LONDON (Alliance News) - Amur Minerals Corp Tuesday said it has completed the infill drilling programme over the Flangovy resource area at the Kun Manie project that has confirmed the continuity of the mineralisation throughout the 800 metre long target.
The results have confirmed there is a large area of mineralised ore that is associated with a "tier 1 operation" that can be mined using underground methods.
A tier 1 producer or operation refers to the biggest and most important company or operation to that commodity's supply chain, meaning the company is suggesting the reserves are among the best in the industry.
The Russian miner drilled a total of 26 holes over the Flangovy inferred resource with the aim of confirming existing drill results over the area. The previous results suggested it would achieve a length weighted average nickel grade of around 0.76% and copper grade of 0.22% with the average individual mineralised thickness to be around 27.9 metres per hole.
The latest programme indicated an average weighted nickel grade of 0.79% and a copper grade of 0.21%, broadly in line with previous drill results. The average ore hole contains a total of 26.9 metres of mineral with the discrete intersections being 14.2 metres.
To put that into context, the current inferred Flangovy resource only has an average nickel grade of 0.55% nickel.
The programme has confirmed the continuity of mineralisation is suitable for underground mining, and 78% of the nickel at the resource are contained within those discrete lenses, averaging 9.3 metres in thickness, yielding grades in excess of 1.0% nickel, meaning the grade has increased by around 50%.
"This confirms that an underground production scenario is necessary for the purposes of resource estimation, planning and scheduling. These resources could result in a substantial portion of Flangovy consisting of reserves similar to that of tier 1 nickel mining companies," said Amur.
"We have confirmed the continuity and grade of the Flangovy ore zone over a length of 800 metres, which should allow for a planned resource update from inferred resource to indicated," added Chief Executive Robin Young.
Amur said the grades are "those associated with a tier one producer", and said the financial analysis of the resource is being compiled by Alex Stewart Laboratories which should be available in December.
That financial analysis will include an updated resource estimate for the Flangovy resource and also the Maly Kurumkon resource and look at whether Amur should go for an open pit operation or dive straight in to underground mining.
"Having completed the Flangovy infill drill programme and with weather conditions permitting continuance of drilling, the company began drilling infill holes at Maly Kurumkon in mid-October. These holes are planned for completion in 2016," said Amur.
Once the company has secured that financial analysis in December, it plans to prepare a detailed work programme for both Flangovy and Maly Kurumkon which will focus on targeting earlier production of the higher underground grades than previously anticipated by the existing resource model.
Amur shares were down 4.1% to 11.75 pence per share.
By Joshua Warner; joshuawarner@alliancenews.com; @JoshAlliance
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