18th Oct 2010 07:00
Sable Mining Africa Ltd/ Index: AIM / Epic: SBLM / Sector: Natural Resources
18 October 2010
Sable Mining Africa Limited ('Sable Mining' or 'the Company')
Lubu Coal Field in Zimbabwe
Sable Mining Africa Ltd, the AIM listed resource company, is pleased to announce an update on the Lubu Coal Concession, which covers 19,236 hectares of the highly prospective Karro Mid-Zambezi coal basin in the established Hwange (Wankie) mining district in North Eastern Zimbabwe.
The 36 hole first phase drilling programme commenced on 4 October 2010 with three drill rigs mobilised by drilling contractor African Mining and Exploration. To date five holes have been completed for a total 600m. All holes have intersected coal zones with thicknesses varying between 47m and 89m and the shallowest top of coal intersection is 9m from surface. Down hole geophysical measurements are commencing this week, which will be used to confirm and correlate the main coal seam thicknesses that occur at the base of the coal zone referred to above.
The Lubu coal fields were originally explored by Messina Transvaal Development Services Ltd ('MTD') in the 1980s, at which time MTD estimated the area to have an inferred resource of 334 million tonnes of low-sulphur coal, with a calorific value of 24 MJ/kg. This resource was principally located in the 14-18m thick main seam, which was also believed to contain coking coal in its lower section. It has been estimated by the Company's independent consultants Behre Dolbear & Company that, with further exploration and drilling, there is potential to increase the coal resource at Lubu to 515 million tonnes. No SAMREC compliant resource estimate currently exists for Lubu.
Sable Mining CEO Andrew Groves said, "The 36 hole drilling programme should allow us to better define the geology of the coal basin with the intention of confirming the initial 330 million tonnes to SAMREC compliant status. We are in a prime region for coal development and look forward to completing the first phase which we believe will underline the prospectivity of the project."
Mining and mineral advisory firm Behre Dolbear & Company, Inc. has been appointed by the Company to review the historical data and is familiar with the Hwange coal district of Zimbabwe. Dr. Christopher Wheatley is a Senior Associate at Behre Dolbear and professional "Competent Person" as defined by various international instruments and takes responsibility for the release of this information.
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For further information please visit www.sablemining.com or contact:
Andrew Groves |
Sable Mining Africa Ltd |
Tel: 020 7408 9200 |
Jonathan Wright |
Seymour Pierce Ltd |
Tel: 020 7107 8000 |
Robin Henshall |
Matrix Corporate Capital |
Tel: 020 3206 7000 |
Hugo de Salis |
St Brides Media & Finance Ltd |
Tel: 020 7236 1177 |
Susie Geliher |
St Brides Media & Finance Ltd |
Tel: 020 7236 1177 |
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