Update on Exploration Activities

RNS Number : 2549H

African Battery Metals PLC

14 November 2018

 

African Battery Metals plc / EPIC: ABM / Market: AIM

14 November 2018

African Battery Metals plc ("ABM" or the "Company")

Update on Exploration Activities

African Battery Metals plc, the AIM listed African focused exploration company developing projects in strategic battery metals, is pleased to provide an update on its exploration activities in Cameroon and the Democratic Republic of Congo, (the "DRC"). 

Overview

●

Commenced exploration work on the licences in Cameroon acquired as part of the purchase of Cobalt Blue Holdings Ltd (see release of 8th August 2018), ("ABM's Cameroon Licences" or "Cobalt Blue Permits" in figures 1, 2 & 3)), which are close to and in part contiguous with the Nkamouna cobalt-nickel-manganese project1 which was historically majority owned by Geovic Mining Corporation ("Geovic").  Nkamouna hosts one of the world's largest undeveloped cobalt resource outside the DRC2:

◦	ABM has acquired key geophysical data, which helps identify the source of cobalt-nickel mineralisation observed in the region of the ABM Cameroon Licences;
◦	Commissioned desk top report and site visit to AMB Cameroon Licences by Sahara Natural Resources Ltd ("Sahara"), a highly qualified independent group specialist in African exploration; and
◦	Identified a series of targets on ABM's Cameroon Licences for follow-up work, which exhibit the same geological signature displayed by the cobalt-nickel licences historically held by Geovic.

●	Received assay results from the auger programme on ABM's part owned Kisinka licence in the DRC, which provide minimal evidence of cobalt or copper mineralisation.

References to figures relate to the version visible in PDF format by clicking the link below:

http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/2549H_1-2018-11-13.pdf

ABM CEO, Roger Murphy, said, 

"I am very excited by the opportunity we have acquired in Cameroon.  We know from Geovic's past exploration work at Nkamouna, that this area hosts one of the world's largest non-DRC cobalt resources², and that we are in 'elephant country' for cobalt and nickel. We believe we understand why the mineralisation is where it is in the licences historically held by Geovic and, as the charts in this release show, we have similar areas within ABM's Cameroon Licences.  I look forward to implementing an exploration programme, which I believe should confirm the presence of cobalt and nickel on ABM's Cameroon Licences.   

At the same time, I'm disappointed that our work so far on Kisinka in the DRC has not yet provided significant evidence of cobalt or copper mineralisation.  However, Kisinka is a large licence area in the right area on mapped Roan geology, with large copper-cobalt mines nearby. Our work to date has only covered a small fraction of the licence so we therefore cannot rule anything out yet. We will assess our next steps on Kisinka relative to those for our licences in Ivory Coast and Cameroon."

CAMEROON - DATA ACQUISITION

ABM has studied the geological work undertaken by Geovic, and NI 43-101 Technical Report commissioned by Geovic, to locate economically viable cobalt-nickel mineralisation in the region, and used it to identify targets on ABM's Cameroon Licences.  ABM used two strands of evidence, viz:

1.    Geophysical data.  According to Geovic's geological work, the source of the cobalt-nickel mineralisation in the region is a series of ultramafic intrusions into the country rock.  Ultramafic rocks are highly magnetic and so stand out on aeromagnetic maps.  To help identify the ultramafic source rocks, ABM acquired aeromagnetic data for the area which is illustrated in figure 2 below. It is apparent that Messea, one of the cobalt-nickel licences historically held by Geovic, has a very strong magnetic signature.   As figure 2 also illustrates, there are large areas of magnetic highs across the ABM Cameroon Licences.

2.    Topography.  All the seven historically Geovic-owned cobalt-nickel targets represent topographic highs or plateaus in an area incised by rivers.  Areas where these topographic highs coincide with aeromagnetic highs provide the strongest likelihood of preservation of the cobalt-nickel mineralisation.   Figure 3 below shows regional topography.  On the ABM Cameroon Licences, it is evident that the northern end of Ngoila North (which is a continuation of the Messea cobalt-nickel block), and much of Ekok and Ntam East all have elevated areas which coincide with aeromagnetic anomalies. 

As figures 2 & 3 below illustrate, the ABM Cameroon Licences have several areas where topographic highs overlie areas of elevated aeromagnetic intensity.  It is these areas where ABM's anticipated next stage of exploration will focus.  Given that mineralisation at Nkamouna is found from around 5m to 22m in depth, ABM will need to devise an exploration approach which involves either deep pitting or use of a man-portable auger.  ABM looks forward to updating the market as it designs an exploration programme for these licences. 

SITE VISIT

A team of Sahara geologists visited ABM's Cameroon licences during July 2018.  The primary purpose of the visit was to assess the work necessary for a systematic exploration programme focused on the targets identified by the topographic and aeromagnetic data, but whilst on the licences, a series of shallow soil samples were collected on transects across each licence.  Expectations from this shallow sampling were limited as all the cobalt and nickel mineralisation at the licences historically held by Geovic were found at depths of greater than 5m.  In order to penetrate down to the anticipated depth of mineralisation, either hand-dug pits of over 5m depth will need to be excavated across the licences or a man-portable mechanical auger will need to be utilised. 

GEOVIC - HISTORY & ECONOMIC GEOLOGY

Geovic was listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange in 2006 to follow up on nickel-cobalt mineralisation reported by a United Nations Exploration Programme in Cameroon in the 1980s.  Geovic, through its 60.5% owned subsidiary Geovic Cameroon, conducted an extensive exploration programme over several years over its licence area, see figure 1.  This work identified seven plateaus in the region where cobalt and nickel mineralisation was recorded.  These plateaus, named Nkamouna, Mada, Rapodjombo, North Mang, South Mang, Messia and Kondong are illustrated in figure 2. 

The cobalt and nickel mineralisation was found at between 5m - 20m depth in the deeply weathering profile or laterite that overlay areas with underlying ultramafic intrusions.  The ultramafics acted as the source of the metals and the laterite concentrated them to economic levels.  Laterites are frequently sources of cobalt and nickel mineralisation in equatorial regions of the world, including SE Asia, Australia and Latin America as well as Africa.  Over time, this laterite profile has been eroded away by the rivers with transect the area and is only preserved in a series of plateaus between the rivers.

Although every plateau was explored and cobalt-nickel mineralisation was reported, given the very large scale of the licence area and its inaccessibility, Geovic concentrated exploration work on Nkamouna and Mada. The final NI 43-101 compliant Mineral Resource declared by Geovic totalled 323.2 million tonnes at 0.21% Cobalt, 0.63% Nickel and 1.36% Manganese, see Table 1 below.  A full NI 43-101 compliant Technical Report was completed by SRK in June 2011³ with an Ore Reserve of 54.7million tonnes grading 0.25% Cobalt, 0.69% Nickel and 1.33% Manganese.

Table 1 Geovic 43-101 Resource dated 02 June 2011

Category	kt	Co %	Ni %	Mn %	Co (t)	Ni (t)	Mn (t)
Measured	59,806	0.24	0.68	1.37	143,532	406,674	819,329
Indicated	60,794	0.22	0.62	1.35	133,747	376,923	802,481
Total M&I	120,599	0.23	0.65	1.35	277,279	783,597	1,621,810
Inferred	202,551	0.20	0.59	1.20	405,102	1,195,051	2,430,612
Total M, I & I	323,150	0.21	0.61	1.26	682,381	1,978,648	4,052,421

Source: NI 43-101 Technical Report, Geovic Mining Corp by SRK Consulting, 02 June 2011³

Geovic explored several means to raise the significant finance necessary to fund construction of a mine at Nkamouna, including a partial sale to a Chinese Company looking  to offtake production from the project.  But cobalt fell from a peak of $50/lb ($110,000/t) in 2008 to trade between $10/lb - $15/lb ($22,000/t to $33,000/t) from mid 2012 to end 2015.  At these low prices Geovic failed to raise finance and the Company was subsequently delisted from the Toronto Stock Exchange in June 2014.

KISINKA ASSAYS

After significant delays due to a variety of factors including changes to the Mining Code in the DRC, and administrative delays, also in part due to those changes, assays on the samples submitted following ABM's auger programme of two transects across the Kisinka licence in DRC have now been returned.   The results are disappointing, with cobalt grades of 0.002% to 0.021% and copper of up to 0.058%.  These are disappointing given that the licence is on the Roan rocks, which host most of DRC's cobalt, and also given the licence is within 30km of seven producing cobalt and copper mines.  As previously noted, however, the licence is over 50sq.km. and in excess of seven kilometres long.  Additionally the licence is covered with up to 30 metres of soil cover, which is why augering was attempted.  These results do not invalidate Kisinka as an exploration target.  Further work on the licence will be assessed in the context of the opportunities ABM management sees in its projects in Ivory Coast (see release of 16^th October 2018) and in Cameroon.

Footnotes:

¹Geovic Mining Corporation released a Feasibility Study on its Nkamouna Co-Ni-Mn project in 2011, via www.sedar.com.  The total Measured, Indicated & Inferred Resource totalled 323.15 million tonnes at 0.21% cobalt, 0.61% nickel and 1.26% manganese - see Table 1 below for more detail

²Core Consultants described Celsius Resources Ltd.'s Opowu Resource in Namibia as the largest outside the DRC.  Nkamouna's historic resource is significantly larger than Opowu's.  Source: https://www.coreconsultantsgroup.com/largest-cobalt-copper-resource-outside-drc/ 

³https://sedar.com/FindCompanyDocuments.do?lang=EN&page_no=2&company_search=Geovic&document_selection=0&industry_group=A&FromDate=01&FromMonth=01&FromYear=2010&ToDate=31&ToMonth=12&ToYear=2012&Variable=Issuer 

**Ends**

The information contained within this announcement is considered to be inside information prior to its release, as defined in Article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation No.596/2014 and is disclosed in accordance with the Company's obligations under Article 17 of those Regulations.

For further information please visit https://www.abmplc.com/ or contact:

African Battery Metals plc
Roger Murphy (CEO)	[phone]
SP Angel Corporate Finance (Nomad and Broker)
Ewan Leggat	[phone]

Notes to Editors:

ABM is an AIM listed, Africa focused, resource company exploring for the key metals used in next generation batteries that fuel the new electric vehicle revolution. The Board and team of advisors, who have proven expertise in African exploration, mining and project generation, have identified an opportunity to utilise the Company's position to become a leader in the London market for investors to gain exposure to the battery metal commodity suite, particularly cobalt, lithium, copper and nickel. 

 

END

 

 

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