Mt Isa Metals Limited (ASX:MET)
Brisbane, May 15, 2009 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Mt Isa Metals Limited (ASX:MET) is pleased to announce that a maiden Inferred Mineral Resource estimate has been completed for the D-Tree phosphate deposit within tenement EPM 14753 together with an updated global resource figure for all granted tenements within the D-Tree Project area.
The D-Tree Project is a joint venture between Mt Isa Metals (MET 20%) and Legend International Holdings, Inc. (Legend 80%, manager). The joint venture controls 100% of the known D-Tree phosphate deposit which extends over an area of approximately 100km2.
A summary of the global joint venture Inferred Mineral Resources together with a breakdown of resources by tenement area is presented in table 1 (below). The data illustrates resources available at 5% and 10% P2O5 lower cut-of-grades.
------------------------------------------------- EPM 14753 EPM 15763 Total(1) (D-Tree) (D-Tree West) (Granted Tenements)-----------------------------------------------------------Cut-off Tonnes Grade Tonnes Grade Tonnes Gradegrade (Mt) (P2O5%) (Mt) (P2O5%) (Mt) (P2O5%)-----------------------------------------------------------5% P2O5 292 10.5 340 11.0 632 10.810% P2O5 135 13.8 170 16.0 305 15.0-----------------------------------------------------------
Table 1: D-Tree Inferred Mineral Resource (EPM 14753 and EPM 15763) - 100% basis.
(1) Parts of EPM 15763 and EPM 14753 are overlain by the Gregory Wild River area under the Gregory Wild River Declaration 2007 (GWRD) and as a result, the conducting of mining and exploration activities on those parts of the tenements will be limited by any restrictions placed under the GWRD.
Significant potential exists to extend the current resources through additional delineation drilling and additional tenement grants. The global Inferred Mineral Resource presented in table 1(above) is conservative in that it excludes those parts of the D-Tree deposit located within joint venture tenement applications (EPMA's 17333, 17437, 17443 and 17446). These areas account for in excess of 30% of the known phosphate system by area.
The D-Tree joint venture participants are currently focussed on the development of a direct shipment ore (DSO) operation by the end of calendar 2009 which will target high grade (+30% P2O5) mineralisation.
Beyond this proposed 'phase one' DSO development, the joint venture participants are also actively investigating the potential for a larger scale (phase two) development of the D-Tree deposit as a feed source to Legend's proposed 100%-owned Paradise beneficiation plant to be constructed approximately 15km to the east of the D-Tree site.
Under the phase two scenario the resource tonnages reported above are significant in that they confirm that a substantial quantity of D-Tree phosphate rock appears to be available as potential beneficiation plant feed.
Legend has advised that at full capacity the proposed Paradise beneficiation plant is expected to generate 5Mtpa of phosphate rock concentrate of 30%+ P2O5. This plant output will require plant feed well in excess of 5Mtpa which may be sourced from the D-Tree deposit or other 100% Legend-owned phosphate deposits in the region.
Results from preliminary bench-scale metallurgical test-work of D-Tree mineralisation have previously been reported(2). The results of this test work indicate that high grade (+30% P2O5) phosphate concentrate can be generated from a simple beneficiation process and provide significant further encouragement that the substantial D-Tree resource inventory will present as attractive beneficiation plant feed.
------------------------------------------------- Concentrate Sample ------------------------------------------------- YT-27 YT-27(Fe) YT-141 YT-141(Fe) -----------------------------------------------------------------Constituent Coarse Fine Coarse Fine Coarse Fine Coarse Fine-----------------------------------------------------------------P2O5 % 32.13 34.10 33.66 33.65 38.61 36.04 38.95 36.09Fe2O3 % 0.84 0.40 0.53 0.37 0.24 0.58 1.61 4.96Acid Insol% 12.20 10.12 13.16 8.06 3.29 6.20 2.29 4.17FlotationRecovery% 67.6 76.0 89.9 87.3 69.1 91.3 41.5 89.2-----------------------------------------------------------------
Table 2: Phosphate concentrate results from bench-scale wet process metallurgical test-work.
Note that the bench-scale testwork completed to date at D-Tree is limited and has been restricted to mineralisation exposed in historical trenches. Given the significant footprint of the D-Tree phosphate system a substantial amount of additional bulk sampling and metallurgical test-work will be required to assess metallurgical characteristics over the entire deposit.
(2) Refer MET ASX Release 'PHOSPHATE EXPLORATION RESULTS' dated 26 February 2009.
Future activities
Broad spaced resource delineation drilling re-commenced at D-Tree in early May including the initial joint venture drilling within the D-Tree West tenement (EPM 15763). This drilling is focussed on extending and improving the confidence of the current resource inventory and identifying additional high grade potential DSO material.
The focus of the D-Tree joint venture remains on the development of a 0.5Mtpa Direct Shipment Ore operation by the end of 2009. Feasibility studies in respect of that proposed development are continuing.
Results will be reported as they come to hand.
-ENDS-
For the full Mt Isa Metals ASX Announcement and details on the resource estimation methodology adopted for EPM 14753 and EPM 15763, please see the link below;
http://www.abnnewswire.net/media/en/docs/60657-ASX-MET-210360.pdf
Contact
Mr Peter Spiers
Managing Director
Tel: +61-7-3303-0624
Mob: +61-409-407-265
Mr Duncan Cornish
Company Secretary
Tel: +61-7-3303-0624
Mob: +61-407-623-302
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