31st Jan 2005 08:21
Albidon Limited31 January 2005 Suite 1 Hillway House 141 BroadwayALBIDON LIMITED Nedlands 6009 Western Australia ARBN 107 288 755 Tel:x+61x8x9389 6300 Fax:x +61x8x9389 6400 Email: [email protected] ASX Code: ALB AIM Code: ALD www.albidon.com 31 January 2004 Market release via electronic lodgement QUARTERLY ACTIVITIES REPORT FOR THE PERIOD ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2004 Highlights Focused Exploration • Drilling has further extended the zone of massive sulphide mineralization intersected last quarter at the Munali nickel-copper-cobalt-platinum deposit in Zambia. The best drill intersection is 31m @ 2.29% Ni, 0.35% Cu, 0.11% Co and 1.19g/t PGM; • High grade Platinum Group Metal ('PGM') mineralisation with grades up to 4.5g/t over a downhole thickness of 3m has also been identified at Munali; • Airborne magnetic surveys and geochemical sampling programs were completed at Munali as well as on several early stage nickel-platinum exploration projects in Zambia, Tanzania and Malawi; and • Geochemical sampling has identified a new gold prospect at Kef Agheb on the Nefza project in Tunisia. Joint Venture Activity • Airborne and ground geophysical surveys were completed on the Tati and Tekwane nickel projects in Botswana and target definition is under way; and • Drilling continued to follow up the Nkenja platinum-nickel discovery on the Luwumbu Joint Venture in Tanzania. Generative Work • Albidon further extended its large tenement holding in the Selebi-Phikwe nickel mining district of Botswana. Corporate • WMC Resources ('WMC') successfully completed due diligence and commenced exploration on the projects included in the Albidon-WMC Exploration Co-operation Agreement; • During the quarter 2,038,835 shares and 5,200,000 options were released from escrow. All of these securities, except for 200,000 options, are subject to a voluntary escrow on the London Stock Exchange until 26 March 2005. 200,000 options were exercised during the quarter at USD20cents each. • Cash position at 31 December 2004 was A$9.9m. Outlook • Following on from the encouraging drilling results at Munali from the 2004 program, the Company is undertaking a scoping study focused on the newly discovered high grade zone. An updated resource estimate will be produced as part of this study. The remaining assay results for drillholes completed in 2004 will be available in February. A drill rig is on site at Munali ready to recommence drilling; • Analysis of the new airborne geophysical data will be used to guide follow-up evaluation of several recently discovered nickel prospects in the Munali tenement area; • The Tekwane and Tati (Botswana) airborne and ground geophysical survey data will be analysed in detail to refine targets for follow-up including drilling; • Drilling will continue on the Luwumbu Joint Venture to further evaluate the Nkenja platinum-nickel mineralisation; • Grid-based sampling will be undertaken to evaluate the gold anomaly defined at Kef Agheb in Tunisia; and • WMC Resources will commence field operations on the JV project areas. 1. Munali Nickel-Copper-Cobalt-Platinum Deposit, Zambia Albidon Limited 100% Location: approximately 60km south of Lusaka in southern Zambia. Twenty five cored drillholes with an average separation of 40m or greater werecompleted in a program designed to define the grade and thickness distributionof a high-grade zone of Ni-Cu-Co-PGM sulphide mineralisation in the Munalinickel deposit. All drillholes intersected mineralisation, with the majority ofholes recording massive to semi-massive sulphides ranging in thickness between4.5m and 30m. Available assay results have been announced in releases to themarket in October, November and December, and results for a further 9 drillholesare pending, expected in the next quarter. A selection of previously reporteddrill intersections is summarised in the following table: Hole ID Interval (m) Ni % Cu % Co % PGM g/t MAD048 10.5 1.34 0.13 0.07 0.76 MAD049 12.2 1.18 0.15 0.06 0.83 MAD050 31 2.29 0.35 0.11 1.19 MAD051 7.5 1.49 0.21 0.07 1.25 MAD052 19.8 1.07 0.13 0.04 0.91 MAD053 18.9 1.43 0.16 0.06 0.95 MAD056A 11 2.41 0.36 0.11 1.36 These drill intersections represent the best thicknesses and grades encounteredat Munali to date and they support the Company's view that the host rock 'intrusion' contains a series of continuous, high-grade nickel sulphide brecciazones that are tapping a deeper and potentially much larger system at depth. The drill program also encountered a previously unknown zone of high gradePlatinum Group Metal ('PGM') mineralization located about 10m above the mainnickel sulphide body at Munali. Grades up to 4.5g/t Pt+Pd (platinum pluspalladium) are present over down-hole thicknesses of 3m. Additional drilling isrequired to assess the potential of this zone. Drilling at Munali will recommence in late January, to further delineate theextent of the high grade zone drilled in the December quarter. Additional workplanned for the next period includes a scoping study for underground mining atMunali, based on the results of drilling to date. If this study is positive, thedrilling program will be accelerated to drill out the full extent of thishigh-grade body and generate a new JORC-compliant resource estimate. 2. Zambia Regional Nickel Exploration Projects: Munali and Kabeswa: Albidon Limited 100% Location: approximately 100km south of Lusaka in southern Zambia. An airborne geophysical survey (magnetic and radiometric), was completed inDecember over the bulk of the Munali and Kabeswa Licences (4,258 linekilometres). Interpretation of the survey data is under way with the aim ofidentifying new exploration targets. Soil geochemical sampling on the Munali and Kabeswa tenements has defined ananomalous zone of coincident Cu, Ni and Co assays over a strike length of atleast 800m and up to 500m wide. The anomaly is located 6km northwest of theMunali deposit and 1km along strike to the NW of a previously identifiedElectromagnetic "EM" anomaly that has not yet been drill-tested. This zone willbe further evaluated in the coming months. Reconnaissance rock sampling has identified a copper gossan (up to 0.6% Cu) withevidence of possible nickel leaching, associated with prospective geology alonga major structure some 10km to the south east of the Munali deposit. Systematicfollow up of this area is warranted. Zimba: Albidon Limited 100%, currently funded and operated by WMC under the ExplorationCo-operation Agreement Location: approximately 200km south west of Lusaka in southern Zambia. Widely spaced soil sampling over 4 magnetic anomalies in the northern portion ofthe licence was completed in October (892 samples). Preliminary review of thedata suggests there are no targets of interest in this area. Re-sampling of selected trenches and pits excavated by a previous tenementholder in the 1970's returned up to 0.4% Cu over 6m at Lunganya in the northeast portion of the licence area. This requires follow-up sampling. 3. Luwumbu Platinum-Nickel Project, Tanzania Albidon Limited 10%, project operated by Goldstream Mining NL and funded byLonmin plc Location: Livingstone Mountains of southwestern Tanzania. A drill program has been commenced with the objective of further testing themineralised zone intersected in reconnaissance diamond drillhole NDH03 (9m @1.56g/t platinum + palladium + gold). PGM mineralisation has been intersected in the first two diamond drill holescompleted at Nkenja. Hole End of hole Depth (m) Interval (m) Pt+Pd+Au g/t NHD01 229.70 51.00 24.00 0.20 includes 63.00 1.00 0.60 113.00 12.00 0.31 includes 117.00 1.00 0.70 163.20 1.80 0.43 199.00 1.00 0.45NHD02 92.30 54.00 7.00 0.41 includes 54.00 1.00 0.75 Hole NHD01 was designed to test a 2.5g/t PGM soil anomaly and intersectedseveral 1 to 2m wide zones of 0.2 to 0.7g/t PGM. Two other holes were planned toinvestigate the mineralisation along strike however heavy rains precludedfurther drill rig movement from the NHD01 site. A second short hole, NHD02, wasdrilled vertically from the same location to confirm dip information. Hole NHD02intersected 7 @ 0.41g/t PGM 35m down dip from the stratigraphically equivalentzone in hole NHD01 which assayed 4m @ 0.14g/t PGM showing considerable gradevariation over a short strike interval. The 1,000m drill program will resume in early February to take advantage in apredicted lull in the rainy season. 4. Tati and Selebi-Phikwe Nickel-Platinum Projects, Botswana Location: adjacent to the towns of Francistown and Selebi-Phikwe in easternBotswana. Tati Project: Joint Venture with Gallery Gold Limited An Induced Polarisation ('IP') ground geophysical survey was completed atTekwane and adjacent areas between the Selkirk and Phoenix nickel mines.Analysis of the data and selection of targets for follow up will commence nextmonth to refine targets for follow-up including drilling. An airborne electromagnetic survey ("EM") was completed over the northwesternportion of the option area during the quarter. Data processing has beencompleted and target interpretation will commence in January. Soil geochemical sampling was undertaken to evaluate a number of explorationtargets identified from compilation and re-interpretation of historicalexploration data. Assay data for the geochemical sampling are pending. Selebi-Phikwe Project: Albidon Limited 100%, currently funded and operated by WMC under the ExplorationCo-operation Agreement A reconnaissance field evaluation of the Selebi-Phikwe tenements was undertakenin conjunction with WMC who are now operating the project. Orientationgeochemical sampling was carried out over several nickel prospects, with resultspending. The geochemical data will be combined with interpretation ofhigh-resolution aeromagnetic data in the next quarter to define areas forfollow-up with electromagnetic surveys to define drill targets. Four additional prospecting licences have been awarded to Albidon, two of whichare contiguous with the Selebi-Phikwe project area and two of which form a newproject area - the Machaneng Project, about 120km south of the Selebi-Phikwenickel mines. The Company now holds tenements over a total of 9,477 square km inthis highly prospective district. Systematic exploration will commence in thecoming months, guided by the results of the initial assessment conducted by WMC. 5. Tanzania Regional Nickel-Platinum Projects Albidon Limited 100%, currently funded and operated by WMC under the ExplorationCo-operation Agreement Location: southern Livingstone Mountains, southwest Tanzania. The first phase of a program of Heavy Mineral Sampling ("HMS") has beencompleted over Albidon's wholly owned exploration licences covering an area ofover 4,100 sq km south and east of Luwumbu. Preliminary results from the programare encouraging, with confirmation of the presence of ultramafic source rocksfavourable for nickel and platinum mineralisation. Full results from the HMSprogram are expected early in the New Year. A high-resolution airborne magnetic and radiometric survey is planned for latein the next quarter, depending on the availability of suitable aircraft andequipment and also favourable weather conditions. The HMS information combined with the completion of the airborne survey willenable Albidon and WMC to undertake a systematic evaluation of this prospectiveyet virtually unexplored area for nickel and platinum mineralisation. 6. Malawi Nickel-Platinum Projects Location: adjacent to the cities of Blantyre and Lilongwe in central andsouthern Malawi. Kabeswa and Bua River Projects: Albidon 100%, currently funded and operated by WMC under the ExplorationCo-operation Agreement An airborne magnetic and radiometric survey over these tenements totalling19,796 line kilometres was completed in early October. Preliminary review ofthis data has identified numerous mafic and ultramafic intrusives, potentialhost rocks for nickel mineralisation. Detailed interpretation of the geophysicaldata is under way and definition of targets for follow-up exploration will becompleted in the next quarter. 7. Nefza Copper-Gold Project, Tunisia Albidon Limited 100% Location: northwestern Tunisia, about 80km to the west of the capital city,Tunis. Albidon's Exploration Permit (EP) application covering the Nefza copper-goldproject was formally gazetted by the Tunisian Ministry of Industry and Energy on2 November 2004. The EP covers an area of 4,160 sq km of highly mineralisedterrain between the Atlas Mountains and the Mediterranean Sea. Based on aninitial field evaluation, WMC has advised that the project will not be includedin the Exploration Co-operation Agreement. Following an assessment of orientation results and confirmation of significantAu associated with Cu mineralization at Oued Belif and other prospects,systematic geochemical sampling commenced during the quarter. This included theprospects at Oued Belif, Ras Rajel, Haddada and Kef Agheb. The most promising initial results are from Kef Agheb where highly anomalousgold values were recorded in soils, with a maximum of 0.27g/t. Follow up fieldchecking revealed extensive iron oxide-silica breccia and alteration zones.Results of infill soil and follow-up rock-chip sampling are pending, and thesewill form the basis of ongoing exploration in the next quarter. 8. Jebel Trozza Zinc Project, Tunisia Joint Venture with BHP World Exploration Inc (BHP Billiton) Location: north-central Tunisia about 120km south of Tunis. Albidon is managing the project on behalf of a joint venture between Albidon anda BHP Billiton subsidiary. Trozza is covered by an Exploration Permit over anarea of 2,300 sq km, held by BHPB. At Jebel Touilla geological mapping has been combined with analysis ofhistorical mining records to define drill targets to test the down-plunge anddown-dip extensions of the high grade zinc mineralisation reported in the lastquarter. If targets are confirmed by ongoing analysis of the data, a drillprogram will commence in April 2005, provided suitable drilling equipment isavailable. Full details for all projects including location maps, tenement schedules andtechnical descriptions may be found on the Albidon website at www.albidon.com Donal Windrim Managing Director Information in this report relating to exploration results is based on datacompiled by Donal Windrim, who is employed by the Company. He has sufficientrelevant experience to qualify as a Competent Person under the JORC Code andconsents to the inclusion of the data in the form and context in which itappears. If you have any queries please contact the Company Secretary, Nicholas Day on+61 8 9389 6300 or email [email protected] Appendix 5B Mining exploration entity quarterly report Introduced 1/7/96. Origin: Appendix 8. Amended 1/7/97, 1/7/98, 30/9/2001. Name of entity ALBIDON LTD ARBN Quarter ended ("current quarter") 107 288 755 31 December 2004 Consolidated statement of cash flows Current quarter Year to date Cash flows related to operating activities $AUD'000 $AUD'000 1.1 Receipts from product sales and related 0 0 debtors 1.2 Payments for: (a) administration (370) (1,086) (b) development (c) production (d) exploration and evaluation (1,122) (3,826)1.3 Dividends received 0 01.4 Interest and other items of a similar nature 57 250 received1.5 Interest and other costs of finance paid 0 01.6 Income taxes paid 0 01.7 Other (provide details if material) 0 0 (1,435) (4,662) Net Operating Cash Flows Cash flows related to investing activities1.8 Payment for purchases of: (a) prospects 0 0 (b) equity investments 0 0 (c) other fixed assets (29) (53)1.9 Proceeds from sale of: (a) prospects 0 0 (b) equity investments 0 0 (c) other fixed 0 0 assets 1.10 Loans to other entities 0 01.11 Loans repaid by other entities 0 01.12 Recognition of Security Deposits as Cash 0 0 Net investing cash flows (29) (53)1.13 Total operating and investing cash flows (1,464) (4,715) (carried forward) 1.13 Total operating and investing cash flows (carried (1,464) (4,715) forward) Cash flows related to financing activities 1.14 Proceeds from issues of shares, options, etc. 50 15,5571.15 Proceeds from sale of forfeited shares 0 01.16 Proceeds from borrowings 0 01.17 Repayment of borrowings 0 01.18 Dividends paid 0 01.19 Cost of share issue 0 (1,388) Net financing cash flows 50 14,169 Net increase (decrease) in cash held (1,414) 9,454 1.20 Cash at beginning of quarter/year to date 11,899 4771.21 Exchange rate adjustments to item 1.20 (598) (44)1.22 Cash at end of quarter 9,887 9,887 Payments to directors of the entity and associates of the directors Payments to related entities of the entity and associates of the relatedentities Current quarter $AUD'000 151 1.23 Aggregate amount of payments to the parties included in item 1.2 01.24 Aggregate amount of loans to the parties included in item 1.10 1.25 Explanation necessary for an understanding of the transactions Salaries and directors fees paid to executive and non-executive directors of the company, for the period aggregated $81,546.17 Executive services and reimbursements of bona fide expenses provided by Hartree Pty Ltd, a company in which Mr A Cooke is a director, for the period aggregated $34,060.14 Administrative services were provided by Mitchell River Group Pty Ltd, a company in which Mr A Cooke, Dr D Windrim and Mr C Burton are directors, for the period aggregated $34,966.05 Non-cash financing and investing activities 2.1 Details of financing and investing transactions which have had a material effect on consolidated assets and liabilities but did not involve cash flows Nil2.2 Details of outlays made by other entities to establish or increase their share in projects in which the reporting entity has an interest Nil Financing facilities available Amount available Amount used $AUD $AUD3.1 Loan facilities 0 0 3.2 Credit standby arrangements 0 0 Estimated cash outflows for next quarter $AUD'0004.1 Exploration and evaluation 1,051,000 4.2 Development 0 Total Reconciliation of cash Reconciliation of cash at the end of the quarter Current quarter Previous quarter(as shown in the consolidated statement of cash flows) to the related items in the accounts is as $AUD'000 $AUD'000follows.5.1 Cash on hand and at bank 3,463 5,6135.2 Deposits at call 0 05.3 Bank overdraft 0 05.4 Term deposits 6,424 6,286 Total: cash at end of quarter (item 1.22) 9,887 11,899 Changes in interests in mining tenements Tenement reference Nature of interest Interest at Interest at beginning of end of (note (2) quarter quarter6.1 Interests in mining tenements relinquished, reduced or lapsed 6.2 Interests in mining PL 76/2004 Direct 0% 100% tenements acquired or increased PL 77/2004 Direct 0% 100% PL 78/2004 Direct 0% 100% PL 79/2004 Direct 0% 100% Issued and quoted securities at end of current quarter Description includes rate of interest and any redemption or conversion rightstogether with prices and dates. Total Number Issue price per security (see note 3) Amount paid up per security number quoted (see note 3) 7.1 Preference +securities (description) 7.2 Changes during quarter (a) Increases through issues (b) Decreases through returns of capital, buy-backs, redemptions 7.3 +Ordinary 68,368,000 48,885,800 securities 7.4 Changes US$0.20 US$0.20 during quarter (a) 200,000 200,000 Increases through issues (b) Decreases through returns of capital, buy-backs7.5 +Convertible debt securities (description)7.6 Changes during quarter (a) Increases through issues (b) Decreases through securities matured, converted7.7 Options 7,800,000 0 Number Exercise $ Expiry (description 2.8m AUD$0.60 30/06/07 and 5m USD$0.20 30/06/06 conversion factor)7.8 Issued during quarter7.9 Exercised 200,000 during quarter7.10 Expired during quarter7.11 Debentures 0 (totals only)7.12 Unsecured 0 notes (totals only) Compliance statement 1 This statement has been prepared under accounting policies, whichcomply with accounting standards as defined in the Corporations Act or otherstandards acceptable to ASX (see note 4). 2 This statement does give a true and fair view of the mattersdisclosed. Sign here: Date: 31/1/2005Company secretary Print name: Nicholas Day Notes 1 The quarterly report provides a basis for informing the market howthe entity's activities have been financed for the past quarter and the effecton its cash position. An entity wanting to disclose additional information isencouraged to do so, in a note or notes attached to this report. 2 The "Nature of interest" (items 6.1 and 6.2) includes options inrespect of interests in mining tenements acquired, exercised or lapsed duringthe reporting period. If the entity is involved in a joint venture agreementand there are conditions precedent, which will change its percentage interest ina mining tenement, it should disclose the change of percentage interest andconditions precedent in the list required for items 6.1 and 6.2. 3 Issued and quoted securities The issue price and amount paid up isnot required in items 7.1 and 7.3 for fully paid securities. 4 The definitions in, and provisions of, AASB 1022: Accounting forExtractive Industries and AASB 1026: Statement of Cash Flows apply to thisreport. 5 Accounting Standards ASX will accept, for example, the use ofInternational Accounting Standards for foreign entities. If the standards useddo not address a topic, the Australian standard on that topic (if any) must becomplied with. == == == == == This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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