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KING RIVER RESOURCES LIMITED — Interim / Quarterly Report 2010
Jan 30, 2011
65203_rns_2011-01-30_ae44fb0a-17e0-42fa-951f-6b12d76215f4.pdf
Interim / Quarterly Report
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SPEEWAH METALS LIMITED
QUARTERLY ACTIVITIES REPORT
FOR THE PERIOD ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2010
ASX CODE: SPM
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INTRODUCTION
Speewah Metals Ltd (which changed it’s name from NiPlats Australia Ltd on 3 November 2010) has established a portfolio of 100% owned tenements covering approximately 575 square kilometres in the East Kimberley region of Western Australia (“Tenements”).
Since Speewah was listed on the ASX in 2007, the company has focussed on exploring an extensive zone of vanadiferous and titaniferous magnetite mineralisation which also host PGE+Au (“Platinum group elements plus gold”) mineralisation and a high grade Fluorite resource.
Exploration in late 2010 focussed on copper/gold/silver as a result of the discovery of several high grade surface samples in July 2010.
Speewah focus for 2011 is:
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Significant expansion of the existing vanadiferous magnetite resource. Part of the 2011 Exploration programme will be to significantly expand the existing Measured, Indicated and Inferred Resources totalling 3.159 Billion tonnes at 0.30% (at 0.23% V2O5 cut-off grade). In addition to these resources, Speewah estimates that an additional vanadiferous magnetite Exploration Target[*] of 2 to 5 Billion tonnes at 0.30-0.32% exits in the Speewah Dome.
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Continuation of discussions/provision of information and completion of studies with international parties that have shown interest in the vanadiferous magnetite resource in order to secure investment into or sale of the vanadium-titanium magnetite deposit. Studies commenced in 2010 were designed to deliver a number of pre-feasibility outcomes including:
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Processing Flowsheet, OPEX, CAPEX and Net Present Value for different alternatives for the vanadiferous magnetite project;
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Pit design and optimisation that will lead to a Reserve estimate on the Central deposit.
In conjunction with these outcomes, Environmental and Aboriginal heritage work was completed. An application for a Mining Lease will be made that would allow future development.
As a result of interest generated at the China Mining (November 2010) Expo Speewah has focussed it’s activities to respond to the specific requests of the interested parties.
- Completion of analysis and interpretation of results from the 2010 Copper/Gold/Silver Exploration programme to develop an Exploration Programme that will commence in 2[nd] quarter 2011.
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HIGHLIGHTS FOR THE QUARTER
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Copper /Gold/ Silver Exploration
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- The fieldwork portion of the 2010 Exploration programme within the Speewah Dome (see Figure 1) was completed in early December including:
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- Soil sampling to define copper/gold anomalies (see Figure 2).
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Geological mapping and gossan sampling to identify and prioritise drill targets;
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� Geophysical surveys including Gravity, Induced Polarisation (IP) and Sub Audio Magnetics (SAM) to define targets and structures for drilling;
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Reverse Circulation (“RC”)/Diamond Core drilling totalling approximately 14,600 metres.
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• Discovery of a new surface sample at new site has returned highest grade copper value ever found at Speewah of 27.2% Cu with 7oz/t Ag. Due to it’s late discovery the Gap Prospect (Figure 1) has not been drilled tested by the recent exploration programme but will become a priority target for the 2011 Exploration Programme.
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- Assays from RC drilling the primary copper/gold/silver targets are pending. Assays from these areas will be released to the market in the coming weeks on receipt and interpretation of all the results.
Vanadium-Titanium Magnetite Project
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Attendance at China Mining (November 2010) generated significant interest with a number of parties and the Company has now begun a process of supplying detailed technical information generated by the prefeasibility work conducted over the past 12 months together with the preparation and supply of samples of magnetite concentrate to the interested parties to enable independent metallurgical testing. The Company believes that this is the first step in a process that is hoped to lead to an agreement for the sale/divestment of the vanadium asset. And is likely to take a number of months. The Company will use this time to continue to improve the vanadiumtitanium magnetite asset by continuing scoping/pre-feasibility studies and advancement of tenure and access activities, all of which lower development risk. It was through the interest shown at China Mining in the size of the existing resource that the strategy for 2011 to significantly increase the existing resource was formulated.
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Metallurgical testing on the second stage processing of the vanadiferous magnetite have shown excellent initial recovery results from each of the methodologies tested in 2010 including:
oPig Iron (Direct Smelting);
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- Ferro-vanadium (Pyro-metallurgical process);
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Acid leach plant (hydro-metallurgical process).
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Further metallurgical testing will be carried out in order to optimise the initial positive initial results received and in response to requests for information and data from parties that have shown interest in investment or purchase of the vanadium-titanium magnetite asset.
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- Environmental Field studies have been completed;
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- Aboriginal Heritage Survey of proposed site surrounding the Central Deposit has been completed;
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- The Company has compiled all information necessary to support the application for a Mining Lease.
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- Work is progressing on tenure & access issues to support potential development of a mine.
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Figure 1: Location of surface rock chip copper anomalies >500ppm Cu within the Speewah Dome, showing the main structural target
zones and other drill targets.
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Figure 2: Soil assay contours for copper (>306ppm Cu brown) and arsenic (>24ppm As green) in the Speewah Dome. Grey horizontal
lines are soil sample traverses.
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RESOURCES
The Speewah Dome tenements contains one of the world’s largest undeveloped vanadium in magnetite deposits with combined Measured, Indicated and Inferred Resources totalling 3,159 Mt at 0.30% (at 0.23% V2O5 cut-off grade) in three deposits, comprising a Measured Resource of 201 Mt at 0.33% V2O5, Indicated Resource of 175 Mt at 0.32% V2O5 and an Inferred Resource of 2,783 Mt at 0.3% V2O5..
This includes the Central deposit, which has a high grade zone of 434 Mt at 0.37% (at 0.23% V2O5 cut-off grade), comprising a Measured Resource of 115 Mt at 0.37% V2O5, Indicated Resource of 85 Mt at 0.38% V2O5 and an Inferred Resource of 234 Mt at 0.37% V2O5.
Drilling in the 2010 Exploration Programme just completed will be submitted for analysis in order to obtain an upgrade of the existing Resource early in 2[nd] quarter 2011. Drilling was designed to increase the confidence in the existing Resource rather than increase the size of the resource so the likely result will be an increase in the Measured or Indicated components of the existing Resource.
Sinclair Knight Merz (“SKM”) completed further metallurgical testwork on representative samples from the basal high grade zone of the Central deposit that confirmed the very high tenor of 2.48% V2O5 in magnetite concentrate.
A comparison of Speewah’s vanadium resource (in terms of resource size and vanadium tenor in concentrate) with other Australian vanadium in magnetite projects and an existing South African production facility (Xstrata) is shown in Figure 3 below.
Vanadium Magnetite Deposits
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Figure 3: Comparison of concentrate tenor, resource grade and tonnes for vanadium magnetite deposits
The tenements also contain a high-grade, high-quality fluorite deposit with Indicated and Inferred Resources totalling 6.7 Mt at 24.6% (at 10% CaF2 cut-off grade), comprising an Indicated Resource of 4.1 Mt at 25.3% CaF2 and an Inferred Resource of 2.6 Mt at 23.6% CaF2.
Please see Appendix A for further detail of Mineral Resources and details of metallurgical test work confirming world class tenor of vanadium in magnetite concentrate of 2.48% V2O5.
VANADIUM-TITANIUM MAGNETITE SCOPING/PRE-FEASIBILITY STUDIES
The Vanadium-Titanium Magnetite Scoping/Pre-feasibility Study – Work has been completed over the past 12 months on various studies with the ultimate goal of providing a viable vanadium-titanium magnetite project at Speewah. This study has focussed on the high grade Measured and Indicated Resources of 200 Million tonnes detailed in Appendix A.
In summary these studies have included:
Metallurgical Testing
Metallurgical studies involving laboratory scale testing of the Speewah magnetite concentrate to consider the following processing stages:
– Stage 1 Beneficiation of Ore to Magnetite Concentrate
Production of a high tenor vanadium magnetite concentrate: -A magnetite concentrate will be required for any development alternative. The ASX announcement of 1 April 2010 has already reported high vanadium tenor across the Measured Resource of the Central deposit. Variability tests using Davis Tube testwork on composite Reverse Circulation drill chip samples collected predominantly from within the Central vanadium deposit and selected parts of the Red Hill and Buckman deposits have shown vanadium recoveries of up to 77.73% V2O5 and mass recoveries up to 14.18% magnetite in concentrate. Significantly, all samples reported vanadium tenor in the magnetite concentrates over 2.0% V2O5 (range 2.15 to 2.64% V2O5).
A Davis-tube testing programme has been approved to map the distribution of vanadium concentrate grade and mass recoveries in the deposit, for input into future pit optimisations and reserve estimates.
– Stage 2 Development Alternatives
i. Magnetite Concentrate (Alternative 1):
This involves the shipping of the magnetite concentrate as an end product. Sinclair Knight Merz (“SKM”) initial scoping report indicates that transporting the magnetite concentrate to Wyndham where it is loaded onto barges before being loaded onto larger ships away from the port may be the most efficient method to transport large quantities of magnetite concentrate for export.
In 2011 Crushing and Grinding testwork is planned to optimise the efficiency of the beneficiation process as numerous advance in technologies in recent years may provide the opportunity to significantly improve the efficiency of the process of creating the magnetite concentrate. This study is likely to improve the feasibility of selling the magnetite concentrate as a stand alone project but also lower overall costs for each of the alternative Stage 2 Development Alternatives.
ii. Ferro-Vanadium (Alternative 2):
Initial pyro-metallurgical testwork on the magnetite concentrate for vanadium recovery has been completed and involved laboratory scale salt-roast processing. Results will assist in flowsheet design and provide data for operating cost and capital cost estimates that will refine promising initial conceptual NPV modelling. The initial test results have shown vanadium recovery of up to 87.5% from the magnetite concentrate at various grind sizes and salt reagent additions. A second round of testing, which will commence in 1[st] quarter 2011, has been approved to optimise recoveries and establish operating cost inputs.
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iii. Pig Iron (Alternative 3): - Pyrometallurgical testwork on the magnetite concentrate to produce pig iron end product. This work has been completed Mintek (South Africa) simulating arc furnace processing. Test results included:
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Production of a pig iron alloy comprising between 89-94% iron (Fe) and greater than 2%
Vanadium (V) which represents greater than 90% recovery of Vandium (V);
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The Speewah magnetite does not contain deleterious elements that could compromise pig iron quality;
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A temperature of 1500[o] C is indicated for efficient vanadium recovery;
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Modelling predicts an energy requirement of around 0.9MWh per tonne of feed.
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iv. Acid Leach Plant: (Alternative 4) - Hydrometallurgical testwork on the magnetite concentrate to produce three end products including a high grade iron (Fe) product, vanadium product (V2O5) and a titanium product (TiO2). Test results included:
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Initial leach results (heated environment) resulted in Vanadium (V) recovery of >90% and Iron recovery of >80% after 15 minutes;
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Initial testing (at room temperature) resulted in Vanadium (V) recovery of >90% and Iron recovery of >75% after 120 minutes;
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Acid usage (at room temperature) was 480kg/tonne of feed ore;
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Successful treatment at room temperature would eliminate the need for heating resulting in CAPEX and OPEX savings.
Speewah has been advised by the owners of this technology that further optimisation work is required prior to commercialisation of the technology and that a licensing agreement for the use of the technology can be discussed upon completion of this commercialisation phase.
- v. Titanium – The Speewah vanadium-titanium magnetite deposit contains 2% Ti. Investigations on extraction methods are underway.
Access, Tenure, Approval and Logistics
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a. Field work has been completed on Flora and Fauna studies on the Central vanadium deposit. This work will support future applications for environmental approval associated with any potential project development.
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b. Aboriginal Heritage Survey over proposed initial mining area of the Central Deposit has been completed and finalised. This represents a major achievement towards enabling the development of a mine site adjacent to the existing vanadium-titanium in magnetite resource;
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c. Review of port facilities and proposed Royalty for Regions upgrade of Wyndham port. It is important to note that should a Ferro-Vanadium or Pig-iron processing route eventuate (Stage 2 alternatives above) that there is existing capacity at Wyndham Port for the proposed annual production outcomes. In the event that process does not proceed past Stage 1 then requirements on port facilities significantly increase due to the bulk commodity nature of the Stage 1 end product;
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d. An application for a Mining Lease is planned once the scoping studies determine the likely footprint of the combined minesite and tailings areas. The determination of this factor is the only matter outstanding as the company has already complied all other information necessary to support the application for a Mining Lease.
Financial Modelling
The financial modelling used benchmarked OPEX and CAPEX inputs from similar projects provided by SKM.
Speewah’s initial conceptual modelling favours a Ferro-Vanadium development alternative.
This modelling will be further refined and optimised as the metallurgical testing programmes provide detailed information on operating cost inputs and contributes to flowsheet design that will impact CAPEX requirements. An update of the financial modelling will be produced once the existing Vanadium Resource is upgraded to Reserve status. This is expected to be completed later in 2011.
VANADIUM-TITANIUM MAGNETITE STRATEGY
Speewah’s strategy for Australia’s largest vanadiferous magnetite resource has been to complete various pre-feasibility studies to illustrate the development opportunity for the deposit and eventually identify a strategic investor, partner or acquirer of the project.
Vanadium is a ferro-alloy used to produce hardened and tool steel. With the massive increases in global steel production primarily being delivered through increased production from Asia and specifically China, Speewah’s focus has been to identify development funding/acquirers of the asset from this region.
The commencement of this promotional activity was participation at the 2010 China Mining Expo on 16-18 November 2010 in Tianjin China. In addition to this the Company attended a number of pre-arranged meetings in Beijing and Shanghai with potential acquirers of the asset.
The vanadium asset generated significant interest with a number of parties and the Company has now begun a process of supplying detailed technical information generated by the scoping studies conducted over the past 12 months together with the preparation and supply of samples of magnetite concentrate to the interested parties such that interested parties can verify testwork results published by the Company.
The Company is extremely pleased with the interest generated by the strategy that is hoped to lead to an agreement for the sale/divestment of the vanadium-titanium asset.
In addition to the interest in the asset generated the feedback from the Expo has helped to formulated strategies for 2011 including the aggressive plan to significantly increase the size of the existing Vanadium-Titanium Resource as part of the 2011 Exploration programme that will commence in 2[nd] quarter 2011.
BASE/PRECIOUS METALS EXPLORATION PROGRAMME COMPLETED IN 2010
The fieldwork portion of the 2010 Exploration programme was completed in early December including:
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Soil sampling to define copper/gold anomalies.
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Geological mapping and gossan sampling to identify and prioritise drill targets;
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Geophysical surveys including Gravity, Induced Polarisation (IP) and Sub Audio Magnetics (SAM) to define targets and structures for drilling;
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Reverse Circulation/Diamond Core drilling totalling approximately 14,600 metres.
Reverse Circulation (“RC”) Drill Rig completed 12,055 metres in 115 holes at the West Vein, Blue Vein, Mezzanine, Green Vein, Hyder, Buckman, Gray’s Vein, Hayden and Eiffler prospects.
Diamond Drill Rig completed 6 holes for 2,500 metres, having drilled the G Vein, West Vein/Ridge, Willmott and Blue Vein.
ASSAY RESULTS PENDING, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION CONTINUES
RC drill assays from the primary copper/gold/silver targets are pending. Assays from these areas are expected to be released to the market on receipt and compilation of all results late in the coming weeks. Analysis and interpretation of the drill results together with geophysical studies and soil results will occur over the coming months in order to develop an Exploration Programme for 2011, which is expected to commence 2[nd] quarter 2011.
OTHER PROSPECTS – PGE AND FLUORITE
The tenements are also prospective for:
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PGE+Au – All drilling within the vanadium zones provides further information regarding PGE+Au prospectivity, with specific exploration designed to test for feeder/high grade zones of the PGE+Au reef initially discovered in 2007;
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Fluorite– Drill results from the recently completed exploration programme will be reviewed to
identify further intersections and extensions of the existing fluorite resource. This analysis may lead to the opportunity for an upgrade to the existing fluorite resource. Diamond core holes from the drill programme have already lead to the discovery of a new fluorite vein along the east contact of the King River Fault east of the existing ABCE fluorite resource and there have been a number of new RC drill intersections of fluorite veins at West Vein that are not part of the existing resource. Speewah estimates that the Exploration Target[*] for fluorite deposits in addition to the existing resource of 6.7Mt at 24.6% CaF2 is 4 to 8Mt at 20-25% CaF2.
CONCLUSIONS
The key drivers of value for Speewah in 2011 are:
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Exploration results from the 2010 Exploration Programme which will be presented in the near term when all the copper-gold-silver and vanadium-titanium assay results have been received and interpreted;
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Exploration commencing 2[nd] quarter 2011 for Copper/Gold mineralisation along the fault zones based on the interpretation of the results of the 2010 programme and the testing of the Gap Prospect (Figure 1) which delivered assay results of 27.2% Cu with 7oz/t Ag.
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Significant expansion of the existing vanadium-titanium magnetite resource. Part of the 2011 Exploration programme will be the significant expansion of the existing Measured, Indicated and Inferred Resources totalling 3.159 Billion tonnes of V2O5 at 0.30% (at 0.23% V2O5 cut-off grade). In addition to these resources, Speewah estimates that a vanadiferous magnetite Exploration Target[*] of 2 to 5 Billion tonnes at 0.30-0.32% exits in the Speewah Dome.
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Continued promotion of the vanadium-titanium asset including further discussions with parties generated from China Mining Expo and the provision of information, ore and magnetite concentrate samples which is underway with the objective to conclude an agreement for strategic investment, partnership or sale of the vanadium asset.
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To build on the significant achievements in 2010 and continued the enhancement of the vanadiumtitanium asset through additional scoping/pre-feasibility studies and advancement of access and tenure issues including environmental, mining lease and mining agreements.
| FORFURTHERINFORMATION, PLEASECONTACT: | ||
|---|---|---|
| Speewah Metals Limited | ||
| Level 22 Allendale Square | ||
| 77 St Georges Terrace | Telephone: | +61 8 9221 8055 |
| Perth WA 6000 | Fax: | +61 8 9325 8088 |
| Richard Wolanski – Executive Director | ||
| Anthony Barton – Non Executive Chairman |
Mr Ken Rogers (Member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists), Chief Geologist for Speewah Metals Limited, compiled the technical aspects of this report. Mr Rogers has sufficient experience that is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity that is being reported on to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2004 Edition of the Australasian Code for Reporting of Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves. Mr Rogers consents to the inclusion in the report of the matters in the form and context in which it appears.
(*Exploration Target is not a mineral resource and further drilling is required which may not define these tonnes & grade)
APPENDIX A
RESOURCES
The Speewah Tenements contain the following Mineral Resources:
Vanadium-Titanium
The vanadium-titanium Mineral Resource is given in Table A.
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Note: Estimate based on results of XRF analysis for V, Fe and Ti, with V2O5 calculated as V % x 1.785. Differences may occur due to rounding.
The Mineral Resource has now been estimated to include the previously reported Central deposit and two additional deposits at Red Hill and Buckman (Figure 4 following page). They individually extend over strike lengths of 5.5 to 8km and up to 2km wide. These combined Minerals Resources at Speewah are significantly larger than any other vanadium in magnetite deposit in Australia and there are several other areas within the Speewah Dome with magnetite bearing gabbro that have yet to be drill tested.
It is important to note that the entire resource, inclusive of the low grade zones, contains magnetite with vanadium tenor that is higher than in other Australian vanadium deposit, and the high grade zone is higher than being exploited commercially in existing vanadiferous magnetite production facilities.
Fluorite
The Fluorite resource is given in Table B. The deposit contains Indicated and Inferred Resources totalling 6.7 Mt at 24.6% (within high grade domains at 10% CaF2 cut-off grade), comprising:
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Indicated Resource of 4.1 Mt at 25.3% CaF2;
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Inferred Resource of 2.6 Mt at 23.6% CaF2.
Table B: Speewah Fluorite Prospect Mineral Resource Estimate.
| Table B: Speewah Fluorite Prospect Mineral Resource Estimate. | Table B: Speewah Fluorite Prospect Mineral Resource Estimate. | Table B: Speewah Fluorite Prospect Mineral Resource Estimate. | Table B: Speewah Fluorite Prospect Mineral Resource Estimate. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Speewah Fluorite Deposit August 2009 Resource Estimate | |||
| Indicated | Inferred | Total | |
| **Type ** | Tonnes CaF2 |
Tonnes CaF2 |
Tonnes CaF2 CaF2 |
| Mt % |
Mt % |
Mt % Mt |
|
| High Grade | 4.1 25.3 |
2.6 23.6 |
6.7 24.6 1.7 |
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Figure 4: Location of Vanadium Mineral Resources at Speewah within the Exploration Licence boundaries (black lines)
LOCATION
The Speewah tenements are located approximately 110 kilometres southwest of Kununurra and 110 kilometres south of the port of Wyndham in the Kimberley region of Western Australia (Figure 5). The Tenements are accessed via 45 kilometres of unsealed tracks from the sealed Great Northern Highway.
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Figure 5: Location Map
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