2nd Oct 2008 07:00
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Albidon Limited |
Level 1 |
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62 Colin St |
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West Perth 6005 Western Australia ARBN 107 288 755 Tel:+6189211 4600 Fax: +6189211 4699 Email:[email protected] ASX Code: ALB AIM Code: ALD |
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2 October 2008
BFS UPDATE FOR THE CHIRUNDU URANIUM JV PROJECT
http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/9026E_-2008-10-2.pdf
HIGHLIGHTS:
Infill Reverse circulation (RC) drilling continues to deliver good results.
Recent results from infill drilling at the Njame deposit continue to demonstrate ore grades and thicknesses of uranium mineralisation, and include:
16m @ 885 ppm U3O8from 26m
6m @ 664 ppm U3O8 from 23m
9m @ 364 ppm U3O8 from 39m
21m @ 214 ppm U3O8 from 18m
10m @ 413 ppm U3O8 from 30m
16m @ 451 ppm U3O8 from 24m
8m @ 347 ppm U3O8 from 33m
8m @ 506 ppm U3O8 from 22m
11m @ 349 ppm U3O8 from 29m
The RC drilling component of the infill drilling programme has been completed ahead of schedule and on budget for both the Njame and Gwabe deposits.
Large diameter infill drilling will be completed in October, on time and on budget. These core samples will provide material for uranium assays, metallurgical testwork and for geotechnical logging.
The infill drilling was designed to enable both deposits to be classified as Indicated Resources. In addition, the target at Njame was for the first two years of production to be classified as a Measured Resource.
A Measured and Indicated Resource statement will be prepared in Q4, 2008.
GRDM Minproc (Johannesburg) has been appointed Study Manager of the Bankable Feasibility Study (BFS) and will lead a consortium of consulting companies who have been contracted to undertake mine design, process design, engineering design, geotechnical studies, leach pad design, hydrogeological studies and metallurgical testwork programmes.
The BFS is scheduled for completion in Q2, 2009.
INTRODUCTION
The BFS for the Chirundu Project commenced in May 2008. The Chirundu Project comprises two uranium deposits, Njame and Gwabe, and is a joint venture between African Energy (the JV Manager and 70% equity holder) and Albidon (30% equity holder). The project is located 150km by road from Lusaka the capital city of Zambia (Diagram 1).
The Prefeasibility Study (PFS) completed in 2008 demonstrated that commercially viable mining of uranium from the Chirundu Project is possible under the projected uranium price, capital and operating cost scenarios derived from the PFS, with mining operations to be by open pit methods and using an acid heap leach and ion-exchange recovery process.
RESOURCE DRILLING UPDATE
Infill drilling programmes at Njame and Gwabe commenced in June 2008 with the following goals:
Reverse circulation (RC) percussion drilling to decrease the spacing between sampling points to permit a higher confidence resource classification to be derived.
Drill hole spacing has locally been reduced to a 25m x 25m grid at Njame to provide enough information to derive a Measured Resource for the first two years of planned production, with the remainder of both deposits drilled to a 100m x 50m or 50m x 50m grid suitable for an Indicated Resource (refer to Diagrams 2 and 3).
A programme of large diameter core drilling (PQ core, 85mm diameter) at both deposits commenced in June to supplement the assay samples collected from RC drilling, to provide core for geotechnical logging and to provide up to 20 tonnes of mineralised sample for metallurgical testwork.
The RC drilling programme was completed in mid-September, ahead of schedule and on budget. The core drilling programme is scheduled for completion in early October. Assays are not expected for all samples until late November. This data will be used as the basis for a resource upgrade to Measured and Indicated status, as outlined above.
Initial assay results from the RC drilling programme at Njame continue to confirm the presence of ore grades and thicknesses of uranium mineralisation (refer to Table below and to Diagram 2):
|
Hole ID |
From (m) |
To (m) |
Interval (m) |
Assay, U3O8 ppm |
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|
|
|
|
|
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NJN338 |
36 |
39 |
3 |
327 |
|
NJN341 |
30 |
34 |
4 |
154 |
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NJN343 |
51 |
60 |
9 |
140 |
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NJN344 |
45 |
54 |
9 |
184 |
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NJN347 |
50 |
58 |
8 |
194 |
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NJN351 |
38 |
46 |
8 |
237 |
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NJN360 |
13 |
20 |
7 |
203 |
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NJN362 |
13 |
19 |
6 |
197 |
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NJN372 |
29 |
40 |
11 |
349 |
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NJN380 |
26 |
29 |
3 |
430 |
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NJN389 |
22 |
30 |
8 |
506 |
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NJN398 |
29 |
33 |
4 |
353 |
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NJN399 |
29 |
34 |
5 |
338 |
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NJN401 |
30 |
37 |
7 |
154 |
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NJN403 |
33 |
41 |
8 |
347 |
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NJN404 |
24 |
40 |
16 |
451 |
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NJN405 |
30 |
40 |
10 |
413 |
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NJN413 |
22 |
29 |
7 |
214 |
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NJN415 |
18 |
39 |
21 |
214 |
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NJN416 |
37 |
41 |
4 |
285 |
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NJN421 |
38 |
51 |
13 |
112 |
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NJN422 |
2 |
12 |
10 |
138 |
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NJN426 |
34 |
41 |
7 |
245 |
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NJN431 |
30 |
36 |
6 |
221 |
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NJN432 |
39 |
42 |
3 |
551 |
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NJN433 |
27 |
31 |
4 |
317 |
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NJN434 |
14 |
20 |
6 |
206 |
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NJN435 |
18 |
27 |
9 |
180 |
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NJN436 |
16 |
27 |
11 |
169 |
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NJN444 |
40 |
48 |
8 |
255 |
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NJN454 |
27 |
31 |
4 |
656 |
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NJN455 |
39 |
48 |
9 |
364 |
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NJN458 |
23 |
29 |
6 |
664 |
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NJN461 |
41 |
44 |
3 |
537 |
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NJN462 |
26 |
42 |
16 |
885 |
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NJN464 |
17 |
19 |
2 |
437 |
BANKABLE FEASIBILITY STUDIES UPDATE
In May 2008, African Energy and Albidon committed to a BFS for the Njame and Gwabe uranium deposits, based on the results of the previously completed PFS. After a detailed design and scoping phase, the following consultants have been appointed to undertake the various aspects of the BFS:
GRD Minproc (Johannesburg) have been appointed as Study Manager,
GRD Minproc (Johannesburg) have been appointed to undertake the detailed engineering and process design,
Mintek have been appointed to perform the metallurgical testwork,
Sound Mining Solutions Central Africa have been appointed to undertake the Mining Study,
Sound Mining Solutions Central Africa have been appointed to undertake the Geotechnical Study,
Knight-Piesold have been appointed to undertake the Heap Leach Pad design,
Knight-Piesold have been appointed to undertake the Hydrogeological Study, and
Added Value Engineering Consultants (AVEC) have been appointed as Owner's Representative.
African Energy's in-house consultants will undertake all aspects of permitting required for the Chirundu Project, including the Mining Licence Application (submitted in June 2008), the Environmental Impact Statement (first draft submitted in June 2008) and the negotiations for an Investment Protection and Promotion Agreement.
All aspects of the BFS have commenced, and is scheduled for completion in the second quarter of 2009, at a total cost of USD $7.5 million (including drilling costs).
The Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves (the 'JORC Code') sets out minimum standards, recommendations and guidelines for Public Reporting in Australasia of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves. The information contained in this announcement has been presented in accordance with the JORC Code and references to "Measured and Indicated Resources" are to those terms as defined in the JORC Code.
Information in this report relating to Exploration results, Mineral Resources or Ore Reserves is based on information compiled by Dr Frazer Tabeart (an employee and the Managing Director of African Energy Resources Limited) who is a member of The Australian Institute of Geoscientists. Dr Tabeart has sufficient experience which is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity which he is undertaking to qualify as a Competent Person under the 2004 Edition of the Australasian Code for reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves. Dr Tabeart consents to the inclusion of the data in the form and context in which it appears.
Location of the Chirundu Uranium JV Project and the prospects referred to in the text.See Diagram 1 in the hyperlink above
Drill location plan for Njame showing the locations of all drill holes completed for resource delineation drilling. See Diagram 2 in the hyperlink above
Drill location plan for Gwabe showing the locations of all drill holes completed for resource delineation drilling. See Diagram 3 in the hyperlink above
For more information about Albidon and its projects please visit our web site at www.albidon.com or contact: Dale Rogers (Albidon's Managing Director) on +61 8 9211 4600 or email [email protected]
Albidon's nominated adviser is RFC Corporate Finance Ltd, contact Stephen Allen +61 8 9480 2500.
About Albidon Ltd.
The Company was established in April 2000 and listed on both AIM and ASX stock exchanges in March 2004. The Board and management have a diversity of skills in exploration, mining, metallurgy, concentrate marketing, logistics and project finance in Africa and elsewhere.
The Company's main focus on East Africa is based on the assessment that this region holds the potential to be one of the world's premier nickel mining districts. Albidon's development activities have been centred on the Munali Nickel Project, in Zambia, where the Company completed a positive Bankable Feasibility Study in July 2006. Exploration drilling is ongoing, with the aim of expanding the nickel resource base in the Munali district.
Munali (100% Albidon) is located approximately 60 kilometres south of Zambia's capital city Lusaka. The Munali project area comprises the Enterprise Deposit and a number of other nickel prospects in the Munali Intrusion, the most advanced of which is the Voyager prospect along strike to the north of Enterprise.Project construction is now complete, with first production of nickel concentrates achieved in mid 2008.
The other projects are at an early stage of exploration, where prospects range in degree of maturity from mineralized drill intersections to large licence holdings which cover prospective ground with identified targets that have not yet been drilled, such as the Songea nickel project in Tanzania and the Selebi-Phikwe Project in Botswana.
The Company believes the east and southern African projects have potential for discovery of substantial nickel sulphide deposits, and further that they represent a regional exploration opportunity in a relatively unexplored terrain.
Albidon's large licence holdings in southern and eastern Zambia also have potential for substantial uranium deposits, as confirmed by the recently announced positive pre-feasibility study on the Chirundu Uranium Projects
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