Last checked at 29 Oct 2015 07:00
Ortac Resources Ltd / Epic: OTC / Market: AIM / Sector: Mining & Exploration
29 October 2015
ORTAC RESOURCES LTD
("ORTAC" OR THE "COMPANY")
Trench Results from the Kalaba Open Pit, Zambia
Ortac Resources Ltd., the AIM listed exploration and mine development company, is pleased to announce that Zamsort Limited ("Zamsort"), the Zambian copper focussed exploration and mining company in which Ortac has acquired secured convertible loan notes, has completed a surface trench sampling programme at its Kalaba Small-scale Mining License ("SML") located 290km west of Solwezi in northwest Zambia.
Kalaba Oxide Trench Highlights:
· 95m @ 2.08% Copper and 0.26% Cobalt in surface trench No. 3
· 30m @ 2.10% Copper and 0.24% Cobalt in surface trench No. 4
· 20m @ 1.73% Copper and 0.25% Cobalt in surface trench No. 7
Vassilios Carellas, Ortac CEO, commented: "These trench assay results from the Kalaba open pit copper cobalt project are indicative of the grade of material that Zamsort is looking to process through their plant, the site for which has now been cleared of vegetation in preparation for construction of the leach plant.
"I am very pleased with the approach Zamsort has adopted. It is designed to quickly move the company to a cash generating position, secured from the processing of copper and cobalt ore mined from the Kalaba open pit."
Nine trenches were sampled in and around the Kalaba small-scale open pit mine, the results of which are summarized below:
Trench No. | Length (m) | Cu (%) | Co (%) | Ni (%) | Au (ppm) | Ag (ppm) |
1 | 30.0 | 0.24 | 0.13 | 0.04 | 2.15 | |
2 | 30.0 | 1.00 | 0.09 | 0.03 | 2.48 | |
3 | 95.0 | 2.08 | 0.26 | 0.06 | 3.16 | |
4 | 30.0 | 2.10 | 0.24 | 0.05 | 2.98 | |
5 | 25.0 | 0.69 | 0.18 | 0.06 | 1.42 | |
6 | 15.0 | 0.72 | 0.25 | 0.06 | 0.73 | |
7 | 20.0 | 1.73 | 0.25 | 0.04 | 1.15 | |
8 | 75.0 | 0.29 | 0.09 | 0.03 | 1.73 | |
9 | 35.0 | 0.10 | 0.05 | 0.03 | 3.00 |
The Kalaba open pit, at present, is a small-scale open pit mine that has been mined intermittently over the last 10 years. The pit contains a red lateritic overburden unit underlain by a yellow saprolitic material that has to date been mined and processed off-site using acid leaching to produce copper metal. The samples were collected from the saprolite layer over 5 metre long channels and aggregated into single samples for assaying. In total, 71 samples were collected from nine trenches.
Trenches 2 and 4 are located on the eastern face of the small pit. Trench 3 is located immediately to the west of the pit. Trenches 1 and 5 are located on the northern and southern boundaries of the pit with the remaining trenches located to the west beyond the current pit limits. The deposit dips to the east and remains open to the east.
The next stage of exploration will be to test the continuity of the saprolite material to the east through augering or diamond drilling below the overlying laterite layer.
The full results of the trenching programme are given in the table below:
Trench/Sample | Length (m) | Cu (%) | Co (%) | Ni (%) | Au (ppm) | Ag (ppm) |
L1/A | 5.0 | 0.26 | 0.14 | 0.04 | 3.23 | |
L1/B | 5.0 | 0.23 | 0.15 | 0.06 | 1.88 | |
L1/C | 5.0 | 0.28 | 0.14 | 0.04 | 2.09 | |
L1/D | 5.0 | 0.28 | 0.13 | 0.04 | 2.16 | |
L1/E | 5.0 | 0.19 | 0.12 | 0.04 | 1.85 | |
L1/F | 5.0 | 0.19 | 0.08 | 0.03 | 1.69 | |
Total | 30.0 | 0.24 | 0.13 | 0.04 | 2.15 | |
L2/A | 5.0 | 0.20 | 0.09 | 0.03 | 2.54 | |
L2/B | 5.0 | 0.25 | 0.10 | 0.03 | 1.77 | |
L2/C | 5.0 | 0.18 | 0.07 | 0.02 | 2.04 | |
L2/D | 5.0 | 2.29 | 0.13 | 0.03 | 2.59 | |
L2/F | 5.0 | 1.59 | 0.09 | 0.03 | 3.24 | |
L2/G | 5.0 | 1.46 | 0.03 | 0.01 | 2.72 | |
Total | 30.0 | 1.00 | 0.09 | 0.03 | 2.48 | |
L3/A | 5.0 | 0.69 | 0.19 | 0.05 | 2.96 | |
L3/B | 5.0 | 0.95 | 0.08 | 0.03 | 2.19 | |
L3/C | 5.0 | 0.88 | 0.13 | 0.03 | 3.20 | |
L3/D | 5.0 | 0.29 | 0.22 | 0.09 | 3.28 | |
L3/E | 5.0 | 1.37 | 0.03 | 0.03 | 4.02 | |
L3/F | 5.0 | 1.82 | 0.04 | 0.03 | 3.05 | |
L3/G | 5.0 | 2.80 | 0.19 | 0.05 | 2.77 | |
L3/H | 5.0 | 2.27 | 0.44 | 0.08 | 3.11 | |
L3/I | 5.0 | 3.04 | 0.48 | 0.07 | 2.40 | |
L3/J | 5.0 | 2.33 | 0.43 | 0.09 | 2.40 | |
L3/K | 5.0 | 2.06 | 0.36 | 0.11 | 4.32 | |
L3/L | 5.0 | 2.60 | 0.39 | 0.11 | 4.66 | |
L3/N | 5.0 | 2.97 | 0.36 | 0.11 | 3.14 | |
L3/O | 5.0 | 2.67 | 0.31 | 0.09 | 2.33 | |
L3/P | 5.0 | 2.29 | 0.25 | 0.05 | 2.92 | |
L3/Q | 5.0 | 2.23 | 0.27 | 0.04 | 2.35 | |
L3/R | 5.0 | 1.95 | 0.23 | 0.04 | 4.58 | |
L3/S | 5.0 | 3.27 | 0.29 | 0.04 | 4.35 | |
L3/T | 5.0 | 3.04 | 0.25 | 0.03 | 2.00 | |
Total | 95.0 | 2.08 | 0.26 | 0.06 | 3.16 | |
L4/A | 5.0 | 1.36 | 0.13 | 0.03 | 2.77 | |
L4/B | 5.0 | 1.97 | 0.30 | 0.05 | 2.43 | |
L4/C | 5.0 | 2.31 | 0.39 | 0.04 | 2.35 | |
L4/D | 5.0 | 2.47 | 0.27 | 0.06 | 3.38 | |
L4/E | 5.0 | 3.30 | 0.24 | 0.07 | 2.50 | |
L4/F | 5.0 | 1.20 | 0.12 | 0.07 | 4.46 | |
Total | 30.0 | 2.10 | 0.24 | 0.05 | 2.98 | |
L5/A | 5.0 | 0.45 | 0.19 | 0.05 | 0.74 | |
L5/B | 5.0 | 0.70 | 0.14 | 0.09 | 2.07 | |
L5/C | 5.0 | 0.79 | 0.15 | 0.09 | 2.69 | |
L5/D | 5.0 | 0.54 | 0.19 | 0.04 | 0.80 | |
L5/E | 5.0 | 0.97 | 0.24 | 0.02 | 0.80 | |
Total | 25.0 | 0.69 | 0.18 | 0.06 | 1.42 | |
L6/A | 5.0 | 0.72 | 0.38 | 0.07 | 0.80 | |
L6/B | 5.0 | 0.84 | 0.21 | 0.05 | 0.60 | |
L6/C | 5.0 | 0.60 | 0.15 | 0.05 | 0.80 | |
Total | 15.0 | 0.72 | 0.25 | 0.06 | 0.73 | |
L7/A | 5.0 | 2.41 | 0.30 | 0.04 | 1.40 | |
L7/B | 5.0 | 0.88 | 0.17 | 0.02 | 1.40 | |
L7/C | 5.0 | 1.61 | 0.26 | 0.04 | 1.20 | |
L7/D | 5.0 | 2.02 | 0.26 | 0.04 | 0.60 | |
Total | 20.0 | 1.73 | 0.25 | 0.04 | 1.15 | |
L8/A | 5.0 | 0.05 | 0.02 | 0.03 | 1.00 | |
L8/B | 5.0 | 0.04 | 0.02 | 0.02 | 2.00 | |
L8/C | 5.0 | 0.37 | 0.06 | 0.02 | 0.20 | |
L8/D | 5.0 | 0.53 | 0.11 | 0.02 | 0.60 | |
L8/E | 5.0 | 0.19 | 0.06 | 0.03 | 1.80 | |
L8/F | 5.0 | 0.18 | 0.07 | 0.03 | 1.60 | |
L8/G | 5.0 | 0.24 | 0.07 | 0.04 | 0.80 | |
L8/H | 5.0 | 0.60 | 0.16 | 0.03 | 0.80 | |
L8/I | 5.0 | 0.85 | 0.21 | 0.04 | 1.00 | |
L8/J | 5.0 | 0.69 | 0.13 | 0.04 | 1.20 | |
L8/K | 5.0 | 0.30 | 0.13 | 0.02 | 1.20 | |
L8/L | 5.0 | 0.12 | 0.06 | 0.02 | 0.60 | |
L8/M | 5.0 | 0.10 | 0.07 | 0.01 | 3.00 | |
L8/N | 5.0 | 0.12 | 0.10 | 0.02 | 8.20 | |
L8/O | 5.0 | 0.04 | 0.03 | 0.01 | 2.00 | |
Total | 75.0 | 0.29 | 0.09 | 0.03 | 1.73 | |
L9/A | 5.0 | 0.15 | 0.05 | 0.02 | 5.00 | |
L9/B | 5.0 | 0.11 | 0.04 | 0.02 | 3.00 | |
L9/C | 5.0 | 0.08 | 0.06 | 0.01 | 7.80 | |
L9/D | 5.0 | 0.11 | 0.05 | 0.05 | 1.80 | |
L9/E | 5.0 | 0.12 | 0.06 | 0.06 | 1.00 | |
L9/F | 5.0 | 0.13 | 0.05 | 0.05 | 1.00 | |
L9/G | 5.0 | 0.03 | 0.01 | 0.01 | 1.40 | |
Total | 35.0 | 0.10 | 0.05 | 0.03 | 3.00 |
The information in this press release is based on information provided to Ortac by Zamsort and compiled on behalf of Ortac by Mr. Owen Mihalop. The trench assay results are as reported by Zamsort and have not been independently verified by Ortac but Mr. Mihalop has visited the Kalaba site and verified the location of the trenches. All samples are reported to have been prepared and assayed by Alex Stewart International Corporation Zambia ("ASICZ") Ltd at their laboratory located in Kitwe, Zambia. Sample collection, storage, transport and security were undertaken by Zamsort and the methodologies employed have not been independently audited in respect to the JORC Code (2012). The sample preparation and assay methodologies employed by ASICZ are reported as comprising drying at 105oC followed by assay using Atomic Absorption Spectrometry for all elements except gold, which was assayed by fire assay. ASICZ is an internationally accredited laboratory and assay certificates were provided to Ortac. Mr. Mihalop has reviewed the third party data on behalf of Ortac and takes responsibility for the data and geological interpretation. Mr Owen Mihalop (MCSM, BSc (Hons), MSc, MIMMM, CEng) is Technical Director for Ortac Resources Ltd and has sufficient experience relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity which he is undertaking to qualify as a Competent Person as defined under the JORC Code (2012). Mr. Mihalop consents to the inclusion in this announcement of the matters based on his information in the form and context in which it appears.
Ortac Resources Ltd Vassilios Carellas (CEO)
| +44 (0) 20 7389 9050 |
SP Angel (Nominated Adviser & Broker) Ewan Leggat / Tercel Moore
Beaufort Securities (Joint Broker) Jon Belliss / Elliot Hance | +44 (0) 20 3470 0470
+44 (0) 20 7382 8300 |
Yellow Jersey (Media Relations) Dominic Barretto / Aidan Stanley | +44 (0) 7584 085 670 |
About Ortac Resources
Ortac Resources is an AIM listed exploration and development company focused on natural resource projects. The Company's flagship asset is the 1.32 million ounce gold project in Slovakia. It has also diversified its portfolio through its strategic investment in Andiamo Exploration Limited, a private company with gold and copper exploration projects in Eritrea and in Zamsort Limited, a private company with copper and cobalt licenses in Zambia.
About Zamsort Limited
Zamsort is a private Zambian registered company that is the 100% owner of the Kalaba Cu-Co Project located approximately 900 km from Lusaka, in Mwinilunga, North Western Province, well within the trending arm of the major geological structure known as the Lufilian Arc (copper belt), on the western flank of the Kabompo Dome.
The project consists of a 4km2 Small-Scale Mining Licence ('SML') over the Kalaba Cu-Co mineral resource enclosed within a 999.28km2 Large Scale Prospecting Licence ('LPL'). This was previously explored by Equinox Minerals Limited ('Equinox') and Anglo American Prospecting Services ('AAPS') by way of the Zambezi Joint Venture ('JV') through AAPS's affiliate Zamanglo Prospecting Ltd ('Anglo American') during the late 1990s as part of the Kabompo Property. The current LPL encompasses 7 of the top 10 high priority exploration targets identified through the JV prior to Anglo American exiting the country in 2001.
In order for Zamsort to maintain the SML in good standing it has undertaken seasonal mining from the oxide copper resource exposed on surface. Zamsort has estimated that approximately 70,000 tonnes of material has been mined to date from Kalaba. At present, it has estimated that it has approximately 33,000 tonnes of screened ore grading at 3.5% ASCu stockpiled on site and ready to be shipped and toll treated at one of the local facilities in the copper belt where non-exclusive off-take agreements are already in place.
The estimated Kalaba Cu-Co oxide resource of 16.59Mt @ 0.94% Cu equivalent is exposed on surface and has been generated in-house by Zamsort's Chief Geologist and although it has been registered by Zamsort with the Geological Survey and Ministry of Mines in Zambia, at present it is not considered to be code compliant.
Technical glossary
Ag | Silver |
ASCu | Acid soluble copper |
Au | Gold |
Co | Cobalt |
Cu | Copper |
Laterite | is a soil and rock type rich in iron and aluminium, and is commonly considered to have formed in hot and wet tropical areas |
Lufilian Arc/Copperbelt | is a region of Central Africa running through northern Zambia and the southern Democratic Republic of Congo known for copper mining |
Mineralisation | the hydrothermal deposition of economically important metals in the formation of ore bodies or lodes |
Ni | Nickel |
Not Code Compliant | Not compliant to any internationally recognised method for estimating and calculating ore resources, such as JORC or National Instrument 43-101 |
ppm | parts per million |
Saprolite | soft, thoroughly decomposed and porous rock, often rich in clay, formed by the in-place chemical weathering of igneous, metamorphic, or sedimentary rocks and is especially common in humid and tropical climates |