TIDMURU
RNS Number : 3198X
URU Metals Limited
27 August 2020
URU Metals Limited
("URU Metals" or "the Company")
Plan to drill on upgrading of Class 1 nickel sulphide deposit
for potential supply of battery-grade nickel
URU Metals is pleased to announce that geological exploration
work is intended to shortly recommence on URU's flagship Zebediela
Project ("Project"), targeting battery and higher grade
nickel-sulphide mineralisation to the east of the Zebediela
nickel-sulphide resource.
The Zebediela Nickel Project contains an NI43-101 compliant
nickel sulphide resource of over 1,600 million tons running at
0.245% Nickel, with the ability to produce over 500,000 tons of
nickel using an open-pit mining method, ranking it amongst the top
ten largest nickel sulphide resources globally.
Nickel sulphide deposits are the primary source for Class 1
nickel and represent approximately 40% of current known nickel
resources. The remaining 60% is found in nickel laterite deposits,
which are the primary source for Class 2 nickel (U.S. Geological
Survey, Mineral Commodity Summaries, January 2020). Class 1 nickel
is sought after for use in electric vehicle (EV) lithium-ion
batteries, whilst Class 2 nickel is mainly used in nickel pig iron
and the steel industry.
The Zebediela Project is located on the Northern Limb of the
Bushveld Complex, South Africa, which hosts an estimated 11.9
million tons of nickel, and ranks third in terms of nickel sulphide
content globally. The project is immediately adjacent to, and
up-dip from, Ivanhoe Mines $1.5 billion Platreef Project, and about
15 km along strike from Anglo Platinum's flagship Mogalakwena
Mining Complex. Ivanhoe Mines' Platreef Project contains a total
resource of 852 million tons at 0.31% nickel, 0.16% copper and 3.5
g/t 3PGE+Au (platinum + palladium + rhodium + gold). Mogalakwena
has an estimated resource of 3.8 billion tons at 0.18% nickel,
0.10% copper and 2.4 g/t 3PGE+Au.
The Company has identified a target geological zone directly
east and adjacent to the existing Zebediela resource that has
produced results of 0.56% nickel over a width of greater than 4 m
from exploration drilling, with significant cobalt and PGE credits,
resulting in a nickel equivalent grade of 3.01% nickel (metal
prices as at 25 August 2020 using nickel, copper, 3PGE+Au; assumes
100% recovery for all metals). Drillhole Z017 intersected 1.7% Ni
and 0.7 g/t 3PGE+Au over a width of 2.25 m, 20 m below the existing
NI43-101 complaint resource.
Further exploration drilling will test this target, estimated to
be approximately 5,000 metres in strike length and varying in
thickness between 1.8 and 10m, from depths of 30 m below surface
down to depths of greater than 400 m below surface, and the project
team is confident that this drilling will result in increasing the
overall grade of the project. Drilling is planned to commence in Q4
2020, subject to the Company securing the funding required for this
programme.
Due to the COVID-19 lockdown in South Africa, an extension to
the final submission date of the Environmental Impact Assessment
(EIA) and Environmental Management Program (EMPR) was granted by
the South African Department of Mineral Resources and Energy
(DMRE), and these reports are to be submitted on 15 January 2021.
The EIA is currently underway in order to ensure that future mining
on the project is done in the most environmentally friendly manner
possible, in order to share the Company's vision of a "green nickel
development".
Next Steps
A 12-hole drill programme is expected to commence in October
2020, and is expected to be completed in March 2021, subject to
funding. The results of this drilling program will allow the
company to estimate the amount of infill drilling required to
update the project resource statement.
In parallel to the exploration drilling, EIA studies continue,
and the submission of the EIA to the DMRE will be made in Q1 2021,
and is a crucial step in allowing the DMRE to award a mining right
to the Company.
John Zorbas, CEO of URU Metals, commented:
With the current trend of increasing demand for Class 1 nickel
in battery technologies, we see a tremendous long-term growth
potential for the nickel market. URU's Zebediela nickel sulphide
deposit, located in a burgeoning nickel-PGE mining belt, is
potentially an important future source of Class 1 nickel due to a
lack of major nickel sulphide mines coming online in recent years.
URU is looking to improve the current project economics by
targeting a higher-grade nickel resource, and ultimately develop
the project in an environmentally friendly manner, eventually
contributing towards green energy and helping to meet the
increasing demand for battery-grade nickel products for use in the
electric vehicle markets.
Competent Person Statement
The information in this release has been compiled and reviewed
by Richard Montjoie, the Exploration Manager for the Zebediela
Project. Mr. Montjoie holds a M.Sc. Honours in Economic Geology
from the University of Witwatersrand, South Africa, and is fellow
of the Geological Society of South Africa (GSSA) and a registered
member of the South African Council for Natural Scientific
Professions (SACNASP). He has over 17 years' experience in mineral
project development globally. Richard has been involved in several
exploration programs in South Africa and Northern Canada, including
various Ni-PGE, diamond, coal, coal bed methane and gold
exploration and mining projects. Richard provides sound
geoscientific input in development planning to ensure effective
data acquisition, management and project execution. Richard
successfully acted as Project Manager for a 39 million ounce
platinum feasibility study, advancing the project from exploration
stage to a completed bankable feasibility study with proven and
probable reserves, on time and under budget, managing all aspects
of the programme, from exploration programme design to various
licencing applications. Mr. Montjoie is a Qualified Person for the
purposes of the AIM Note for Mining and Oil & Gas
Companies.
Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) Disclosure
Certain information contained in this announcement would have
been deemed inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of
Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 until the release of this
announcement.
For further information, please contact:
URU Metals Limited
John Zorbas
(Chief Executive Officer) +1 416 504 3978
SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP
(Nominated Adviser and Broker)
Ewan Leggat & Charlie Bouverat + 44 (0) 203 470 05470
SVS Securities Plc
(Joint Broker)
Tom Curran +44 (0) 203 700 0093
This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the
London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct
Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United
Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution
of this information may apply. For further information, please
contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.
RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms
and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information
contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an
anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services.
For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange
use the personal data you provide us, please see our Privacy
Policy.
END
UPDKKOBKOBKKKFB
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
August 27, 2020 03:02 ET (07:02 GMT)
Uru Metals (LSE:URU)
Gráfica de Acción Histórica
De Mar 2024 a Abr 2024
Uru Metals (LSE:URU)
Gráfica de Acción Histórica
De Abr 2023 a Abr 2024
