Quarterly Activities Report
Brisbane, Oct 31, 2016 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Sayona Mining Limited (
ASX:SYA) (DMNXF:OTCMKTS) ("Sayona" or the "Company") is pleased to provide the company's Quarterly Activities Report for the period ended 30th September 2016.
Highlights
- Authier Lithium project acquisition completed
- $7.1 million capital raising completed to fund the Authier acquisition
- Metallurgical and drill testing, and Pre-Feasibility Study commenced at Authier
- Expanded WA Lithium tenement coverage to over 1,100 km2
The company is pleased to announce activities for the quarter including the completion of the Authier acquisition, a $7.1 million capital raising, commencement of a pre-feasibility study and a 4,000 metre drilling program on the Authier lithium project in Canada.
Authier, Canada
Authier Acquisition and Capital Raising
During the period, the Company completed the due diligence and entered into formal transaction documents for the CAD$4 million acquisition of the Authier lithium Project. The acquisition was completed on the 20 July 2016.
To fund the Authier acquisition, the Company completed a share placement and a fully underwritten Rights totalling A$7.1 million.
The funds (together with the net proceeds from the Rights Issue and the Company's existing cash) were applied to:
- Acquisition of the Authier lithium Project;
- On-going feasibility expenditure on the Authier lithium Project;
- Exploration expenditure on the Australian Projects; and
- Administration and working capital requirements.
Authier JORC Mineral Resource Estimate
As part of its due diligence on the proposed Authier acquisition, an independent JORC Mineral Resource estimate, totalling 9.12 million tonnes containing 87,302 tonnes of Li2O was reported.
The Company has independently undertaken a detailed audit of all the available data to verify the previous work and convert the foreign estimate to a JORC 2012 compliant Mineral Resource estimate, tabulated below at a 0.5% Li20 cut-off grade.
For the full details of the JORC resource please see ASX release, "Authier JORC Mineral Resource Estimate, 5 July 2016.
Authier Work Program
The Company's primary strategy is to focus on completing the studies required to commence the development of the project. Authier is a near-term development project and cash-flow generation opportunity. The Company believes it will create significant share value-uplift potential for shareholders as the project is advanced towards development.
The key attractions of the Authier lithium project, include:
- Extensively drilled - mineralisation hosted in a spodumene-bearing pegmatite intrusion with more than 15,000 metres of drilling in 123 holes;
- Simple deposit - 825 metres long with an average thickness of 25 metres dipping at 40 degrees, amenable to low-cost, open-cut mining techniques;
- Defined resources - JORC Mineral Resources totalling 9.12 million tonnes at 0.96% Li20 containing 87,302 tonnes of Li2O at a 0.5% cut Li20 (see Table 1 in the link below);
- Simple metallurgy - extensive metallurgical testing and flowsheet designed to produce a 5-6% Li20 concentrate at an 85% metallurgical recovery;
- Well studied - a NI43-101 Technical Report - Preliminary Economic Assessment - completed in 2013, demonstrated the technical and commercial viability of developing the deposit, and selling lithium concentrates;
- Excellent infrastructure - situated 45 kilometres from mining support services, and links to road and rail networks, including the Quebec export port; and
- Large sunk cost - significant investment in drilling, geophysics and development studies.
Western Australian Lithium Projects
Western Australia is a premium lithium province with world-class, high-grade lithium deposits associated with rare metal pegmatites. The Company has secured two regional project areas covering a total 1065 km2 (see figure 3 in the link below) as part of its strategic move into lithium exploration.
During the quarter the company continued to carry out first pass exploration over its tenure, complimented by the pegging of one new tenement at Moolyella in the Pilbara.
Itabela, Brazil
During the quarter, the Company completed its review of all the drilling information and project acquisition terms to determine whether the project will meet its investment criteria, and whether it can structure a long-term arrangement to continue exploration and development the project.
The study concluded that the project couldn't meet the Company investment hurdles and advised that the Option-to- Purchase, to acquire the Itabela graphite project from Brazil Graphite SA would not be renewed.
To view the full report, please visit:
http://abnnewswire.net/lnk/U2SB05VX
About Sayona Mining Limited
Sayona Mining Limited (ASX:SYA) (OTCMKTS:SYAXF) is a North American lithium producer with projects in Quebec, Canada and Western Australia. In Quebec, Sayona's assets comprise North American Lithium together with the Authier Lithium Project and its emerging Tansim Lithium Project, supported by a strategic partnership with American lithium developer Piedmont Lithium Inc. (ASX:PLL). Sayona also holds a 60% stake in the Moblan Lithium Project in northern Quebec.
In Western Australia, the Company holds a large tenement portfolio in the Pilbara region
prospective for gold and lithium. Sayona is exploring for Hemi-style gold targets in the world-class Pilbara region, while its lithium projects include Company-owned leases and those subject to a joint venture with Morella Corporation (ASX:1MC).
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