Potential Phosphate Resource at Iron Ore Project

RNS Number : 2906W

Obtala Resources Limited

24 January 2013

 



24 January 2013

Obtala Resources Limited

("Obtala" or the "Company")

(AIM: OBT)

Potential Phosphate Resource at Bushveld Iron Ore Project

The Board of Obtala Resources Limited, the natural resources investment and development company, announces the following RNS made by Bushveld Minerals Limited this morning:

Obtala Resources Francesco Scolaro - Chairman; Simon Rollason - Managing Director www.obtalaresources.com	[phone]
Macquarie Capital (Europe) Limited (Nomad and Broker)
Steve Baldwin; Nicholas Harland	[phone]

Bushveld Minerals Ltd

("Bushveld" or the "Company")

Potential Phosphate Resource at Bushveld Iron Ore Project

Bushveld Minerals Limited (AIM: BMN), a mineral development company focused on iron and tin projects in southern Africa, is pleased to provide an operations update on its iron ore project in Limpopo Province, South Africa. 

Recent analytical results have discovered the presence of phosphate intersections for a zone above the P-Q Zone iron ore layer which are reported here, adding an additional commodity to the iron, titanium and vanadium products already being evaluated at the iron-ore project.

Highlights:

·      Drilling assay results reveal a zone of phosphate mineralisation between 8m and 61m thick in the hanging wall to the P-Q Zone.

·      Grades in this zone range between 2% and 5% P₂O₅.

·      Phosphate zone is geologically and identifiably distinct from the main P-Q iron ore layer (which contains <0.07% P₂O₅) that comprises the Company's main iron ore resource - there is a sharp transition from the upper contact of the P-Q magnetite layer into the phosphate zone.

·      Potential for extracting saleable phosphate would enhance economics of the project - ordinarily this zone would form part of the hanging-wall "waste" rock in the mining of the P-Q magnetite layers.

·      Maiden phosphate JORC resource anticipated in the second quarter of 2013

Results of phosphate zone drilling

Assays of the hanging-wall to the P-Q Zone have revealed a broad area of phosphate (P₂O₅) mineralisation above the P-Q Zone. The mineralisation consists mainly of the minerals apatite (the phosphate mineral), pyroxene and magnetite and is very similar to foskorite, the ore body being mined at the large phosphate deposit in Phalabora, South Africa.

Like the magnetite layers below it, this phosphate zone is consistent along strike and down-dip, and ranges in thickness from 8m to over 60m and averages 31m, with grades of between 2% and 5% P₂O₅. The zone represents considerable thickness, in which a higher grade zone could be relatively extracted and could make it a significant phosphate resource, which could be further upgraded by removal of disseminated magnetite in this zone through magnetic separation. Given that it constitutes the immediate hanging-wall of the P-Q magnetites and would be removed as waste rock as part of the mining operation, this phosphate mineralisation could favourably influence the economics of the iron project, which remains the focus of the Company's activities.

The average thicknesses and grades of the phosphate zone for each borehole intersection, with potential for selectively mining higher grade zones, are reported below:

Borehole	Depth from (m)	Depth to (m)	Width (m)	Avg P2O5 (%)	Including
MAL2	30.00	60.00	30.00	2.29	4m @ 3.64%
VK02	67.00	75.00	8.00	2.66	4m @ 3.33%
VK04	110.00	138.00	28.00	2.78	15m @ 3.03%
VK06	76.00	110.00	34.00	3.45	5m @ 4.38%
VK07	33.00	50.00	17.00	3.88	11m @ 4.5%
VK08	28.00	56.00	28.00	3.31	5m @ 4.44%
VK10	75.00	100.00	25.00	2.38	5m @ 3.67%
VK12	21.00	50.00	29.00	3.91	7m @ 5.18%
VK13	284.12	306.50	22.38	4.01
VK14	28.00	77.00	49.00	3.34	11m @ 4.41%
VK15	322.00	340.00	18.00	3.47	4m @ 4.45%
VK17	203.00	259.00	56.00	3.90	5m @ 5.01%
VK18	227.00	288.00	61.00	2.79	14m @ 3.96%

The company is in the process of incorporating these results into a phosphate resource model and anticipates delineating a JORC resource as well as undertaking some metallurgical test work on the resource in the second quarter of 2013.

Commenting on the analytical results, Bushveld Minerals' CEO, Fortune Mojapelo, said, "We are pleased that this robust phosphate zone, which would be "strip / waste" in the mining of the P-Q zone, is distinct from the main P-Q mineralisation and is identifiable through clear geological markers. This presents an exciting opportunity of a new potentially mineable phosphate resource that we hope can be economically exploited. While this is resource is not the main focus of the Bushveld Iron ore Project, its potential to enhance the economics of the Iron Ore project is significant and very encouraging."

Enquiries: [e-mail]

Bushveld Minerals Fortune Mojapelo	[phone]
Fox Davies Jonathan Evans	[phone]
Tavistock Communications Jos Simson/ Jessica Fontaine	[phone]
Tielle Communications Stéphanie Leclercq	[phone]

This information is provided by RNS

The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

- ENDS -

Notes to the editor

Bushveld Minerals Limited is a mineral development company focused on the Bushveld Iron Ore Project and the Mokopane Tin Project, both located on the northern limb of the Bushveld Complex, South Africa.

The Company was admitted to the Alternative Investment Market of the LSE in March 2012.

Competent Person's Statement

References in this announcement to exploration results and potential have been approved for release by Prof. Richard Viljoen (MSc, PhD, FGSSA, FSAIMM, FRSSA, FSEG, FGSI, Pr. Sc. Nat) with more than 30 years relevant experience in the mining industry, including 15 years as chief consulting geologist for Goldfields of South Africa. Prof. Richard Viljoen has consented to the inclusion of the material in the form and context in which it appears.

 

END

 

 

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