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(Alliance News) - Power Metal Resources PLC on Monday reported the conclusion of field activities in relation to a pitting, mapping and sampling programme of cobalt-nickel project in Cameroon.
The AIM-listed battery metal exploration and development company acquired license interests in south-eastern Cameroon in 2018, including four adjacent or near to the Nkamouna cobalt-nickel deposit of cobalt mining company Geovic Mining Corp.
Nkamouna is believed to be the largest defined cobalt resource outside the Democratic Republic of Congo and is exceptional among laterites for its high cobalt to nickel ratio.
Power Metal Resources said it holds nearly 2,000 square kilometres, containing a number of potentially similar plateaus, on which it conducted a preliminary reconnaissance and sampling programme last year but failed to reach the depth at which the target laterised strata might be encountered.
The rains in this part of Cameroon become too heavy by July to conduct programmes of the type planned by the company, so a short-notice programme to access the key laterised horizons, enabling samples to be taken, was planned.
On Monday, Power Metal Resources said four pits dug across three licenses to depths of between nine metres and 12 metres. The fifth and final pit achieved a depth of five metres by the time weather conditions forced an end to the programme.
As a result, 65 samples have been submitted to the Mississauga Mining & Exploration Cameroon sarl's laboratory in Douala for sample preparation and preliminary X-ray fluorescence analysis.
All pits encountered the distinct laterite profile that is most likely to be mineralized from average depths of 5 metres, the company said, which is consistent with depths in the mineralized zones at the adjacent Nkamouna project.
"I am pleased to announce the successful completion of field operations in Cameroon," said Executive Director Paul Johnson.
"It is extremely encouraging to have all pits encountering the lateritic profile we were targeting and we are looking forward to receipt of the X-ray fluorescence findings, in respect of cobalt-nickel mineralisation, in due course," added Johnson.
Power Metal Resources shares were 13% lower in the afternoon trade on Monday in London at 0.46 pence each.
