Kasbah Resources eyes an increase to tin inventory with Bou El Jaj acquisition

Kasbah Resources (ASX: KAS) is adding to its Moroccan portfolio with the signing of an agreement to purchase the Bou El Jaj Tin Prospect, which is highly prospective considering rock chip sampling returned tin grades of up to 17.9%.

The Bou El Jaj Tin Prospect, which spans 22.6 square kilometres over two exploration permits, covers outcropping tin mineralisation 8 kilometres south-southwest of Kasbah’s Achmmach Tin project.

The company will settle the transaction with an initial payment of A$100,000 on the final transfer of the two exploration permits from private interests and a one off production royalty payment of $230,000 to the vendors of the permits on commencement of mining.

Managing director Wayne Bramwell said Bou El Jaj is a very strategic acquisition for Kasbah due to its proximity to Achmmach.

“This is an emerging tin belt and expanding our exploration program within this tin belt to increase our tin inventory is consistent with the company’s growth strategy,” he said.

Indicating the potential of the prospect for Kasbah, the outcrop lies at the southernmost extent of a broad zone of tourmaline alteration hosted by fine grained sandstones and siltstones intruded by multiple dykes of dolerite and microgranite – similar in nature to the geology of the Achmmach tin mineralisation.

A further defining factor is that the Bou El Jaj Tin Prospect is the southernmost extension of a mineralised corridor that is approximately 2.5 to 3 kilometres wide and nearly 12 kilometres long in strike extending south-southwest from Achmmach through to Oued Beht.
As part of a due diligence investigation, Kasbah collected 102 rock chip samples covering over 450 metres of mineralised structures within two previously tested tourmaline-altered zones. The rock chip sampling returned tin grades of up to 17.9%.

Tin mineralisation occurs as north-northeast striking subvertical quartz cassiterite veins and in tourmaline breccia infill. This style of mineralisation is very similar to that found at Achmmach.

The rock chip sample results are broadly coincident with earlier results obtained through exploration by Bureau des Recherches et de Partcipations Minieres (BRPM) from the late 1980s to the early 1990s.

This work identified prospective shallow tin mineralisation over a strike length of 1.5 kilometres with most of the work focused on the 350 metres strike extent of the Eastern Structure.

Once the transfer of the Bou El Jaj permits is complete, Kasbah will begin ground work in preparation for a drilling program in 2012.


Achmmach Tin Project

Kasbah’s 100%-owned Achmmach project contains one of the largest undeveloped tin deposits in the world, with a JORC Resource of 7 million tonnes at 0.8% tin, with a cut-off grade of 0.5%, for 54,000 tonnes contained tin.

This comprises an Indicated Resource of 2.2 million tonnes at 0.8% tin, and an Inferred Resource of 4.8 million tonnes at 0.8% tin.

In August, Kasbah received approval for the early assignment of 100% project ownership of Achmmach, which de-risks the operations.

As a result of this and continued drilling success at the project, a recent broker research note placed a price target of $0.44 per share on the company, well above the current price of $0.17.

Kasbah Resources continues to intersect good grade tin mineralisation from ongoing infill and extensional drilling of the Gap Zone at the Achmmach Project.

Recent drilling identified extensions of the Meknes Resource. Five drill rigs are in operation at Achmmach, with drilling increasing to about 3,000 metres per month.

Kasbah is targeting an upgrade to the Achmmach resource by the March quarter of 2012.

Originally published at : http://www.proactiveinvestors.com.au/companies/news/22998/kasbah-resources-eyes-an-increase-to-tin-inventory-with-bou-el-jaj-acquisition--22998.html