19 Oct 2010 12:00
For immediate release: 1200hrs Tuesday 19 October 2010
Sirius Minerals Plc
("Sirius" or the "Company")
Dakota Salts: Commencement of drilling
Further to the announcement of 16 August 2010, the Directors of Sirius Minerals Plc (AIM: SXX, OTC: SRUXY), the potash mining group, are pleased to announce that its wholly owned subsidiary, Dakota Salts LLC ("Dakota Salts"), has signed agreements with North Rim Exploration Ltd ("NREL") and Schlumberger Water Services USA Inc ("Schlumberger") to enable the drilling programme to commence on Dakota Salts' Exploration Permit Area in Burke County, North Dakota.
Under the terms of the two agreements, Schlumberger will act as the contractor responsible for the execution and completion of the well drilling; NREL will serve as the overall project manager responsible for the site preparation, interfacing with Schlumberger, and provision of a well-site geologist. NREL will also be fully responsible for all matters relating to the recovery, collection, receipt and analysis of the drill cores. It is anticipated that the drilling rig will arrive on site during the week commencing 1 November 2010, with the drilling and core logging and analysis taking approximately two months to complete.
Through the programme, a single exploratory hole will be drilled to a total depth of approximately 8990ft (approximately 2740meters). The drill core will then be sent to NREL's core facility in Saskatoon for detailed core descriptions and geochemical sample selection. The samples will then be sent to and analysed at the Saskatchewan Research Council laboratory in Saskatoon.
The cost of the test drilling programme is being met from the Company's working capital reserves.
Through Dakota Salts, Sirius presently holds in excess of 7425 net mineral acres of exploration leases in the Williston Basin in North Dakota covering known potash and salt deposits. It also owns properties in Western Australia and Queensland.
Chris Catlow, Chairman of Sirius, commented:
"We are delighted to be partnering with two recognized industry leaders on this next phase of our North Dakota project, the near term goal of the activity being to prove up rapidly the viability of a major solution mining potash resource on our North Dakota properties."
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For further information, please contact:
| Sirius Minerals Plc |
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| Richard Poulden (Deputy Chairman) | Tel: +971 504 524 994 |
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| Beaumont Cornish Limited (Nomad) |
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| Roland Cornish | Tel: +44 (0) 207 628 3396 |
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| XCAP Securities Plc (Joint Broker) |
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| John Grant, Karen Kelly, David Newton | Tel: +44 (0) 20 7101 7070 |
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| Daniel Stewart & Company Plc (Joint Broker) |
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| Christopher Theis / Emma Earl | Tel: + 44 (0) 20 7776 6550 |
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| Gth Media Relations | Tel: + 44 (0) 20 3103 3903/ 3902 |
| Toby Hall/Christian Pickel |
Website: www.siriusminerals.com