LONDON (Alliance News) - FinnAust Mining PLC Tuesday said it has completed a photogrammetry and a 3D geological model of the Pittuffik titanium project in Greenland which will provide a platform for the miner to launch further activities.
The main target areas of the project stretch along an 80 kilometre coastline. The three targets are the raised beaches, active beaches and drowned beaches. The company engaged the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland in 2015 to construct geological models for all three areas, which have now been completed.
The three target areas demonstrate the project's location, based on the edge of the country and lying over the coastline, the lower beaches and stretching into the drowned beaches which are fully submerged underwater.
The geological models for the three areas were built using a combination of bathymetry, seismic and the latest ortho-rectified 3D photomosaic technology to deliver for the first time a model of ilmenite bearing sediment accumulations into one complete 3D model, FinnAust said.
The key findings from the models show the bathymetry, the study of underwater depth and ocean floors, has shown there are "very large volumes" of ilmenite-bearing sediments, the most important ore of titanium, lying within the shallow areas of the coast and near to the shore.
Notably, FinnAust has completed the bathymetry work later than expected, as the miner previously said it would have this completed by the end of the first quarter of 2016.
The second key finding came from the photogrammetry work, which utilises photography for surveying and mapping activities, defining more "very large volumes" of ilmenite-bearing sediments within the raised beach area.
The models will provide FinnAust with a platform to launch activities in the future, such as exploration and field surveys, environmental and social surveys, licensing, resource work and infrastructure planning.
FinnAust has already lodged the documents needed to support its application to secure the rights over the ilmenite in the shallow marine areas, and once approved the expanded licence area will increase the amount of ilmenite-bearing sediments "substantially". The application covering the shallow marine area covers a space out of depth of no more than 30.0 metres, or around 1.5 kilometres from shore.
The work programmes for the project have also been submitted to authorities and the company is expecting approval of the programme "in due course". That should hopefully lead to FinnAust establishing an initial mineral inventory or resource.
"We are preparing work programmes accordingly and remain confident that we will deliver an initial resource calculation from the work carried out during 2016. The company also continues to focus on the delivery of a proof-of-concept, cash generative 'bulk sample' in 2017," said Chief Executive Roderick McIllree.
FinnAust shares were trading up 3.0% to 4.74 pence per share on Tuesday morning.
By Joshua Warner; joshuawarner@alliancenews.com; @JoshAlliance
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