Vancouver-based Eagle Star Minerals Corp. (CVE:EGE) announced Tuesday a sizeable high grade phosphate interval within a pit opened at its Bomfim Hill property in Brazil.
The "excellent result" of a 5 metre interval averaging 22% phosphate remains open at depth, the company said, adding that detailed mapping has revealed that this mineralized package consists of a high grade phosphate layer that appears to extend over an area of 1,200 by 500 metres.
This pit was the first opened at Bomfim Hill, and the analytical results reported were obtained from portable XRF measurements. The 22% grade was calculated by averaging XRF readings across the interval, which varied from 18 to 30% P2O5.
Previous grab and chip samples at Bomfim Hill returned up to 28% P2O5, which is consistent with the reported XRF results, Eagle Star said.
"The discovery of this sizable high grade package at Bomfim is extremely significant for the company," said president and CEO of the company, Eran Friedlander, in a statement.
"Typically this type of quality ore and grade is not commonly found in large volume within Brazil, yet based on what we can see it appears that we have indeed uncovered something of considerable mass especially since the thickness of the package remains open at depth.
"The team is now working diligently to further understand and outline the potential here at Bomfim. This recent discovery accelerates the prospect in which the company could move into production in the near future."
The company cautioned that though its XRF analysis cannot be relied on for the equivalent precision and accuracy of a certified analytical lab, the results are of "sufficient quality" to direct exploration pending lab confirmation.
The phosphorite rock types at Bomfim Hill occur along a phosphate belt and within MbAC Fertilizers' (TSE:MBC) Itafos Mine located 10 km away. From 2010 to 2011, MbAC generated roughly $8.8 million in revenue from the small scale production and sale of just over 80,000 million tonnes of this phosphorite ore, Eagle Star noted.
Following in the footsteps of MbAC, Eagle Star plans to test the processing and use of the Bomfim Hill phosphorite as direct application material during the coming year.
Earlier this month, the company said it confirmed the extension of the phosphate belt mineralization from MbAC Fertilizers' Itafos Arraias project onto the Bomfim claims. The Itafos mine is scheduled to start production in the first quarter of next year, and has validated the economics of a mining operation in the midst of the agricultural region.
Itafos has a total resource of 58 million tonnes grading an average of 5.1% phosphate. Considering Bomfim's equally large area of 30,922 hectares and the similar dispersed nature of the mineralized zones, Eagle Star said it believes that the overall potential of their claims has yet to be uncovered.
An aggressive drilling campaign at Bomfim is slated to start early next year, which will continue with the scout drilling program, as well as with a targeted infill program on already identified mineralized zones.
The Bomfim project, which Eagle Star acquired in June, is located in the southern portion of Tocantins state, Brazil. All exploration permits, for 30,922 hectares across 4 claims, are already in place, with a resource expected by the fourth quarter of 2013.
Eagle Star has been working to bulk up its position as a provider of agro-minerals ever since announcing a strategic shift in focus to Brazil phosphate exploration in February. In the last 5 days, its shares have risen more than 15 per cent.
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