Mining News:
Madagascar viewed as prospective for platinum
New platinum-group metal (PGM) discoveries in Madagascar are exciting mineral explorers about the potential of finding significant PGM deposits in the country.The possibility is be- ing investigated that Madagascar could yield sufficient PGM resources to establish a PGM district that will be able to support several mines. One of the first exploration com- panies to search for PGMs in Mad-agascar, Jubilee Platinum, listed on the London Stock Exchange’s Alternative Investment Market, last week announced the results of its second borehole, LAV2A, drilled on the Lavatrafo property.The Lavatrafo deposit is the southern unit of two currently disparate nickel-copper-platinum-palladium de- posits that fall within the Londokomanana concession held by Min- eral Resources of Mad-agascar, Jubilee’s 85%-owned subsidiary.The borehole was stepped out 150 m south-east of borehole LAV1.The company announced promising results from LAV1 in September.Jubilee CEO Colin Bird tells Mining Weekly from the company’s headquarters, in London, that the multimetal intersection in the second borehole confirms continuity along the strike of the formation and that the mineralisation is consistent with that identified in borehole LAV1.Bird says what is particularly exciting about the deposit is that it is part of a 35-km-long formation, identified some years ago by the French mission in Madagascar, BRGM.Past work by BGRM, including geophysical and geochemistry analyses, indicated the potential for nickel, copper and PGM deposits.Jubilee’s plan is to gather more information on the deposit in the south of the project area and, once the parameters of the mineralisation have been confirmed, to move to the north of the Lavatrafo property and repeat the drilling model.Bird says that, based on the results of the drilling performed to date, the deposit lends itself to economic bulk-mining.The company is working according to the $20/t model that is emer-ging in the market to confirm the economic viability of large-scale mining projects.Bird explains that, in line with the model, $11/t is allocated to direct operating costs and between $9/t and $10/t to recovering the capital invested.At the Lavatrafo boreholes, the in-situ gross-metal value (GMV) is $52/t or 1,32% copper-equivalent at current metal prices.Intersections have also been identified that have a higher GMV, at $98/t and $77/t.Nickel will yield about 60% of the revenue if a mining operation is established, with copper yielding 20% and PGMs 20%.Based on the formation of the orebody, every kilometre of strike will be able to yield 20-million tons of ore.Hence, the potential exists to mine 200-million tons of material over the 35 km of strike. Bird says that the results compare favourably with bulk-mining projects that are currently being developed worldwide.“And we believe that the results suggest the possibility of establishing more than one mine in a district that could be similar to the northern limb of the Bushveld Igneous Complex in South Africa,” he adds.Jubilee is also exploring two other orebodies in Madagascar – Ambodilafa and Lanjanina.Ambodilafa is located 300 km south of Lavatrafo and comprises a 20-km-long and 4-km-wide strike.As with Lavatrafo it has the potential to yield economic quantities of nickel, copper and PGMs.Jubilee has begun a geophysics programme at Ambodilafa to investigate the deposit.Bird says that the discovery of new PGM resources outside South Africa can make a meaningful contribution to the platinum industry worldwide.“It has been considered most unlikely that large systems would be discovered outside Southern Africa.“Moreover, the platinum:palladium ratios in Madagascar are 1:1, while, outside South Africa, palladium dominates in most deposits,” he adds. While Bird is bullish about the company’s discoveries in Mad-agascar, he is also upbeat about the development of Jubilee’s proposed PGM-mining projects in South Africa.Jubilee has a 25% interest in empowered firm Tjate Platinum Corporation, which holds old-order prospecting rights on three con- tiguous farms in the eastern Bush-veld – Dsjate, Fernkloof and Quartz Hill.The farms are downdip of Anglo Platinum’s Twickenham PGM project and Impala Platinum’s Marula PGM-mine.Bird says that the application for the conversion of the old-order rights has been accepted by the Department of Minerals and Energy and the granting of the convert- ed rights is believed to be imminent.Drilling on the Dsjate farm has intercepted Merensky and UG2 reefs at the expected depths, with PGM grades generally at the top end of expectations.Elsewhere in South Africa, Jubilee’s Bokfontein and Elandsdrift PGM properties, in the western Bushevled, are drill-ready and await the granting of new-order prospecting rights, which is believed to be imminent.Other properties in Jubilee’s portfolio include Buffelsvallei/Zaaiplaats, in the Groblersdal district, and Sallies Sloot/Swartkop, near Marble Hall.The company is also awaiting the granting of new-order prospecting rights for these properties.
Published: 2005/10/14 Author: helene le rouxPortfolio: Senior Staff WriterE-mail: newsdesk@engineeringnews.co.za
New platinum-group metal (PGM) discoveries in Madagascar are exciting mineral explorers about the potential of finding significant PGM deposits in the country.The possibility is be- ing investigated that Madagascar could yield sufficient PGM resources to establish a PGM district that will be able to support several mines. One of the first exploration com- panies to search for PGMs in Mad-agascar, Jubilee Platinum, listed on the London Stock Exchange’s Alternative Investment Market, last week announced the results of its second borehole, LAV2A, drilled on the Lavatrafo property.The Lavatrafo deposit is the southern unit of two currently disparate nickel-copper-platinum-palladium de- posits that fall within the Londokomanana concession held by Min- eral Resources of Mad-agascar, Jubilee’s 85%-owned subsidiary.The borehole was stepped out 150 m south-east of borehole LAV1.The company announced promising results from LAV1 in September.Jubilee CEO Colin Bird tells Mining Weekly from the company’s headquarters, in London, that the multimetal intersection in the second borehole confirms continuity along the strike of the formation and that the mineralisation is consistent with that identified in borehole LAV1.Bird says what is particularly exciting about the deposit is that it is part of a 35-km-long formation, identified some years ago by the French mission in Madagascar, BRGM.Past work by BGRM, including geophysical and geochemistry analyses, indicated the potential for nickel, copper and PGM deposits.Jubilee’s plan is to gather more information on the deposit in the south of the project area and, once the parameters of the mineralisation have been confirmed, to move to the north of the Lavatrafo property and repeat the drilling model.Bird says that, based on the results of the drilling performed to date, the deposit lends itself to economic bulk-mining.The company is working according to the $20/t model that is emer-ging in the market to confirm the economic viability of large-scale mining projects.Bird explains that, in line with the model, $11/t is allocated to direct operating costs and between $9/t and $10/t to recovering the capital invested.At the Lavatrafo boreholes, the in-situ gross-metal value (GMV) is $52/t or 1,32% copper-equivalent at current metal prices.Intersections have also been identified that have a higher GMV, at $98/t and $77/t.Nickel will yield about 60% of the revenue if a mining operation is established, with copper yielding 20% and PGMs 20%.Based on the formation of the orebody, every kilometre of strike will be able to yield 20-million tons of ore.Hence, the potential exists to mine 200-million tons of material over the 35 km of strike. Bird says that the results compare favourably with bulk-mining projects that are currently being developed worldwide.“And we believe that the results suggest the possibility of establishing more than one mine in a district that could be similar to the northern limb of the Bushveld Igneous Complex in South Africa,” he adds.Jubilee is also exploring two other orebodies in Madagascar – Ambodilafa and Lanjanina.Ambodilafa is located 300 km south of Lavatrafo and comprises a 20-km-long and 4-km-wide strike.As with Lavatrafo it has the potential to yield economic quantities of nickel, copper and PGMs.Jubilee has begun a geophysics programme at Ambodilafa to investigate the deposit.Bird says that the discovery of new PGM resources outside South Africa can make a meaningful contribution to the platinum industry worldwide.“It has been considered most unlikely that large systems would be discovered outside Southern Africa.“Moreover, the platinum:palladium ratios in Madagascar are 1:1, while, outside South Africa, palladium dominates in most deposits,” he adds. While Bird is bullish about the company’s discoveries in Mad-agascar, he is also upbeat about the development of Jubilee’s proposed PGM-mining projects in South Africa.Jubilee has a 25% interest in empowered firm Tjate Platinum Corporation, which holds old-order prospecting rights on three con- tiguous farms in the eastern Bush-veld – Dsjate, Fernkloof and Quartz Hill.The farms are downdip of Anglo Platinum’s Twickenham PGM project and Impala Platinum’s Marula PGM-mine.Bird says that the application for the conversion of the old-order rights has been accepted by the Department of Minerals and Energy and the granting of the convert- ed rights is believed to be imminent.Drilling on the Dsjate farm has intercepted Merensky and UG2 reefs at the expected depths, with PGM grades generally at the top end of expectations.Elsewhere in South Africa, Jubilee’s Bokfontein and Elandsdrift PGM properties, in the western Bushevled, are drill-ready and await the granting of new-order prospecting rights, which is believed to be imminent.Other properties in Jubilee’s portfolio include Buffelsvallei/Zaaiplaats, in the Groblersdal district, and Sallies Sloot/Swartkop, near Marble Hall.The company is also awaiting the granting of new-order prospecting rights for these properties.
Published: 2005/10/14 Author: helene le rouxPortfolio: Senior Staff WriterE-mail: newsdesk@engineeringnews.co.za
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