LONDON (Alliance News) - FinnAust Mining PLC Tuesday said results from a recent survey over the Pituffik project in Greenland has shown there is very large volumes of potentially high-grade titanium in the shallow marine area, boosting the amount of overall metal within the project.
Finnaust said the results from the bathymetry and seismic profiling survey, alongside an extensive sea floor sampling programme at Pituffik, has shown the shallow marine area that was tested could hold a large amount of high grade titanium and supports the company's strategy to prove it has a viable commercial operation at the project by 2017.
"The drowned beaches at Pituffik have always represented to us an exciting low cost production opportunity and it is pleasing that the results received so far from the completed offshore survey support the potential viability of this strategy," said Chief Executive Roderick McIllree.
The titanium is hosted within shallow, extensive and thick ilmenite rich sediments that extend 30 kilometres in length and 1,000 metres in width. The sedimentary horizons are on average more than 5 metres thick.
"The realisation that these potentially high-grade titanium rich sediments extend offshore has changed the calculus in terms of potential resources by an order of magnitude and continues to demonstrate Pituffik is potentially a globally significant high-grade, pure ilmenite play," said McIllree.
Results from an offshore sampling programme over the shallow marine drowned beaches out to 1,000 metres from shore are expected in the next couple of months, it said.
Following receipt of all results from the 2015 work programme, which includes outstanding sampling results from all three project areas, FinnAust will announce its full 2016 work programme inclusive of indicative timelines for permitting and environmental approval and assessment.
FinnAust shares were up 8.9% to 1.69 pence per share on Tuesday morning.
By Joshua Warner; joshuawarner@alliancenews.com; @JoshAlliance
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