TIDMAMC
RNS Number : 9699J
Amur Minerals Corporation
19 June 2014
19 June 2014
AMUR MINERALS CORPORATION
(AIM: AMC)
Amurnedra NTS Protocol Awarded
Amur Minerals Corporation ("Amur" or the "Company"), the
nickel-copper exploration and development company focused in the
far east of Russia, is pleased to announce that Amurnedra has
completed its review of the Company's exploration on its Kun-Manie
exploration licence. Subsequently, a Protocol has been issued and
confirms that the exploration phase of the Kun Manie Project is
complete. This Protocol is key to the conversion of a Federally
Strategic Project held as an exploration licence to that of a
production licence.
Kun Manie is a Federally Strategic Project according to the 2008
amendment of Russia's Law on Subsoils. Such projects must complete
exploration before a production license can be granted, and the new
Protocol establishes that this exploration phase is now
complete.
-- On 17 June 2014, Amurnedra's (the local body of the Russian
State Licensing Agency, Rosnedra) scientific technical council
("NTS") issued a Protocol stating that the Company's exploration
programme at the Kun-Manie Project is complete.
-- As the Exploration phase is now complete, Detailed
Exploration and Production is the next step under the Russian
system, which is to be conducted under a new production
licence.
-- This Protocol represents another successfully completed step
within the production licence award process.
Within Russia, it is important to note exploration is divided
into two segments with the first being identified as exploration
and done under an exploration licence in the case of Amur.
Additional more detailed exploration is considered to be separate
and is included within the production licence.
Robin Young, CEO of Amur Minerals Corporation, commented:
"The Directors are pleased and satisfied to report to
shareholders that we continue to successfully advance our mining
application through the Russian licence system. The new Protocol is
yet another milestone that must be attained in the process. We
remain positive the licence will be awarded to our subsidiary,
whose staff continue to work diligently with authorities in
addressing questions that arise during the review process. We shall
continue to provide updates to shareholders as the production
licence application moves through the system."
Enquiries:
Company Nomad and Broker Public Relations
Amur Minerals S.P. Angel Yellow Jersey
Corp. Corporate Finance
LLP
Robin Young Ewan Leggat Dominic Barretto
CEO Laura Harrison Kelsey Traynor
+44 (0) 7981 +44 (0) 20 +44 (0) 77
126 818 3463 2260 6853 7739
Notes to Editors
The information contained in this announcement has been reviewed
and approved by the CEO of Amur, Robin Young. Mr. Young is a
Geological Engineer (cum laude) and is a Qualified Professional
Geologist, as defined by the Toronto and Vancouver Stock
Exchanges.
Additional information related to the Company can be viewed on
its website, www.amurminerals.com.
Information on the NTS Protocol
The Kun-Manie exploration licence was granted in 2004 and the
Company has conducted substantial exploration efforts on the
property. The key success is the identification of the Kurumkon
Trend which contains all five of the drill identified deposits. The
Company's subsidiary (ZAO Kun-Manie), has diligently compiled
reserve estimates that have been approved at the national and local
levels. The GKZ approvals document the identified reserves which
are considered to economically recoverable. These reserves are
recorded on the "State Balance" and are updated as appropriate.
In 2008, the "Strategic Law" was enacted by the Russian
Government. The newly adopted regulations set up a new class of
deposits which are identified as "Strategic Deposits". Enactment of
the regulations placed the Kun-Manie nickel, copper, cobalt,
platinum and palladium into this newly defined class of deposits.
Specifically, any licence which contains nickel, cobalt, platinum
and palladium immediately falls within this category.
The strategic classification carries additional regulatory
requirements related to the award of a production licence. In this
case, the NTS Protocol issued by Amurnedra, Rosnedra's local
branch, details the exploration phase of the project and
establishes that it has been duly completed, enabling the Company
to begin the detailed exploration and production phase once a
production licence is subsequently granted.
The Kun-Manie Project
The Kun-Manie exploration licence area is approximately 950
km(2) and is located 700 km northeast of the city of
Blagoveshchensk located on the Chinese border. Amur commenced
seasonal field work on the licence in 2004 and issued a JORC
compliant statement covering the three deposits of Maly Kurumkon,
Vodorazdelny and Ikenskoe in 2007.
Since 2007, exploration and drilling has been conducted on an
ongoing basis and an updated resource estimate was compiled in in
late 2013 wherein resources are reported from five deposits located
along the prolific Kurumkon Trend.
The five deposits contain a total Measured, Indicated and
Inferred resource of 120.8 million tonnes averaging 0.54% nickel
and 0.15% copper. The total contained tonnage of nickel is
estimated to be 650,600 tonnes with copper being 178,400 tonnes.
This equates to 1.4 billion pounds of contained nickel and 0.4
billion pounds of copper. A total of 16.9 tonnes of platinum and
18.0 tonnes of palladium are also present as by product metals. A
total contained nickel equivalent is indicated to be 830,000 tonnes
using 2 December 2013 metal prices. Metal prices utilised to
determine the nickel equivalent value were US$13,378 per tonne for
nickel, US$7,009 per tonne for copper, US$1,350 per ounce for
platinum and US$714 per ounce for palladium.
The estimation of the resource has been compiled by SRK
Consulting (UK) Ltd ("SRK") using geostatistical methods and has
been reported using the JORC Code.
Further, SRK has undertaken sufficient work studies to determine
that all of the reported resource has reasonable prospects for
eventual economic extraction. A detailed summary of the SRK
resource estimate is presented at the end of this announcement. The
summary provides information by deposit and resource category as
set forth by JORC resource reporting standards. By deposit, a brief
summary follows:
-- Kubuk: Drilling was initiated for the first time during the
2013 field season. The present drill configuration and results on
this deposit indicates that step out drilling could expand the size
of this deposit in the dip direction and up to a kilometre to the
east where trenching has exposed mineralisation. The resources
within Kubuk are presently classified as Inferred resources. A
total of 20.6 million tonnes of mineralisation are estimated to be
present containing an average nickel grade of 0.58% and an average
copper grade of 0.16%. This equates to approximately 118,900 tonnes
of contained nickel and 32,900 tonnes of copper.
-- Gorny: Before 2013, no resource had been reported to be
present at Gorny. This deposit was discovered after the 2007
prefeasibility study was completed by SRK. All resources contained
within this deposit are classified as Inferred and there is
potential to expand the resource as the limits of mineralisation
have not yet been defined to the east, west or down dip.
-- Maly Kurumkon / Flangovy: In-fill and step out drilling
immediately to the east of Maly Kurumkon has been completed since
2007. The in-fill drill efforts at Maly Kurumkon have converted a
portion of the previously Inferred resources to the higher
confidence resource category of Indicated. The Indicated resource
now stands at 21.8 million tonnes averaging 0.58% nickel and 0.16%
copper. This represents an increase of more than 45% to the Maly
Kurumkon Indicated resource category from 2007.Step out drilling
immediately adjacent and east of Maly Kurumkon in the Flangovy area
has confirmed that the Maly Kurumkon ore body extends for at least
another kilometre eastward bringing the total deposit length to at
least two kilometres. The step out drilling has resulted in a near
doubling of the total resource tonnage and has added 157,700 tonnes
of nickel bringing the total contained nickel at Maly Kurumkon /
Flangovy to 294,200 tonnes making it the largest deposit drilled at
Kun-Manie. Contained copper has also been more than doubled to
85,100 tonnes. The limits of the mineralisation have not been
defined to the east, west or down dip.
-- Vodorazdelny: In-fill drilling and extensive trenching has
resulted in the definition of Measured resources for a portion of
this deposit which was previously all classified as Indicated. The
total resource now stands at 5.6 million tonnes having an average
grade of 0.64% nickel and 0.17% copper. The deposit has been
drilled on a sufficient density resulting in all resources being
classified as Measured and Indicated. The potential for expansion
of the resource in this area is limited.
-- Ikenskoe / Sobolevsky: In-fill drilling and step out drilling
to the south have resulted in a substantial conversion of Indicated
Resources to the higher confidence class of Measured Resource. This
in-fill drilling has now defined the Measured Resource to be 14.9
million tonnes where it was previously 3.7 million tonnes as
defined in 2007. This is an increase of approximately 300%. Step
out drilling to the south has identified a higher grade area of
Inferred resources. Globally, the Ikenskoe deposit (plus the
Sobolevsky extension to the south) now contains 177,700 tonnes of
nickel and 43,800 tonnes of copper. There has been a net increase
15,000 tonnes of nickel over that reported in 2007. The potential
for expansion of this resource exists as mineralisation remains
open at depth and to the east toward Kubuk.
The modeling process also estimated metallurgical parameters
including sulphur and magnesium oxide which impact smelter fees, a
large cost centre if the Company is to contract smelt its
anticipated concentrate. The creation of this geometallurgical
model is a significant enhancement over previously reported JORC
resource estimates as it allows the Company to conduct detailed
assessment of various smelter schedules and hydrometallurgical
processes.
The Company is in the process of undertaking further work to
update its previous technical studies and facilitate producing a
reserve statement in due course. This will incorporate newly
estimated Q1 2014 updated capital and operating costs, the higher
metallurgical recoveries derived in 2012 by SGS Minerals, and lower
net profits tax. The study will also assess alternative power
generation options, road design considerations and alternative
considerations such as heavy lift zeppelins, and the potential of
generating near final marketable product on site and the
determination of specific metallurgical test work required to
assess the final configuration of the operation.
JORC Resource Estimate - 2 December 2013
(zero cut off grade)
Orebody Tonnage Ni Ni Cu Cu Pt Pt Pd Pd
Mt % t % t g/t kg g/t kg
================= ======== ===== ======== ===== ======== ==== ======= ===== =======
Kubuk
Measured - - - - - - - - -
Indicated - - - - - - - - -
Subtotal - - - - - - - - -
Inferred 20.6 0.58 118,900 0.16 32,900 0.1 3,000 0.1 2,400
Total 20.6 0.58 118,900 0.16 32,900 0.1 3,000 0.1 2,400
Gorny
Measured - - - - - - - - -
Indicated - - - - - - - - -
Subtotal - - - - - - - - -
Inferred 7.6 0.31 23,900 0.09 7,000 0.2 1,600 0.2 1,900
Total 7.6 0.31 23,900 0.09 7,000 0.2 1,600 0.2 1,900
Ikenskoe
Measured 14.9 0.52 77,100 0.13 19,700 0.2 2,700 0.2 3,000
Indicated 7.7 0.39 29,800 0.10 7,800 0.1 1,100 0.2 1,300
Subtotal 22.6 0.47 106,900 0.12 27,500 0.2 3,800 0.2 4,300
Inferred 11.5 0.62 70,800 0.14 16,300 0.2 2,300 0.2 2,500
Total 34.1 0.52 177,700 0.13 43,800 0.2 6,100 0.2 6,800
Vodorazdelny
Measured 0.8 0.57 4,700 0.17 1,400 0.3 200 0.3 200
Indicated 4.8 0.66 31,200 0.17 8,200 0.1 600 0.1 600
Subtotal 5.6 0.64 35,900 0.17 9,600 0.1 800 0.1 800
Inferred - - - - - - - - -
Total 5.6 0.64 35,900 0.17 9,600 0.1 800 0.14 800
Maly Krumkon
Measured - - - - - - - - -
Indicated 21.8 0.58 126,100 0.16 34,900 0.1 2,400 0.1 3,000
Subtotal 21.8 0.58 126,100 0.16 34,900 0.1 2,400 0.1 3,000
Inferred 31.1 0.54 168,100 0.16 50,200 0.1 3,000 0.1 3,100
Total 52.9 0.56 294,200 0.16 85,100 0.1 5,400 0.1 6,100
Total Measured 15.8 0.52 81,800 0.13 21,100 0.2 2,900 0.2 3,200
Total Indicated 34.3 0.55 187,100 0.15 50,900 0.1 4,100 0.1 4,900
Sub-total 50.1 0.54 268,900 0.14 72,000 0.1 7,000 0.1 8,100
Total Inferred 70.7 0.54 381,700 0.15 106,400 0.1 9,900 0.1 9.900
Grand Total 120.8 0.54 650,600 0.15 178,400 0.1 16,900 0.1 18,000
----------------- -------- ----- -------- ----- -------- ---- ------- ----- -------
The Company continues to work with the various Russian agencies
in the conversion of a portion of the exploration licence to that
of a production licence. The interchange of information between
Rosnedra and Amur is undertaken on both a positive and constructive
basis. As verifiable information and milestones are attained which
facilitate the award of the production licence, progress will be
announced via RNS releases.
Glossary
DEFINITIONS OF EXPLORATION RESULTS, RESOURCES & RESERVES
EXTRACTED FROM THE JORC CODE: (December 2012) (www.jorc.org)
A 'Mineral Resource' is a concentration or occurrence of
material of intrinsic economic interest in or on the Earth's crust
in such form, quality and quantity that there are reasonable
prospects for eventual economic extraction. The location, quantity,
grade, geological characteristics and continuity of a Mineral
Resource are known, estimated or interpreted from specific
geological evidence and knowledge. Mineral Resources are
sub-divided, in order of increasing geological confidence, into
Inferred, Indicated and Measured categories.
An 'Inferred Mineral Resource' is that part of a Mineral
Resource for which tonnage, grade and mineral content can be
estimated with a low level of confidence. It is inferred from
geological evidence and assumed but not verified geological and/or
grade continuity. It is based on information gathered through
appropriate techniques from locations such as outcrops, trenches,
pits, workings and drill holes which may be limited or of uncertain
quality and reliability.
An 'Indicated Mineral Resource' is that part of a Mineral
Resource for which tonnage, densities, shape, physical
characteristics, grade and mineral content can be estimated with a
reasonable level of confidence. It is based on exploration,
sampling and testing information gathered through appropriate
techniques from locations such as outcrops, trenches, pits,
workings and drill holes. The locations are too widely or
inappropriately spaced to confirm geological and/or grade
continuity but are spaced closely enough for continuity to be
assumed.
A 'Measured Mineral Resource' is that part of a Mineral Resource
for which tonnage, densities, shape, physical characteristics,
grade and mineral content can be estimated with a high level of
confidence. It is based on detailed and reliable exploration,
sampling and testing information gathered through appropriate
techniques from locations such as outcrops, trenches, pits,
workings and drill holes. The locations are spaced closely enough
to confirm geological and/or grade continuity.
An 'Ore Reserve' is the economically mineable part of a Measured
and/or Indicated Mineral Resource. It includes diluting materials
and allowances for losses which may occur when the material is
mined. Appropriate assessments and studies have been carried out,
and include consideration of and modification by realistically
assumed mining, metallurgical, economic, marketing, legal,
environmental, social and governmental factors. These assessments
demonstrate at the time of reporting that extraction could
reasonably be justified. Ore Reserves are sub-divided in order of
increasing confidence into Probable Ore Reserves and Proved Ore
Reserves.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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