TIDMCRA
RNS Number : 9658D
Cradle Arc PLC
15 October 2018
Cradle Arc plc / EPIC: CRA.L / Market: AIM / Sector: Mining
15 October 2018
Cradle Arc plc
("Cradle Arc" or the "Company")
Extension of Thakadu and Makala Mining Licence
Cradle Arc (AIM: CRA), the African focused base and precious
metals exploration and production company, is pleased to announce
that the Botswana Ministry of Mineral Resources, Green Technology
and Energy Security ("MMR") has extended the group's existing
Mining Licence No. 2010/96L (the "Licence"), which is now valid
until 31 May 2020. The Licence area covers 28.5km(2) and includes
the Thakadu open pit and adjacent Makala underground deposit,
approximately 70km south east of the Company's flagship Mowana
copper mine ("Mowana").
Highlights
-- Extension of Mining Licence No. 2010/96L granted by the MMR
in Botswana, which is now valid until 31 May 2020, covering the
Thakadu and Makala deposits.
-- Thakadu was mined by its previous owners, with ore delivered
to the Mowana processing plant, up to June 2015.
-- Thakadu has a JORC-compliant indicated mineral resource
estimate of 2.3Mt at 1.11% copper and 11 g/t of silver, and a
JORC-compliant inferred mineral resource estimate of 5.4Mt at 0.63%
copper and 9 g/t of silver.
-- Makala, which is 700m north east of Thakadu, is a higher
grade copper and silver deposit containing a JORC-compliant
inferred mineral resource estimate of 11.5Mt at 1.46% copper and 34
g/t of silver.
-- Shallow, historical mining between the two deposits indicates
the potential for future infill drilling to join the two deposits
along strike to create a total strike length of over 3km.
-- Makala and Thakadu have been the subject of two historical
independent scoping studies that indicate underground mining
techniques can potentially be deployed to successfully exploit the
deposit.
-- The combined deposits have the potential to contain a
resource of over 50Mt, with an approximate 19Mt resource already
established in the indicated and inferred categories as noted
above.
Kevin van Wouw, CEO of Cradle Arc, commented:
"We have always believed that the Makala and Thakadu deposits
present a great opportunity for Cradle Arc. Thakadu ores were mined
and transported to our Mowana copper mine by its previous owners as
recently as 2015, so we have significant existing knowledge of the
potential quality of the copper sulphide ore which also has
significant silver credits.
"Now that we have been formally granted an extension to the
mining licence until the end of May 2020, we can, subject to
obtaining the requisite finance in due course, start to plan for
the additional drilling required in the future to enhance the
confidence of the existing resource, a vital step towards
completing a feasibility study for a potential underground mining
operation using access from the base of the existing open pit."
Further information
The Licence covers the highly prospective Makala and Thakadu
deposits 70km south east of the Company's existing Mowana copper
mine. The licence area can be accessed from a well-maintained
gravel road, approximately 5km away from the intersection with the
tarred Francistown - Orapa A30 road, near the settlement of
Matsitama, approximately 80km west of Francistown. There is also a
40km gravel road running north east to the A3 that was built to
transport Thakadu ores to Mowana where the ores were processed.
Geology of the deposits
Both Thakadu and Makala are hosted within the Matsitama
Metasedimentary Group, comprising carbonaceous and argillaceous
metasediments which are enclosed within foliated granitoids of the
Mosetse Complex. The Matsitama Metasedimentary Group lies in
structural contact or unconformably over the granite/gneisses and
forms two main areas of outcrop: the Matsitama Belt which hosts the
Thakadu and Makala deposits and the arcuate "Bushman Belt" to the
north where Mowana is located. The Matsitama Metasedimentary Group
consists of greenschist to amphibolite facies metamorphic rocks
with the following specific types of rocks identified: calcareous
sandstones, conglomerates, pelites, arkoses, quartzites, volcanic
tuffs and agglomerates, amphibolites, limestones, banded ironstones
and serpentinites.
The copper mineralisation is broadly strata-bound and hosted by
a complexly folded sequence of felsic sedimentary rocks, ranging
between a thickness of approximately 50-150m. The felsic
metasedimentary sequence includes siliceous carbonates, biotite
schists, calcareous pelites and graphitic carbonates. The
stratigraphy above and below the felsic package is dominated by
amphibolite derived from mafic/intermediate intrusives, volcanic
and volcaniclastic rocks.
Hypogene sulphide mineralisation is predominantly hosted by
quartz and quartz-carbonate rich arenites and to a lesser extent in
biotite schists. Chalcopyrite is the dominant Cu-sulphide with
minor bornite. Pyrrhotite is present in some zones and the
sulphides generally occur as irregular stringers and disseminations
in the quartz-carbonate rich units and in irregular
quartz-carbonate veined zones.
Thakadu
Up to June 2015, Thakadu was mined by its previous owners for
high quality sulphide ores that were processed at Mowana with
excellent recoveries. Mining ceased as all available ores in the
open pit were mined out, however approximately 2.3Mt of indicated
mineral resource and approximately 5.4Mt of inferred mineral
resource remain in the deposit.
In November 2014, Golder Associates reported a NI 43-101 and
SAMREC compliant in-situ indicated mineral resource estimate at a
0.25% copper cut-off of approximately 2.3Mt at a copper grade of
1.11% for 25kt of copper metal and a silver grade of 11 g/t for
800,000 ounces of silver metal, and an inferred mineral resource
estimate of approximately 5.4 million tonnes at a copper grade of
0.63% for 34kt of copper metal and a silver grade of 9 g/t for 1.6
million ounces of silver metal.
The Thakadu deposit hosts various different styles of
mineralisation, but is dominated by hypogene sulphides
(chalcopyrite +/- bornite) hosted within the quartz-carbonate units
with a lesser near surface oxide zone. The Thakadu mineralisation
has been traced from surface to approximately 420m below surface
and over a strike length of approximately 600m.
Makala
The Makala deposit is located approximately 1,800m to the
northwest (centre to centre) of the Thakadu deposit and
approximately 700m from the deposit along strike. The Makala
deposit is hosted within the same broad metasedimentary package as
Thakadu with the principal lithologies enclosing the deposit being
quartz-rich calcareous rocks, various mica schists, phyllites and
minor carbonaceous (graphitic) phyllites and various
amphibolites.
The aforementioned resource report by Golder Associates contains
a NI 43-101 and SAMREC compliant in-situ inferred mineral resource
estimate at a 0.25% copper cut off at Makala of approximately
11.5Mt at a copper grade of 1.46% for 167,000 tonnes of copper
metal and a silver grade of 34 g/t for 12.5 million ounces of
silver metal.
Peolwane
In between the two abovementioned deposits along strike is a
700m gap where no deep drilling has been completed. Shallow
historical mining took place in this area showing the presence of
copper minerals. In-fill drilling in this area has the potential to
connect the two deposits along strike and to create a total strike
length of over 3km.
Potential Resource
The Makala and Thakadu orebody is up to 12m thick, has been
mapped down to a depth of 400m, and is open to both the West and
down dip. Using a strike length of 3km, and an average orebody
width of 8m, management believes that there may be the potential
for a combined deposit with more than 50Mt of mineral resources if,
as expected, the deposit continues on dip to a depth of 800m.
Scoping Studies
Two historical independent scoping studies have been completed
on a potential underground mine at Makala and Thakadu using decline
access from the bottom of the Thakadu pit. The first was completed
by Coffey Mining in 2012 and, more recently Sound Mining completed
a similar study.
The primary objective of a scoping study is to provide an
overall financial and technical opinion of a project to aid
management in its decision making as to the best route to advance
the project. An indicative financial model was constructed in each
of the abovementioned scoping studies on the basis of the known
mineral resource estimates and a conceptual mining model created
using mining inputs based on industry standard data.
Both studies indicated that the resource was eminently mineable
with financial returns strong enough to justify further
development.
The quality of both the Thakadu and Makala deposits should
potentially enable each to be financed separately. Cradle Arc has
therefore initiated discussions with potentially interested parties
with the objective of completing the requisite in-fill drilling at
Peolwane, upgrading the mineral resource estimates, and completing
a preliminary feasibility study to present to the MMR
Kevin van Wouw, the Company's CEO and a Fellow of the South
African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, has reviewed and
approved the technical information contained within this
announcement. Mr van Wouw has sufficient experience relevant to the
style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and
to the activity that he is undertaking and meets the criteria for a
qualified person under both the requirements of the JORC Code and
the AIM guidance note for mining and oil & gas companies. Mr
van Wouw has reviewed this announcement and consents to the
inclusion in this announcement of the matters based on his
information in the form and context in which they appear.
**S**
For further information on the Company, please visit
www.cradlearc.com or contact:
Cradle Arc plc Tel: +44 (0)20 7637 5216
Kevin van Wouw
Mark Jones
Strand Hanson Limited Tel: +44 (0)20 7409 3494
James Spinney
Matthew Chandler
James Dance
SP Angel Corporate Finance Tel: +44 (0)20 3470 0470
LLP
Ewan Leggat
John Meyer
Tavistock Communications Limited Tel: +44 (0)20 7920 3150
Charles Vivian
Gareth Tredway
This announcement contains inside information for the purposes
of Article 7 of Regulation (EU) 596/2014.
About Cradle Arc
AIM-quoted Cradle Arc plc is the 60 per cent. owner of the
Mowana copper mine in Botswana, an operational open pit mine and
processing facility located in the north-east of the country,
approximately 120 km northwest of Francistown.
The Company has an independent open pit ore reserve estimate
(Proved and Probable JORC 2012) of 31.8 Mt at 1.17% Cu for 370,800
tonnes contained copper, based on a Dense Media Separation (DMS)
mine plan.
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END
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