16th Apr 2013 07:00
16 April 2013
West African Minerals Corporation
("WAFM" or the "Company")
Latest assay results from South Djadom drilling
extend mineralisation over 6km of inferred strike length;
Significant high-grade near-surface iron mineralisation confirmed
Infill drilling commences towards an initial resource
Highlights
·; Results from 27 additional scout drill holes at South Djadom have extended the apparent area of hematite and enriched banded iron formation mineralisation over a 6km strike length of the large (25km long) magnetic and gravity anomaly previously reported at South Djadom.
·; 11 of these holes are mineralized with 6 containing significant mineralised intervals. These are in addition to drill hole results reported on March 7,, 2013.
·; Based on the widespread nature of the mineralisation encountered to date, WAFM has committed to a preliminary grid drilling program of approximately 300 holes to infill-drill this mineralized area and establish the continuity of mineralisation in a 3,600m x 1,200m area.
·; WAFM's scout drilling program continues to test further the strike extent of mineralisation to the southeast along the large gravity and aeromagnetic anomaly at South Djadom.
·; A second reverse circulation (RC) drill rig and two diamond rigs have been mobilized and will be operational by mid June to assist in the grid drilling, provide better geologic understanding of the mineralisation encountered to date, and extend the scout drilling to additional anomalies.
West African Minerals Corporation (AIM: WAFM) is pleased to announce continuing positive results from its on-going prospect drilling programme at the South Djadom property in southeast Cameroon.
WAFM's Vice Chairman Brad Mills commenting on the results said, "The scout drilling program at Djadom South has now identified a significant area of near surface hematite mineralisation and enriched banded iron formation (BIF). This discovery now warrants an extensive infill grid drilling program to prove up a potentially significant resource. We are very encouraged by the rapidly expanding area of known high grade Fe mineralisation originally indicated by our geophysical work and confirmed by our scout drilling program. We will continue to test further the potential strike extensions of mineralisation along the trend of the geophysical anomaly. "
This press release reports on the assay results of an additional 27 vertical, reverse circulation (RC) drill holes. The apparent strike length of known mineralisation now extends over a 6km strike length of the large 25km long gravity and magnetic anomaly previously reported at the South Djadom prospect. Within a 6km x 1.2 km area the scout drilling programme has confirmed the presence of enriched banded iron formation (BIF) and a variably developed hematite-rich cap.
Mineralisation
In the results reported in this press release, 11 of the 27 holes intersected mineralisation (BIF, enriched BIF or a hematite-rich oxide cap) and 6 contain significant mineralisation defined as >30% Fe over >5m thickness. Deleterious element concentrations within the higher grade mineralized intersections fall within ranges typical of other direct shipping ore projects in the area. Table 1 below lists all significant intercepts >30% Fe and high-grade >50% Fe intercepts for this second set of drill holes. A map of all the drill locations, showing the current known area extent of mineralisation and planned preliminary infill grid area, is shown in Figure 1 below. Scout drilling continues along the remaining extent of the 25km long anomaly.
As a consequence of this successful scout drilling, a preliminary grid of 300 drill holes has been planned for infill drilling over a 3,600m x 1,200m area in the northwest part of the anomalous area. This drilling, which commenced 1 April 2013, will over the next six months test the continuity of hematite and enriched BIF within the grid area. A second reverse circulation (RC) drill rig has been mobilized and is due to commence drilling by mid June. In addition, two diamond drill rigs are being deployed to assist with the infill and regional drilling programmes, with a view to providing further geological control on the mineralisation model.
Table 1
Significant drill hole results from South Djadom - holes 43, 44 and holes 47 through 67 (prior drill hole results were reported in WAFM Press Release dated March 7, 2013). Of these holes, hole DRC043 has 40 meters of Fe mineralisation, hole DRC047 has 24 meters of Fe mineralisation and hole DRC067 has 58 meters of Fe mineralisation.
Minimum 50% Fe over 5 meters
Borehole | Depth from (m) | Depth to (m) | Downhole Length (m) | Fe % | Al2O3 % | P % | S % | SiO2 % | LOI % |
DRC043 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 57.3 | 4.0 | 0.07 | 0.03 | 8.1 | 4.8 |
DRC047 | 3 | 12 | 9 | 53.7 | 5.3 | 0.12 | 0.03 | 10.4 | 6.3 |
Minimum 30% Fe over 5 meters
Borehole | Depth from (m) | Depth to (m) | Downhole length (m) | Fe % | Al2O3 % | P % | S % | SiO2 % | LOI % |
DRC043 | 0 | 27 | 27 | 42.7 | 6.4 | 0.04 | 0.05 | 24.2 | 7.2 |
DRC043 | 36 | 41 | 5 | 39.0 | 4.3 | 0.05 | 0.02 | 28.3 | 10.1 |
DRC043 | 47 | 55 | 8 | 31.2 | 1.8 | 0.05 | 0.30 | 46.3 | 1.8 |
DRC047 | 0 | 24 | 24 | 45.1 | 6.7 | 0.09 | 0.06 | 19.9 | 7.3 |
DRC057 | 0 | 16 | 16 | 35.7 | 5.3 | 0.07 | 0.03 | 35.6 | 6.0 |
DRC058 | 4 | 20 | 16 | 37.1 | 4.2 | 0.09 | 0.01 | 34.1 | 6.9 |
DRC058 | 62 | 69 | 7 | 31.8 | 3.6 | 0.07 | 0.16 | 44.9 | 0.1 |
DRC061 | 3 | 11 | 8 | 32.1 | 15.0 | 0.04 | 0.06 | 27.3 | 9.9 |
DRC067 | 0 | 17 | 17 | 36.4 | 4.4 | 0.08 | 0.06 | 37.9 | 4.7 |
DRC067 | 69 | 110 | 41 | 34.7 | 1.7 | 0.07 | 0.16 | 44.3 | 0.3 |
The technical information contained in this announcement has been reviewed by Dr Brendan Clarke, the Head of Geology of The MSA Group. Dr Brendan Clarke is a Member of the Geological Society of South Africa and a Professional Natural Scientist (Pr.Sci.Nat) registered with the South African Council for Natural Scientific Professions. Dr Clarke has sufficient experience relevant to the style of mineralisation under consideration and to the activities which are being reported, to qualify as a Qualified Person for the purposes of this announcement. The MSA Group has implemented best-practice QAQC protocols on the South Djadom prospect including the insertion of standards, blanks and duplicates into the sampling stream. The MSA Group has reviewed the results of the QAQC programme to date and is satisfied that the assay results reported in this release are both accurate and precise.
For further information contact:
West African Minerals Corporation | Anton Mauve Managing Director
Donna Yoshimatsu Investor Relations and Corporate Secretary
| +44 (0) 1624 639396
+1 (647) 777-4432 |
Beaumont Cornish Limited (Nominated Adviser) | Roland Cornish Michael Cornish
| +44 (0)20 7628 3396 |
Investec Bank PLC (Broker) | Neil Elliot Mark Wellesley-Wood
| +44 (0)20 7597 5970 |
GTH Communications | Toby Hall Suzanne Johnson Walsh | +44 (0) 20 7822 7493/7492 |
About West African Minerals Corporation
West African Minerals Corporation (AIM: WAFM) is an iron ore mining and exploration group focused on West Africa with interests in iron ore exploration permits in Cameroon and Sierra Leone. Through its 100 per cent owned subsidiary Compagnie Minière du Cameroun SA, WAFM owns six exploration permits in Cameroon covering a total area of approximately 6,000 square kilometres and spanning the coast to the eastern deposits. The Sierra Leone licences comprise five exploration licences with potential for enriched hematite schists typical of the Marampa Group over a total area of approximately 687 square kilometres.
Further information on the Group is available at www.westafricanminerals.com.
Figure 1 Plan shows the drilling progress to date and the planned infill target area. Map background is the anomaly map from the airborne gravity survey. See attached PDF:
http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/4090C_-2013-4-15.pdf
GLOSSARY OF TECHNICAL TERMS
Al2O3 | Chemical symbol for aluminium oxide. |
banded iron formation (BIF) | A distinctive type of rock often found in Precambrian sedimentary rocks; the structure consists of repeated thin layers of iron oxides, either magnetite or haematite, alternating with bands of iron-poor silica rich shale and chert. |
direct shipping ore (DSO) | High-grade haematite is often referred to as "Direct Shipping Ore" or "DSO" as it does not require beneficiation, or employs a relatively simple crushing and screening process, before shipment for use in steel mills. |
Fe | Chemical symbol for iron. |
haematite | A reddish or bluish-grey oxide of iron (Fe2O3) that is not magnetic. Haematite is often cheaper to process than other forms of iron ore as it generally does not require beneficiation due to its higher iron content. Export grade haematite ores generally grade above 60 per cent iron content. |
LOI | Loss on ignition. A test designed to measure the amount of moisture or impurities lost when a sample is ignited during analysis. |
Magnetite | An iron oxide mineral (Fe3O4) which is strongly magnetic. It is common in banded iron formations and may form after haematite or iron-rich carbonates; in the weathering environment magnetite is replace by martite, rarely by goethite. |
Oxide cap | An exposed, oxidized portion of a mineral vein, especially a rust-coloured outcrop of iron ore. |
P | Chemical symbol for phosphorus. |
S | Chemical symbol for sulphur. |
SiO2 | The chemical compound silicon dioxide, also known as silica (from the Latin silex), is an oxide of silicon with the chemical formula SiO2. |
strike | Horizontal direction or trend of a geological structure. |
Reverse circulation drill | A drilling method that utilizes a large rotary drill and air compressor to collect rock samples quickly and efficiently. The high speed and low cost of RC drilling makes it an ideal method for obtaining mineral samples. |
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