agreement with RTIT to jointly analyse and assess the ilmenite from the Dundas project.

 

To view the announcement with the illustrative maps and diagrams please follow this link: http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/5985C_1-2019-6-18.pdf

 

Bluejay CEO Roderick McIllree said: "I am pleased to report an update on our very extensive 2019 work programme, which will provide a solid foundation for the continued development of Dundas during this field season. This work programme will enable us to satisfy our agreement with RTIT by delivering 5,000 tonnes of ilmenite-bearing sands to a potential major customer.  This milestone, when paired with the further advancement of site works, completion of the final year of offshore studies as well as continuing to drive towards permitting demonstrates significant progress that will be made during 2019.

 

"Looking ahead, we anticipate the official lodgement of our exploitation application in the coming months and prior to this we expect to provide a progress update on other assets in our portfolio. I am delighted that after experiencing delays with respect to certain aspects of the Project, we are now starting to build momentum again leading into the approval of a mining licence."

 

Bulk Sample Preparation & Shipment

Following Bluejay's recent agreement with RTIT to jointly assess the ilmenite from the Dundas project, a bulk sample will be prepared and shipped to Bluejay's demonstration-scale plant site in Canada. The operational team at Dundas is now finalising plans for transportation of approximately 40,000 tonnes of in situ high grade ilmenite bearing sand that will be shipped from Dundas during Q32019. This will be upgraded to 5,000 tonnes to be delivered to RTIT.  The bulk sample requires approval from the Government of Greenland which will be sought in the coming weeks.

 

Additional preparation required for the shipment of the bulk sample includes the construction of a large barge landing-ramp which will be used as a platform for the direct loading of the bulk sample onto a Supramax ice-class 1A carrier and transport to an industrial area for further processing.

 

Figure 1: Bulk Sampling Operations within the onshore 13 km long and up to 1.5 km wide Project area
during the 2018 season. 

 

Demonstration Plant

The material, on arrival to an industrial site in Quebec, Canada, will be refined utilising Bluejay's containerized demonstration plant facility (see Figure 2) that is expected to be delivered to site in early Q3 2019. This facility will allow processing of the ilmenite-bearing sand into a heavy mineral concentrate batch of a minimum 5,000 tonne that will be used as the test parcel at the smelter. The plant will produce a heavy mineral concentrate with around 89% ilmenite. The plant is constructed using the same equipment identified by Royal IHC Robbins in the detailed engineering and mineral separation flow sheet. The demonstration-plant circuits will comprise all necessary scrubbers with vibrating screens, different wet spiral concentrators, an upward current classifier, dewatering screens and water management systems. The plant also allows for verification of the process design and optimised processing at a demonstration-scale.

 

Figure 2: Sketch of the Dundas Ilmenite Project demonstration plant that will be used to produce in excess of 5000t heavy mineral concentrate for the smeltable bulk-sample.

 

Shallow-Marine Studies

Following the announcement dated 29 May 2019 regarding Bluejay's maiden 300-530Mt shallow-marine JORC compliant Exploration Target at Dundas, the Company will this year complete the four-year Environmental Base-Line Study in the shallow-marine licence area of the Project.  Bluejay will continue evaluation of the shallow-marine Exploration Target, with the eventual goal of converting this into a JORC defined resource.

 

The final year of the shallow-marine environmental baseline study will be extended to depths of 50m under water. The study will be undertaken by the consultant company Orbicon Arctic A/S, which completed the onshore EIA recently submitted to the Greenlandic authorities.  Orbicon Arctic A/S will carry out the survey using a remotely operated submersible vehicle that will video-document and sample the sea-bed conditions, general habitat and ecosystem, as well as assess the seabed conditions for offshore exploration and development operations at Dundas.  This sampling programme will allow for the eventual application for a marine exploitation licence, once this target has been sufficiently developed and the expanded production plan for Dundas is completed.

 

Infrastructure Development

The Company is currently progressing the expansion of its mining fleet (see Figure 3), the general infrastructure at the camp at Dundas and is installing a fully comprehensive communications system. This is in addition to the barge-ramp construction, which will be a large undertaking this year.

 

Inuplan A/S, a local Greenlandic engineering and construction company with more than 50 years of experience advising on large infrastructural projects and construction in arctic conditions in Greenland, has been engaged to assess the Company's infrastructure development plans for Dundas. Its involvement in this assessment will bring critical local expertise on construction and cold weather design, as well as ensuring compliance with Greenlandic building regulations.  Inuplan A/S will, as part of the assessment, complete a technical visit at Dundas this year.

 

CEO Inuplan A/S Kristian Lennert said: "We are excited to be working with the team at Dundas Titanium A/S on this exciting and low impact project. We regard this as a very promising project with a lot of benefit for the Greenlandic society. We look forward to adding local Greenlandic expertise to the development."

 

Figure 3: D9 Caterpillar dozer ready to be deployed and added to the mining fleet at Dundas. The 49 tons D9 dozer will also be used in the production of the ilmenite-bearing sand bulk-sample, related infrastructure development and ship loading operation at Dundas this year.

 

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
Ingo Hofmaier	Hannam & Partners (Advisory) LLP	+44 (0) 20 7907 8500
Andrew Chubb	Hannam & Partners (Advisory) LLP	+44 (0) 20 7907 8500
Hugo de Salis	St Brides Partners Ltd	+44 (0) 20 7236 1177
Cosima Akerman	St Brides Partners Ltd	+44 (0) 20 7236 1177