Leinster Manganese Project Update South Africa

RNS Number : 2636X

Ferrex PLC

13 February 2012

 



Ferrex plc / Index: AIM / Epic: FRX / Sector: Mining

13 February 2012

Ferrex plc ('Ferrex' or 'the Company')

Granted Tweed Prospecting Right for Leinster Manganese Project, South Africa

Ferrex plc, the AIM quoted iron ore and manganese development company focused in Africa, is pleased to announce that it has been granted a Prospecting Right over the Tweed Farm, representing the final of ten farms to be granted within the highly prospective 46,868 hectare Leinster Manganese Project ('the Leinster Project') in South Africa. 

Overview

·      Ferrex currently has a 49% interest in the greater Leinster Project through its interest in Umbono Minerals Holdings (Proprietary) Limited - this will increase to 74% once Ministerial approval has been granted

·      The Leinster Project has a JORC Code compliant exploration target of 5.5 to 8.7Mt at 28.6% to 31.3% Manganese ('Mn')

·      The Tweed Farm has been subject to significant previous exploration by Anglo American Corporation ('Anglo American')

·      Fast-tracked exploration programme planned - airborne magnetic survey and a drilling campaign to twin historic drill holes and define a maiden JORC Code compliant resource Q3 2012

Ferrex Managing Director Mr. Dave Reeves said, "We are delighted to have received this Prospecting Right over the Tweed Farm, which results in Ferrex controlling the entire Leinster sub basin.  Exploration work has already been conducted across the Leinster Project by mining major Anglo American, which resulted in Coffey Mining defining an exploration target of 5.5 to 8.7Mt at 28.6% to 31.3% manganese.  With this Prospecting Right now in place, we can fast track a drilling campaign designed to calculate a maiden JORC Code compliant resource on the project area in Q3 2012 and in turn assess the Leinster Project's economic potential.

"Additionally our Malelane Iron ore project in South Africa and Nayega Manganese project in Togo recently reported impressive exploration results, and are both on track to deliver maiden resources in Q1 2012 and Q2 2012 respectively. In the first six months as a listed entity Ferrex has secured tenure on the Leinster project, completed the exploration required for a maiden resource at Malelane and added the Nayega manganese project to the portfolio.  The Company plans to maintain this momentum through 2012, achieving key milestones, as we fast track all three projects up the development curve through to pre-feasibility status."

Further Information

The Leinster Project consists of two Prospecting Rights covering ten farms with a combined area of 46,868Ha.

South Africa hosts the largest metallogenic province of manganese mineralisation in the world.  The Leinster Project covers the northernmost known erosional relict ('the Leinster Manganiferous Basin') of the Kalahari Manganese Field ('KMF').  Aquila Resources Limited has a defined resource of 109Mt at 39% Mn at Gravenhage in the Avontuur Basin, another erosional remnant of the KMF located 20km south of the Leinster Project.

Manganese mineralisation and host lithologies in the KMF are concealed beneath soft, generally semi-consolidated sediments of the Kalahari Formation.  In the Leinster Basin, the Kalahari Formation cover is between 70 and 150m thick.

Anglo American explored the Leinster Basin from 1977 to 1988.  Exploration included ground magnetic, gravity and Induced Polarisation surveys followed by diamond and percussion drilling programmes.  A total of 51 boreholes were drilled, which led to the estimation of an 'Indicated Resource' (non-JORC Code compliant) of 7.8Mt at 34.8% Mn.  Using this information Coffey Mining calculated a JORC Code compliant exploration target of 5.5 to 8.7Mt at 28.6% to 31.3% Mn.

The deposit lies at an average depth of 80m and the Company envisages the project being developed as a small underground operation with ore trucked or railed to port for the export market. 

Terms of the Agreement

The Prospecting Right granted for the Tweed Farm is owned by Umbono Minerals Holdings (Proprietary) Limited ('Umbono Minerals'), of which 49% is owned by Ferrex.  The Company will acquire a further 25% of Umbono Minerals at no additional cost on receipt of the relevant approvals under the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act 280 of 2002 of South Africa.

Under the terms of the agreement with Umbono Resources (Proprietary) Limited ('Umbono Resources'), the other shareholder of Umbono Minerals, Ferrex will issue 66,687,790 ordinary shares of 0.5 pence each to Umbono Resources.

Application will be made for the admission of these shares to trading on AIM with admission expected to take place on 17 February 2011.

Competent Person Statement

Information in this release that relates to exploration results is based on information compiled by Ferrex Exploration Manager Mr Mark Styles.  Mr Styles is a qualified geologist, a member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists and is a Competent Person as defined in the Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results.  Mr Styles consents to the inclusion in the release of the matters based on his information in the form and context in which it appears.

Caution Regarding Forward Looking Statements: Information included in this release constitutes forward-looking statements. There can be no assurance that ongoing exploration will identify mineralisation that will prove to be economic, that anticipated metallurgical recoveries will be achieved, that future evaluation work will confirm the viability of deposits that may be identified or that required regulatory approvals will be obtained.

**ENDS**

For further information and the full Admission document visit www.ferrexplc.com or contact the following:

Dave Reeves	Ferrex plc	+ 61 (0) 420 372 740
Russell Lamming	Ferrex plc	+ 44 (0) 781 0870 587
Colin Aaronson	Grant Thornton Corporate Finance	[phone]
John Prior/Sebastian Jones	Collins Stewart Europe Ltd	[phone]
Felicity Edwards	St Brides Media and Finance Ltd	[phone]

Notes

Ferrex plc is an AIM quoted exploration and development company focused on advancing low capex iron ore and manganese projects in Africa through the development cycle and into production.  Our current property portfolio comprises iron ore (Malelane) and manganese (Leinster) projects in South Africa, a manganese project (Nayega) in Togo and a manganese project (Changara) in Mozambique, all of which offer the potential for significant near-term value uplift.

The Company's growth strategy is centred on advancing its current assets, utilising its Board and management team's considerable experience in developing resource projects across Africa and expanding its portfolio through acquisitions to build Ferrex into a mid-tier, low-cost producer of iron ore and manganese.

 

END

 

 

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