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LONDON (Alliance News) - Sylvania Platinum Ltd Tuesday said it has received an update to the resource estimate for the Grasvally chrome project in South Africa after the company conducted work on the southern section of the project.
The initial mineral resource for the southern part of the license stands at 64,900 tonnes of "high grade chromite" with a grade of 40.70% chromium oxide and a chrome to iron ratio of 2.19 to 1, all of which is accessible by small and shallow open pits, said the company.
That brings the total mineral resource for the project to 144,516 tonnes of chromite mineralisation with a grade of 29.19% chromium oxide and a chrome to iron ratio of 1.74 to 1.
Both mineral resources are in accordance with the South African Code for the reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves, known as the SAMREC code.
"Sylvania is pleased with the initial results observed from the exposure of trenching on strike on the southern portion of the resource. This exploration has been achieved with minimal exploration costs and it indicates that this is some of the highest grade chrome ore being recovered in South African chrome mines," said Chief Executive Terry McConnachie.
Sylvania said there is also scope to increase the mineral resource "in the coming months" as it explores the northern section and deeper portions of the project. The company will also conduct a bulk sampling programme which could recover up to 15,000 tonnes of chrome, it said.
"The exploration has to date concentrated on proving the feasibility for recovering the ore via open cast methods, however there is also potential for a substantial amount of this high grade ore to be mined underground," added McConnachie.
Sylvania shares were up 0.6% to 9.94 pence per share on Tuesday morning.
By Joshua Warner; joshuawarner@alliancenews.com; @JoshAlliance
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