Last checked at 5 Nov 2008 07:00
www.tertiaryminerals.com
5 November 2008
Tertiary Minerals plc ("Tertiary" or "the Company") is pleased to report that second round assay results from drill core have revealed wider intervals of fluorspar mineralisation at its 100% owned Storuman fluorspar deposit in the Västerbotten district of Northern Sweden.
The results of the first round of assays, released in early September, confirmed that the Storuman fluorspar deposit extends for at least 2 km along strike and that the mineralisation is also present in peripheral areas not considered during the 1970s exploration. These assays, however, as with assays in the 1970s, were mainly restricted to the horizontally bedded lower sandstone horizon where the extensive fluorite mineralisation was confirmed to be present in visually significant amounts as a distinctive lilac coloured fluorite.
A second round of assaying has now confirmed the Company's suspicion that pale-coloured fluorite also occurs in the immediately overlying quartzite horizon and it's flanking transitional zones which were, in many cases, not originally selected for assay as it is difficult to see the pale coloured fluorite against these pale-coloured host rocks.
The table below shows the significant results from the second round of assays. The three left-hand columns show the newly assayed intervals. The middle three columns show various re-calculated intersections where the new assay results are included with previously reported adjacent assay intervals and the three right-hand columns show the first round assay results reported on 2 September 2008 for comparison.
Some of the holes were drilled at too low an elevation for the pale fluorspar mineralised upper strata to be intersected and in some cases, where intersected, these upper horizons have not yet been sampled for assay.
Tertiary's Chairman Patrick Cheetham commented: "The results are really quite significant, with individual mineralised intervals up to 43% thicker and with up to 20% higher grade than shown by first round assays alone. Not only do they point to further tonnage potential in an already large mineralised system, but some of the nearer-surface material previously considered as mine waste in 1970s pit designs could now be considered ore."
The new assay results will be incorporated into the geological model being developed for the Scoping Study which is currently in progress.
The concept being developed by the Company is a mining operation producing at least 100,000 tonnes per annum of acid grade fluorspar. The world market for fluorspar is just over 5 million tonnes per annum of which 65% is for acid grade fluorspar. Published prices for acid grade fluorspar have climbed in the past year from US$270 to the current level of US$580 due to shortages of supply from traditional Chinese sources.
A drill hole location plan is available on the Company's website at www.tertiaryminerals.com.
Background
Tertiary was awarded the Storuman exploration licence in January 2008. The Storuman fluorite deposit is located in an area with well established infrastructure. It is located adjacent to a sealed highway 20km from the regional town of Storuman which is connected by road and rail to the city and port of Umeå on the Gulf of Bothnia. In the other direction the highway leads to the port city of Mo-i-Rana in Norway.
The Storuman mineralisation was last evaluated in the 1970s by Gränges Aluminium who calculated an "ore reserve"* of 12.5 million tonnes grading 13.3% CaF2. (CaF2 is the chemical formula for the mineral fluorite, known commercially as "Fluorspar"). This "ore-reserve" is historic and not compliant with any recognised resource or reserve code.
Fluorspar is the main industrial source of fluorine for the manufacture of hydrofluoric acid and derivative fluorine chemicals including refrigerants, PTFE (Teflon™) and aluminium hydrofluoride, a flux used in the reduction of alumina to aluminium. It is also used as a flux in steel making, in the ceramics industry and in the manufacture of nuclear fuel (uranium hexafluoride).
Fluorspar consumers, several of which are based in Europe, are facing critical supply shortages as traditional supplies from China are diverted to meet growing Chinese domestic demand. China has recently imposed export quotas and export taxes to discourage export and thus ensure domestic supplies.
Further info:
Patrick Cheetham, Executive Chairman, Tertiary Minerals plc. Tel: +44 (0)1625-626203
Ron Marshman/John Greenhalgh, Lothbury Financial. Tel: +44(0)20-7011 9411
Jonathan Wright, Seymour Pierce Limited. Tel: +44(0)20-7107-8000
Notes:
The information in this release has been compiled and reviewed by Mr. Patrick Cheetham (MIMMM, MAusIMM) who is a qualified person for the purposes of the AIM Guidance Note for Mining Oil & Gas Companies issued on March 16, 2006. Mr Cheetham is a Member of the Institute of Materials, Minerals & Mining and also a member of the Australasian Institute of Mining & Metallurgy.
Drill holes being reported are vertical and the mineralisation intersected is believed to be horizontal. Consequently the reported down-hole intersected thickness will approximate true thicknesses.
Table Of Significant Drill Intersections (Second Round Assay Results)
| Additional (2nd Round) Assay Results | Revised Composite Intervals | Original reported Intervals | |||||||
| Drill Hole Number | From (Depth Down-Hole) (m=metres) | Drill Assay Interval (m=metres) | Assay ResultsFluorspar (CaF2) % | From (Depth Down-Hole) (m=metres) | Drill Assay Interval (m=metres) | Assay ResultsFluorspar (CaF2) % | From (Depth Down-Hole) (m=metres) | Drill Assay Interval (m=metres) | Assay ResultsFluorspar (CaF2) % |
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| 08TS001 | Previous assays from bedrock surface (Sandstone), Quartzite & Transition Zones not present at this low elevation | 14.30m | 1.25m | 12.1% | |||||
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| 08TS002 | Low grade fluorspar from bedrock surface (Quartzite) above originally reported high grade Lower Transition Zone | 13.50m | 7.00m | 10.0% | |||||
| includes | 13.50m | 2.80m | 13.3% | ||||||
| Includes | 18.80m | 1.70m | 13.3% | ||||||
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| 08TS003 | 9.40m | 5.00m | 17.8% | 9.40m | 16.50m | 12.9% | 14.40m | 11.50m | 10.8% |
| Includes | 9.40m | 6.15m | 17.2% | 14.40m | 1.15m | 14.4% | |||
| Includes | 20.40m | 1.90m | 12.9% | ||||||
| Includes | 23.70m | 2.20m | 16.6% | ||||||
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| 08TS004 | 52.30m | 1.50m | 10.2% | 60.25m | 4.35m | 13.5% | |||
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| 08TS005 | 5.60m | 3.60m | 13.9% | 5.60m | 13.90m | 13.3% | 9.20m | 10.30m | 13.1% |
| Includes | 14.80m | 4.70m | 19.2% | ||||||
| Includes | 16.30m | 3.20m | 22.7% | ||||||
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| 08TS006 | Previous reported assays from Quartzite, Lower Transition & Sandstone. 3m Upper Transition Zone not yet sampled | 11.50m | 18.05m | 10.6% | |||||
| Includes | 11.50m | 3.35m | 21.5% | ||||||
| Includes | 25.15m | 4.40m | 15.5% | ||||||
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| 08TS007 | 10.05m | 2.20m | 6.8% | 25.10m | 2.75m | 16.7% | |||
| Includes | Mineralised from bedrock surface (Upper Transition Zone) | ||||||||
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| 08TS008 | Planned but not drilled |
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| 08TS009 | 23.95m | 4.05m | 9.5% | 23.95m | 5.85m | 10.8% | 28.00m | 1.80m | 13.9% |
| and | 4m Upper Transition Zone not yet sampled | 37.10m | 1.30m | 16.5% | |||||
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| 08TS010 | 6m Upper Transition Zone not yet sampled | 26.95m | 5.50m | 5.1% | |||||
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| 08TS011 | Previous assays from complete Upper Section, Hole finished in mineralised Sandstone | 27.20m | 1.75m | 12.8% | |||||