Last checked at 10 Nov 2011 07:00
For immediate release 10 November 2011 Galileo Resources Plc ("Galileo" or the "Company") Glenover Rare Earths Project -Drilling Update
The Board of Galileo Resources Plc ("Galileo"), the AIM quoted emerging African Rare Earths exploration company, is pleased to announce very positive drilling results from its first borehole GHV001 on its Glenover Rare Earths Joint Venture project in South Africa.
Highlights:
* Significant rare earth oxide ("REO") mineralisation intersected over the entire 243 metres drilled. * Virtually contiguous intercepts > 1% REO intersected over a total 147 meters, assayed a length-weighted average of 2.79% total REOs , including 77 metres assaying 3.66% REOs, 21 metres assaying 4.41% REEs and 10 meters assaying 5.41% REOs (see table below) * Phosphate assays ranged from 17% P2O5 to as high as 25% P2O5 (over 147 meters) * Niobate (oxide of Niobium) assays generally exceeded 1% Nb2O5: a possible economic potential
Preliminay core logging data suggest the REO mineralisation is hosted predominantly within the apatite-martite collapse breccia facies.
Progress continues with the drilling programme: currently six further boreholes have been drilled and are being logged and/or sampled for analysis. The drilling is focussing on areas around the old open pit, previously worked for its high grade phosphate ore but disregarded for the REOs present.
The assays of the borehole core samples were carried out by internationally accredited laboratory Genalysis Laboratory Services (Pty) Ltd, a part of Intertek Group plc.
Table - Summary of results for Borehole GHV001 over selected sampling lengthsalong the coreCore run From To Width Total RE0s P2O5 Nb2O5 sampled REOs Ce+Eu+Gd+La m m m +Nd+Pr+Sm % % % % total 0 243.12 243.12 1.98 1.94 17.19 0.73 >1%REO 25.22 173.07 147.85 2.79 2.74 25.12 1.03 including 92.38 169.85 77.47 3.66 3.61 22.67 1.13 including 92.38 113.15 20.77 4.41 4.34 20.48 1.11 including 102.65 112.28 9.63 5.41 5.32 17.99 1.26
* length-weighted averages (1) REOs representing 98% of total REOs - rare earth oxides expressed as R2O3 where R= rare earth element Ce,Eu, Gd, La, Nd, Pr and Sm)
Colin Bird, Executive Chairman of Galileo Resources, said: "These results are very positive and I am particularly impressed with the long run of rare earth mineralisation, interspersed with significant runs of good rare earth oxide grades. The objective of the programme at this stage is to correlate mineralisation with the different facies in the deposit to understand better the emplacement of rare earths. Further results, which will be variable, will direct future drilling to increase the resource and to identify other potential occurrences within the concession."
For further information, please contact:
Colin Bird Tel +44 (0)20 7581 4477 Chairman & CEO Richard Wollenberg Tel +44 (0) 1784 437 444 Non-Executive Director Beaumont Cornish Limited Tel +44 (0)20 7628 3396 Nominated Advisor and Broker Roland Cornish/James Biddle Shore Capital Stockbrokers Limited Tel +44 (0)20 7408 4090 Joint Broker Jerry Keen/Toby Gibbs Bishopsgate Communications Tel +44 (0)20 7562 3350 Nick Rome/Shabnam Bashir Note:
Galileo Resources currently has an 11.5% interest in the Glenover Project and has the option, via additional stage payments as set out in the Company's Admission Document, to earn up to a maximum interest of 73.73%.
Technical Sign-Off
Andrew Sarosi, Technical Director of Galileo, who holds a B.Sc. Metallurgy and M.Sc. Engineering, University of Witwatersrand and is a member of The Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining, is a 'qualified person' as defined under the AIM Rules for Companies and a competent person under the reporting standards. The technical parts of this announcement have been prepared under Andrew Sarosi's supervision and he has approved the release of this announcement.
Technical GlossaryApatite: a phosphate mineral of calcium containing chlorine or fluorine, or both Breccia: a rock composed of broken fragments of minerals or rock cemented together Collapse breccia: A collapse breccia forms where there has been a collapse of rock Facies: a body of rock with specified characteristics Martite: a form of the iron oxide mineral h¦matite, the main ore of iron Rare earth elements: a set of chemical elements in the periodic table specifically the fifteen lanthanides (plus scandium and yttrium Rare earth oxide: the oxide form of the rare earth element
The major rare earth elements (98% of total) in the borehole core sampled are
Ce: Cerium Uses include cathode ray tube glass to prevent age discoloration, in auto catalytic converters, rich red colour pigments, low energy light bulbs, film studio carbon-arc lighting and minor use in self cleaning ovens Eu: Europium Uses include bright red coloration in television tubes; industrial street lighting to give a more natural light, thin film superconductor alloys and in lasers Gd: Gadolinium Uses include neutron capture capability and in compounds as a contrasting agent in radiography and magnetic resonance imaging in medical diagnostics La: Lanthanum Uses include carbon-arc lighing, additive to glass for lenses and new treatment for bone disease (osteodysrophy). Potential use for hydrogen (H) storage for H-fuelled vehicles: being able to absorb hydrogen as much as 400 times its volume Nd: Neodymium Uses include alloyed with iron and boron to make one the most powerful permanent magnets known (see also Samarium below) and found in modern vehicles using motorised devices; in welders protective glasses and power lasers Pr: Praseodymium Uses include as an additive to give glass a pure yellow colour and brilliant pastel greens and yellows for glazes Sm: Samarium Uses include alloyed with cobalt to produce permanent magnets ten thousand times more powerful than iron and has the highest resistance to demagnetization; in masers (microwave lasers) capable of cutting steel and bouncing off the surface of the moon Notes to Editors
Galileo Resources Plc is a well balanced diverse exploration resource company. The Company has an exceptional management team with proven technical and commercial background. The flagship property is the Glenover Phosphate concession, which was a successful phosphate producer for many years. Phosphate however, is now subordinated to Rare Earth Elements (REEs). The project area is known to contain REEs and that the grades, if of sufficient size and continuity may well lead to a medium-sized operation for the production of RE oxides.
One of the key benefits of the project for a medium-sized operation is the fact that REEs are contained in stockpiles from the previous phosphate operations. Being in stockpiles negates the cost of mining it and the associated risks.
The concession is of considerable size and hosts mineralisation types suitable for potential REE presence. The aim is to investigate the mineralisation types for REE presence and content with the view to building a large resource of REE.
The Company has a number of Iron Ore and Manganese exploration projects in the Cape, all of which are in proximity to either current operations or discoveries.
Galileo has also rights to joint venture in an aggregate producing quarry close to Mthata in the Eastern Cape. The quarry is well positioned to supply construction aggregate for the significant infrastructure programme being undertaken by local government.