1 Jun 2010 07:00
Sable Mining Africa Ltd/ Index: AIM / Epic: SBLM / Sector: Natural Resources
1 June 2010
Sable Mining Africa Limited ('Sable Mining' or 'the Company')
Acquisition of Lubu Coal Field in Zimbabwe
Sable Mining Africa Ltd, the AIM listed resource company, is pleased to announce that it has secured an 80% interest in Monaf Investments (Private) Ltd ('Monaf') which holds the Lubu Coal concession ('Lubu') in the Bulawayo Mining District of Zimbabwe for a cash consideration of $3,000,000. A further $3,000,000 in shares at 28 pence per share will be payable subject to satisfaction of certain conditions precedent. The transaction is part of the Company's strategy to identify and invest in coal and iron ore assets that the Board believes can be rapidly developed to production.
The Lubu coal concession, which covers 19,236 hectares of the highly prospective Karro Mid-Zambezi coal basin in Zimbabwe, is located in the established Hwange (Wankie) mining district, which is served with road, rail and electricity networks. It is approximately 120km north-east of the Hwange Colliery and the Bulawayo rail line runs 100km to the south west.
The Lubu coal fields were originally explored by Messina Transvaal Development Services Ltd ('MTD') in the 1980s and, on the basis of 13 drill holes totalling 1,398 metres, spaced from 1km to 1.5km, MTD estimated the area to have an inferred resource of 334 million tonnes of low-sulphur coal, with a calorific value of 24 MJ/kg. This resource is principally located in the 14-18m thick main seam, which is also believed to contain coking coal in its lower section. The portion of Lubu for which the resources have been calculated hold the potential for open cast mining. Considering likely extensions to the coal seams below the overlying Karoo sandstone, it has been estimated by independent consultants Behre Dolbear & Company that, with further exploration and drilling, there is potential to increase the coal resource at Lubu to 515 million tonnes. No SAMREC compliant resources estimates currently exist for Lubu.
MTD carried out tests on the quality of the main seam coal from Lubu and found the characteristics set out in the table below.
|
| Raw Coal | 1.7 Float | 1.4 Float |
| Yield % | 100 | 73.90 | 32.80 |
| Moisture % | 1.20 | 1.50 | 1.70 |
| Ash % | 29 | 19.30 | 12.70 |
| Volatile Matter % | 22.50 | 24.40 | 27.40 |
| Sulphur % | 0.57 | 0.51 | 0.56 |
| Calorific Value (MJ/KG) | 24.10 | 26.70 | 29.60 |
MTD also calculated that the over burden stripping ratio, to the top of the main seam varied from 1:0.7 to 1:3.2. The cumulative strip ratio on the coal deposit is 1:2.9.
Sable Mining CEO Andrew Groves said, "Lubu is a major undeveloped coal resource. The immediate objective will for Monaf to initiate a drilling programme to better define the geology of the coal basin with the intention of confirming the initial 330 million tonnes to SAMREC compliant status and in turn generating significant value uplift for our shareholders. Once this is achieved, the intention would be that Monaf would commission a bankable feasibility study and then move towards developing the asset to production. This investment complements our current coal interests in South Africa and Botswana, which we hold through Delta Mining Consolidated Limited."
Mining and mineral advisory firm Behre Dolbear & Company, Inc. has been appointed by the Company to review the historical data and is familiar with the Hwange coal district of Zimbabwe. Dr. Christopher Wheatley is a Senior Associate at Behre Dolbear and professional "Competent Person" as defined by various international instruments and takes responsibility for the release of this information.
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For further information please visit www.sablemining.com or contact:
| Andrew Groves | Sable Mining Africa Ltd | Tel: 020 7408 9200 |
| Jonathan Wright | Seymour Pierce Ltd | Tel: 020 7107 8000 |
| Stephen Mischler | Matrix Corporate Capital | Tel: 020 3206 7000 |
| Hugo de Salis | St Brides Media & Finance Ltd | Tel: 020 7236 1177 |
| Susie Callear | St Brides Media & Finance Ltd | Tel: 020 7236 1177 |