Widespread's Asian Minerals provides project update
/Widespread's Asian Minerals provides update on Ban Phuc nickel mine development
Asian Mineral Resources ("ASN") is Widespread's largest investment, representing 65.8% of total assets at its present market value of Cdn $0.90 a share.
ASN made the announcement below in Canada last night. It is clear from this announcement that the company is pressing ahead with development of the nickel mine and processing plant, detailed definition drilling of the known massive sulfide deposit and with ongoing exploration activities. Negotiations continue to source funding to complete the project.
The announcement follows below.
For and on behalf of the Board,
Chris D Castle
Toronto, 5 September 2008
Asian Mineral Resources: Ban Phuc Project Development Progress UpdateTORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Sept. 4, 2008) - Asian Mineral Resources Limited ("AMR" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE:ASN) is pleased to provide an update on its construction and development activities at its 90% owned Ban Phuc Nickel-Copper Project in north Vietnam.
Ban Phuc Development Project:
Construction of the project is on target for commissioning early in the 2nd quarter of 2009. All key operating staff are on board and drill results of the resource inside the Mining License add further confidence to the reserve model. Relations with the community and local authorities remain excellent.
Process Plant and Infrastructure Construction
- Construction of the internal Process Plant access roads and related drainage completed
- Plant and infrastructure earthworks completed
- Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Management ('EPCM') contractor has mobilized to the site
- Concrete contract has been awarded and the contractor has commenced work on site
- Ball mill refurbishment in progress and on schedule for dispatch from Australia in the third quarter 2008
- Construction of the 300 bed camp is progressing well and is expected to be complete in the 3rd quarter
- Site preparation of the Tailing Storage Facility is underway and mobilisation of the contractor is on target to commence in late September when the end of the rainy season is expected to allow unrestricted access of earthmoving equipment
Underground Mine Development
- The upper and lower portals are completed
- Development of the lower portal (main haulage ramp) is on schedule - 422 meters advanced and is 40 meters from the orebody
- The cross cut to the western ore pass has advanced 22 meters from the ramp and is 20 meters from the target position of the first raisebore hole
- Progress of the upper access drive has been impacted by its proximity to surface and the weathered ground has required more support than expected. It is now in competent rock and has just 120 meters to complete before intersecting the orebody
- A contract for the excavation of the vertical raises for ore passes and ventilation has been awarded - the contractor has mobilized to site and piloting of the first hole is due to commence in mid September
Mine Definition Drilling
A diamond drilling program within the Mining License has been developed with two primary objectives:
- In-fill drilling of the massive reserves to facilitate mine planning and stope design. This is being carried out by underground drilling from the existing adits supplemented by surface drilling in deeper areas
- Development of the disseminated nickel resource - testing of the zone adjacent to the massive reserves is designed to determine whether a higher grade section(s) exists in minable dimensions
Massive Sulphide Reserve Confirmation
- 53 'in-fill' holes drilled from the adits have been completed for a total of 1,889 meters
- A detailed analysis of the in-fill drilling over a 100m x 25m section of strike adjacent to adit 301 (which contains close to 10% of the resource) has been completed and compared with the original geological model. The results indicate that:
1) small changes in the geometry of the mineralised areas can be expected, these have the potential to result in a modest loss in tonnage,
2) previous estimates for total metal content may be understated as a number of higher grade drill intersections have been recognized. While it is not possible to quantify this until the drill program is completed and a revised resource calculated, it is considered to be encouraging.
Long Section looking north showing widths of massive sulphide reserves is available at the following web link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/asndiagram1.jpg
- Key results from the drilling along adit 301 include the following:
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Hole From To Intercept True Ni Cu Co
ID (m) (m) Width (m) Width (m) % % %
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BP301-4 16.60 23.20 6.6 4.2 3.5 1.4 0.1
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BP301-5 22.00 24.50 2.5 2.0 6.8 1.9 0.2
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BP301-6 46.90 52.50 5.6 3.0 6.6 1.7 0.2
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BP301-18 48.30 54.70 6.4 2.2 5.8 1.7 0.2
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BP301-18A 34.35 36.95 2.6 2.6 6.7 2.3 0.2
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BP301-19 16.00 17.90 1.9 1.3 6.9 0.6 0.2
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21.40 26.00 4.6 3.1 5.2 1.8 0.1
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33.90 35.10 1.2 0.8 4.2 1.0 0.1
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BP301-23 32.30 44.40 12.1 7.1 4.4 1.6 0.1
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BP301-24 12.00 26.50 14.5 13.9 1.9 0.5 0.1
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BP301-25 25.65 31.00 4.8 3.8 3.6 1.5 0.1
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34.60 48.40 13.8 10.9 4.2 1.9 0.1
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BP301-28 8.30 12.00 3.7 3.3 1.8 0.9 0.0
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18.76 23.00 4.2 3.9 5.8 1.5 0.2
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BP301-30 24.00 31.50 7.5 7.4 3.9 1.7 0.1
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Disseminated Sulphide Resource Evaluation
- Drilling of the disseminated resource lying within the Mining License ('ML') and below the base of oxidation is well underway with receipt of the results from 10 holes drilled from surface. The target area extends over a strike of 150 meters and drilling to date has confirmed the presence of a zone with elevated grades as reported in the table below:
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Hole ID From (m) To (m) Intercept (m) True Width (m) Ni % Cu %
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BP07-01 70.00 78.00 8.00 4.59 0.95 0.22
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BP07-02 58.10 66.45 8.35 4.79 0.76 0.67
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74.00 82.00 8.00 4.59 0.84 0.34
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BP07-03 89.90 101.00 11.10 6.37 0.93 0.08
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BP07-04 52.96 55.90 2.94 1.69 2.50 0.76
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BP08-01 163.75 164.90 1.15 0.74 6.68 2.31
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BP08-02 187.85 195.90 8.05 4.62 1.79 0.57
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BP08-03 154.40 160.00 5.55 5.00 0.68 0.54
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BP08-05 165.30 180.00 14.7 8.10 0.57 0.06
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BP08-09 82.00 107.20 25.2 20.0 1.33 0.20
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BP08-12 61.40 82.00 20.6 16.9 1.01 0.46
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- These results indicate the presence of a zone of greater than 0.7% Ni, drilling is continuing and it is anticipated that the program will be completed and a resource calculated in the 4th quarter.
- Preliminary metallurgical testwork carried out on a bulk sample taken from the adits indicates that a saleable concentrate can be produced with minimal changes to the existing flowsheet. Confirmatory testwork is planned on a composite sample to be collected from select core taken from the current drilling program.
Exploration:
- Exploration activities in the areas around the mine continued with the primary focus in the 2nd quarter being the completion of a series of Fixed Loop Electro Magnetic surveys. Overall, 1097 stations were acquired for a total of 52 line km of data (7 fixed loops and 49 survey lines) over 4 prospect areas. Preliminary assessment of the data has identified five anomalies and, subject to final review, drilling of these targets will commence in the 3rd quarter, weather permitting. These five targets have been identified as follows:
-- Adit 7 (approx 1km east of Ban Phuc ML) - 1x deep, moderate-weak conductor
-- Suoi Tao (approx 6km east of Ban Phuc ML) - 2x conductors, one strong and one moderate
-- BanTran (approx 3km SE of Ban Phuc ML) - 1x strong conductor
-- Co Muong (approx 4km SE of Ban Phuc ML) - 1x weak conductor
A map of the five targets is available at the following web link:http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/asndiagram2.jpg
- Drilling of these anomalies has commenced, with:
-- Two holes completed in Ban Trang which intersected an unmineralised graphitic horizon
-- At Suoi Tao drilling of the moderate conductor has commenced. A previous hole to the south of the anomaly intersected low grade disseminated sulphides within what is likely a continuation of the same ultramafic dyke.
- An agreement to supply three drill rigs has been concluded with an Indonesian contractor, which will increase the current drill fleet and allow a more detailed program of follow up drilling. The first rig is expected on site in September.
Grade calculations are based on a 0.4% Ni lower cut off to define the mineralised structure, with no upper cut. Analytical work is being carried out at the independent ALS Laboratory Group., Perth, Australia. Analysis is by ICP from a four acid digest. Blanks and standards are being used to monitor laboratory performance during the analysis. This press release has been reviewed by in-house qualified person Simon Mottram, Member of the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM).
Liquidity
At June 30, the Company had on hand cash and cash equivalents of $28.5 million. This amount was reduced to a current level of $14 million, with most of the expenditures having been incurred for the project development described above. As previously disclosed, the Company requires a further $45 million for project completion and other budgeted expenditures. Negotiations are ongoing for the financing of this amount.
Company Profile:
AMR is developing the Ban Phuc Nickel-Copper Project in which it has a 90% interest. The Project based on current reserves is designed to produce some 5,500 tonnes pa of nickel and associated copper credits in concentrate in the first two years and average 4,500 tonnes pa of nickel over the mine life. Commercial sulphide concentrate production is scheduled in the second quarter of 2009. The Company has also reinstituted a regional exploration program around its Ban Phuc Nickel Project.
For further details on the Company and the Ban Phuc Nickel Project please refer to the website atwww.asianminres.com.
