“The programme was designed by Snowden, our deposit modelling contractor, to provide geostatistical data to allow the resource to be recalculated to JORC Indicated category”, African Eagle MD Mark Parker said. “All the drill results have been sent to Snowden and resource modelling is well under way.”
The latest drilling campaign consisted of 98 holes - 71 infill Reverse Circulation (RC) drill holes and 27 definition holes - from the main Wamangola Hill Deposit. African Eagle has now completed 404 holes in total resource drilling totaling 24,297 metres. As well as the main Wamangola Hill Deposit the drilling has also covered the Amangola and Ngasamo Deposits on the Dutwa Project.
From the results, the key mineralised intersections include 54m at 1.5% nickel including a 6m section grading 2.8% nickel, 45m at 1.3% nickel, 57m at 1% nickel, 42m at 1.3% nickel. The company noted that the latest programme was designed to provide data on the uniformity and variability of the deposit, to allow Snowden to recalculate the resource estimate and upgrade a significant proportion of it to JORC Indicated category.
Furthermore, African Eagle said that the results, together with additional step-out drill results already delivered, “should also provide an increase to the inferred resource of 31 million tonnes at 1.1% average nickel grade, announced in November 2008.”
The company noted that the drill rig is now working on a preliminary resource drilling programme at Zanzui, which is African Eagle’s other nickel-bearing laterite, located 50km south of Dutwa.
The Zanzui laterite is developed over a layered basic-ultrabasic complex some 12km in diameter, and according to African Eagle, scout drilling and preliminary metallurgical tests in 2008 indicated that at least in part, the Zanzui laterite is similar in character to the Dutwa deposits.
The company has been rapidly progressing Dutwa in recent months with a successful separate drilling campaign at one of Dutwa’s other deposits, Ngasamo Hill, and exceptional leaching tests in May.
Last month, African Eagle reported exceptional results from column leach tests for the Dutwa ore, the company said the result opens a wider range of leach options, by either heap leaching or tank leaching at normal atmospheric pressure. “We are delighted with the results of our phase 2 column and tank leach tests, which show that Dutwa ore could be processed by either heap leaching or tank leaching at normal atmospheric pressure, without recourse to the high cost and hi-tech complications of high pressure acid leach (HPAL)”, African Eagle MD Mark Parker commented.
“The leaching reaction proceeds very quickly, especially for the first two-thirds of the contained nickel, and the acid consumption is much lower that for comparable deposits elsewhere. This opens a wider range of leach options and, if heap leaching is used, implies that working capital should not be tied-up for a long period while the heap reaches full productivity."
According to African Eagle the leach tests, using 1m columns, performed exceptionally well achieving good nickel and cobalt recovery whilst maintaining low acid consumption. The results showed nickel extraction of 73-82% within 30 days and 86-92% after 100 days, while cobalt extraction reached up to 60% within 30 days and 80-85% after 100 days. Tank leach tests gave 80-85% nickel extraction within 8 hours.
At Ngasamo Hill, 59 of the 66 holes, drilled in a vertical reverse circulation (RC) programme, intersected mineralisation, and highlights include: 75 metres at 1.42 percent nickel, 84 metres at 1.07 percent nickel including 30 metres at 1.64 percent, 63 metres at 1.41 percent nickel including 45 metres at 1.71 percent, and 57 metres at 1.25 percent nickel including 12 metres at 2.48 percent.
Key cobalt mineralisation intersections include 18 metres at 0.47 percent cobalt, 9 metres at 0.43 percent and 9 metres at 0.27 percent cobalt, the latter including 3 metres at 0.48 percent.
The drilling was designed to delineate a formal Mineral Resource to JORC Inferred category or better.
Managing Director Mark Parker commented: "We are extremely pleased with the drill results from Ngasamo. They reveal a deposit which is somewhat thicker than the main Dutwa deposit, and although the average grade appears to be slightly lower, we expect Ngasamo will add significantly to the overall resource base.”
Since discovering major oxide nickel deposits at Dutwa, African Eagle is in transition from a diversified explorer into a nickel mining company. The company completed a positive scoping study on the Dutwa deposit in July 2009 and is now working towards a full feasibility study.
African Eagle is evaluating a second promising oxide nickel deposit at Zanzui in Tanzania, 60 kilometres south of Dutwa.
The company also holds a 49 percent interest in the Mkushi Copper Mines joint venture in Zambia, for which a draft feasibility study was completed in Q4 2008. In addition, it holds a half million ounce gold resource at the Miyabi project in Tanzania, and a portfolio of gold and base metal exploration assets, including two projects in the Zambian Copperbelt.
The company is seeking partners or buyers for its non-core copper, gold and uranium projects.
http://www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk/companies/news/17482/african-eagle-completes-98-hole-campaign-at-dutwas-wamangola-hill-deposit-awaits-jorc-upgrade-17482.html
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