EANS-News: Tantalus Rare Earths AG Ionic Clay Potential (with document)
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Company Information/Update on the progress at the company's Rare Earths Project
Düsseldorf (euro adhoc) - TANTALUS RARE EARTHS AG
February 2012 Press Release
(Düsseldorf, 03. February 2012; Tantalus Rare Earths AG) David Rigoll, Managing
Director of Tantalus Rare Earths AG, is pleased to announce the following update
on the progress at the company's TRE Rare Earths Project in Madagascar.
1. Background and Potential
Tantalus Rare Earths AG holds Exploration Licences over 768 individual
contiguous blocks situated on the eastern half of the Ampasindava Peninsular in
Madagascar. These are collectively referred to as the "Licences". The total size
of the Licences is 300 km2.
Of this total licence area, the maiden resource of 130Mt of inferred Resources,
announced by the company in December 2011, only relates to about 14 km2. This
initial resource contained 104kt of Rare Earth Oxides (REO).
An additional 20 km2 was drilled late in 2011 and these results are currently
being processed. This is expected to more than double the resource tonnage at
the time of the next resource upgrade, which is now planned for late April 2012.
The above areas have been drilled at 200m x 200m spacing, which is adequate to
support a JORC Inferred Resource category. An estimated further 150Mt of
mineralisation was "Unclassified" at the time of the December Resource
statement, as these areas had only been drilled at a spacing of 500m x 500m.
The continuity of the mineralisation in these areas is encouraging and the
company will be infilling these areas during the second and third quarters of
2012 to bring this material into the Inferred Resource category. This will be
achieved by a combination of pitting and the use of highly portable window
sample drills.
In combination with the results from the 2011 drilling programme, the company
expects to be able to increase the Inferred Resources to over 400Mt containing
approximately 350kt of REO by the end of September this year.
The overall potential of the Tantalus tenements is massive. All indications to
date are that the regolith, which contains the mineralisation in the weathered
zone above the bedrock, extends over most of the Licences. Given the 300km2 area
of the Licences, the full potential of the mineralisation in the regolith alone
could be over 2Bt.
2. Target Areas
The southern section of the Tantalus tenement area has been sub-divided into
several Target Areas.
Due to technical reasons the map of the target areas is only attached to this
release as a PDF.
The map above shows these Target Areas and the relationship between the holes
and pits for which results are already available and those for which sampling
and assaying is in progress.
The density of available information in Target Area 1 is already adequate for
the full area to be classified as Inferred Resources.
Target Area 2 is a new area for which no resources were included in the December
2011 Resource Statement. Results from drilling last year are expected to add a
further 60Mt of new resources from this area.
The Befitina Target Area to the west of the sections, which have been explored
to date, continues to show potential.
Once drilling is able to restart in April, after the wet season, the focus will
be in the northern section of Target Area 4, called the 'Caldera'. Drilling is
this area has confirmed the presence of good grades and continuity of
mineralisation. However, the drill spacing of 500m x 500m is not adequate to
support an Inferred Resource and a further 400 holes or pits will be required to
bring this material into that JORC category. The field work and associated
analysis is expected to be completed in time for another major resource upgrade
to be announced in late September.
3. Ionic Clay Potential.
The largest producers of the more valuable HREO's, are in the southern China
"ionic clay" deposits. The ability of these low-grade ores to release the REE
through a simple low cost ionic exchange mechanism and to produce carbonate
concentrates is the key to their attractive economics. Far lower REO grades can
be viable in these types of materials than in hard rock Rare Earth deposits.
A critical success factor for the Tantalus TRE Project has therefore been to
demonstrate that the mineralisation in the regolith has "ionic clay" properties.
This was initially confirmed by testwork carried out in mid 2011 by a major
Chinese company. Tantalus is pleased to be able to announce that these
preliminary results have now been confirmed by further testwork carried out in
China, by a major western producer of REO's, on samples from various parts of
the Tantalus regolith mineralisation.
Further testwork is planned to determine the correlation between the processing
characteristics and the mineralogy of the mineralisation and to determine the
optimum practical processing techniques for use in a future extraction
operation.
4. Individual REO Grades
The full SRK report to accompany the maiden resource statement issued in
December has been received. SRK have produced estimates of the individual REO
grades based on block modelling techniques.
Due to technical reasons the table of the preliminary SRK results is only
attached to this release as a PDF.
The following conclusions can be drawn from these preliminary results:
- As indicated in previous announcements, the HREO proportion is around 20%
which is very positive for the project
- There is evidence of higher TREO and HREO grades and lower U+Th grades in the
lower Saprolitic clay layers, compared to the overlying ferruginous material.
Again, this is positive, as the Saprolitic Clays appear to be more amenable to
ionic exchange processing techniques.
- There is potential for higher-grade areas within the overall and widespread
extent of the Lateritic Clays. Once more closely defined, these higher grade
areas will be the targets for the initial mining operations
5. Location and Infrastructure
The project location and characteristics present a number of positive factors,
which will contribute to the successful implementation of the project:
- The project location and the simplicity of the operation will significantly
reduce infrastructure requirements.
- Low power demand (no crushing and grinding of hard rock) means that site
generated power is feasible.
- Raw materials can be supplied directly by sea and products exported from a
simple jetty structure
- Labour force numbers will be relatively low.
The Malagasy government is keen to encourage major new mining project
investments and has established the necessary approvals processes to facilitate
such development. Large mining projects have recently been permitted and
constructed in Madagascar by Rio Tinto and Sherritt.
6. Key Success Factors
The five key success factors for any new Rare Earths project. These are:
- Location +
- Ionic clays +
- Infrastructure +
- Low Radionuclides +
- High HREO content +
- High upside potential +
Work in the last three months has continued to confirm our confidence that the
TRE Project "ticks all the boxes" for a successful new Rare Earths Project.
This is shaping up to be a world-class deposit, which could be brought into
production on a short lead-time and at relatively low capital costs.
2012 promises to be a very exciting year both for the company and for the TRE
Project.
About Tantalus Rare Earths ("TRE")
TRE is a German incorporated holding company whose subsidiaries are engaged in
the exploration and development of rare earths. TRE's shares are quoted on the
Open Market of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.
TRE's principal asset is an exploration project located in north-western
Madagascar and comprises rare earth-tantalum-niobium-zirconium-hafnium enriched
dykes and sills and Rare Earth Element ("REE") bearing Lateritic Clays derived
from the weathering of underlying alkaline intrusives.
There are numerous indications that most of the alkaline intrusive bodies within
the concession are overlain by REE bearing Lateritic Clays. TRE is therefore
considering the whole area underlain by alkaline intrusives (150 to 170 sq km)
as prospective for secondary REE mineralisation in the weathering crust.
The exploration programme aims to define the primary (vein/skarn hosted) and
secondary (argillaceous Laterites) mineralisation present on the concession
towards a JORC compliant mineral resource estimate and support a initiation of
the staged technical and economic studies which could lead to mine development
and production.
Tantalus Rare Earths AG
Berliner Allee 12
40212 Düsseldorf
Deutschland
Telefon: +49 (0) 211 52391 430
Telefax: +49 (0) 211 52391 200
e-Mail: contact [at] tre-ag.com
Internet: http://www.tre-ag.com
Attachments with Announcement:
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Further inquiry note:
Für weitere Informationen kontaktieren Sie bitte:
Peter Davies, Technical Direktor Tel: +61 (0) 40 929 6676
Email: davies@tre-ag.com}
Ana Ribeiro Blythe Weigh Communications Tel: +44 (0) 207 138 3206
or +44 (0) 7980 321 505
end of announcement euro adhoc
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company: Tantalus Rare Earths AG
Berliner Allee 12
D-40212 Düsseldorf
phone: +49 (0)211 52391 430
FAX: +49 (0)211 52391 200
mail: contact [at] tre-ag.com
WWW: http://www.tre-ag.com
sector: Holding companies
ISIN: DE000A0SMSL4, DE000A1KRQE7
indexes:
stockmarkets: free trade/entry standard: Frankfurt
language: English