LONDON (Alliance News) - Amur Minerals Corp on Wednesday said it is confident that the inferred resources within the Maly Kurumkon/Flangovy area of the Kun Manie project in Russia will be converted into indicated resources following the first set of drill results from the region.
The miner began drilling one month ahead of schedule in early May and said a total of 2,457.3 metres had been drilled as of May 28, averaging 102 metres per day. Infill drilling has shown that the existing 1,900 metre long zone that is thought to be high-grade extends for another 300.0 metres to the west, pushing the total length to 2,200 metres.
Amur said infill drilling has suggested that the tonnage and grade of the existing inferred resource within the area is higher than first thought. Over the inferred model area, the thickness of the infill drill area is greater at 43.9 metres compared to the previous estimate of only 19.9 metres.
The nickel grade in the infill drill area is higher at around 0.83% compared to previous estimates of 0.70%. Copper grades are up to 0.24% from the previous 0.17%. The extra 300.0 metre long area found during infill drilling should provide a "substantial increase" to the resource at Maly Kurumkon/Flangovy, the company said.
"The infill drilled area has now been completed on a drill grid which has historically been used to classify resources as Indicated. The company anticipates that future resource updates of this Inferred resource will be upgraded to the Indicated JORC category. This category of resource can be utilised to define reserves," said Amur.
"The infill drilled area will likely add to the reserve totals. Depending on availability and timing, any reserve derived from this area may be considered as a part of the reserve for use in the definitive feasibility study," the company added.
Amur is now completing step-out drilling to identify the precise location of a fault in the western limit of the area which is thought to contain mineralisation. Metallurgical holes are also being drilled to collect samples for testwork to be completed to allow for flowsheet and plant design, concentrate characterisation and the design of a furnace capable of smelting the concentrate to generate a low grade matte.
The current drilling phase on the western end of the area is almost complete, with seven holes left to drill.
"As for the results, infill drilling has certainly provided us with a bonus. Drilling within the current Inferred resource area indicates that the future resource update in this area will be substantially larger with regard to the contained tonnage of ore and at higher nickel and copper grades," said Chief Executive Robin Young.
Amur shares were up 3.9% to 4.65 pence per share on Wednesday.
By Joshua Warner; joshuawarner@alliancenews.com; @JoshAlliance
Copyright 2016 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Amur Minerals (AMC)