To Develop the 'Wicklow Tungsten Block', a Significant Tungsten System
Perth, Mar 9, 2012 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Strategic Elements Ltd (
ASX:SOR) is pleased to announce that Strategic Materials Pty Ltd (100% owned) has secured exploration rights to the 'Wicklow Tungsten Block', located approximately 60km SW of Dublin, Ireland.
The Company believes the timing of the grant is strategically important due to a notable increase in the tungsten price (to USD 44,000 per tonne) and concerns over the dominance of Chinese tungsten production and exports. The Company believes that tungsten's growing recognition as a 'critical rare metal' has generated an attractive environment for the potential development and financing of European based tungsten projects.
The Wicklow Tungsten Block contains an extensive tungsten system potentially up to 10km in strike length. Two companies have previously invested significant time and resources to advance the project to the drill testing stage. It is important to note that both companies identified the prospective nature of the project and that the tungsten price has increased over 400%* since the last drilling programme.
The Company is set to benefit from the extensive work and expenditure already invested into the project. This enables an immediate focus to be placed upon the planning of a drilling programme to test for potential size and grade of the main target areas.
It is important to note that larger Institutional investors have acquired significant equity positions in successful tungsten companies. Further, various positive feasibility studies, off-take agreements and successful debt financing arrangements have all recently been achieved. This indicates a tremendous amount of confidence in the tungsten sector.
Managing Director Charles Murphy said "This asset fits in extremely well within our existing portfolio. As in New Zealand, Ireland provides a very secure mining system, has low levels of corruption and is a low cost country in which to operate. Some of the geological aspects of the Wicklow Tungsten Block are also very familiar. Also as in New Zealand, we have identified an excellent exploration team to work with that has deep knowledge of the local geology combined with significant global experience.
Corporate Structuring
The Company intends to form a separate subsidiary to specifically expedite progress of its projects with exposure to tungsten and gold. The 100% owned new entity will focus on generating tungsten/gold prospects with proven mineralisation. It is intended that the Wicklow Tungsten Block be included in this new entity.
Strategic Materials Pty Ltd (100% owned) will continue to remain tightly focused on its Australian and New Zealand rare earths projects. Results from the initial fieldwork in New Zealand are pending.
This structure will enable the Company to continue generating prospects, market its rare earths and tungsten/gold activities to specific sets of investors/partners and prepare for any future corporate activity.
Tungsten Sector Tungsten as an investment sector has been experiencing significant interest from professional investors:
? The UK based Hemerdon Ball deposit is an example of a European based high tonnage - low grade tungsten/tin project. A JORC compliant Ore Reserve of 26mt at a tungsten grade of 0.19% and tin grade of 0.03%has been announced. Wolf Minerals Limited secured a USD 86 million debt financing facility for the Hemerdon Ball tungsten/tin project and listed on AIM in London in November 2011. Institutional investors Resource Capital Fund V and RMB have acquired over 20% of Wolf.
? AIM listed Ormonde Mining Plc announced positive pre-feasibility study results for the Barruecopardo tungsten project in Spain. Institutional investors have acquired 35% of its register and include JP Morgan, Blackrock, Jupiter, Fidelity and Saracen.
Upcoming Programmes The company intends to conduct drilling programmes to determine the strike and depth potential of the main tungsten zone. The drilling programme is intended to delineate the potential size and grade of the tungsten mineralisation. Further information on the intended program will be released as it comes available. Wicklow Tungsten Block Historically the area has been explored for base metals, gold, silver and tungsten. The discovery, in 1970, of scheelite (CaWO4) in heavy mineral concentrates from streams draining the contact between the Leinster Granite and schists near Aughrim, Co. Wicklow, led to systematic tungsten exploration programmes in the area between 1970 and 1983 (Steiger and Bowden, 1986). This exploration led to the identification of a belt of scheelite mineralisation of potentially economic significance. The belt extends roughly 10 kms along the eastern margin of the Leinster Granite and is defined geologically as a swarm of granitic dykes with a trend subparallel to the main granite margin and parallel to the foliation in the Lower Palaeozoic meta-sediments.
A 22 hole drilling program by Irish Base Metals Ltd (IBM) proved the presence of a significant tungsten mineralised system. This was the culmination of previous successful exploration work conducted from 1971 to 1983. They recommended a further drilling programme to test the potential for a "near surface, medium-large tonnage, low to moderate grade deposit" at the main target area at Ballinglen.
Before they could commence, the low tungsten price of the mid 1980's led them to relinquish the project. The potential scale of a 10km long tungsten system is promising. The tungsten system was proven to occur over a distance of 5km by previous drilling and historical geochemical data indicates this may extend an additional 5km. Historical drilling reports from IBM indicate tungsten grades of >0.2% W. It was also postulated that the mineralised structures may increase in grade and width or even join at depth. Deeper and more extensive drilling is required to investigate these grades further. Importantly tin grades of up to 0.35% Sn were also reported. It is unclear how widespread the tin mineralisation may be as tin was not a focus of previous exploration. Adding tin into a potential multi-commodity project could considerably improve the potential even further.
Initial results suggest potential for tin mineralisation that should be investigated further.
In 2006 Ormonde Mining Plc and Aurum Mineral Resources acquired the Wicklow Tungsten Block and focussed on generating drilling targets. An exhaustive compilation of exploration data was captured including geochemical data for 1,945 deep overburden and 2,402 soil samples, drill hole locations, assays, drill logs and cross-sections. Twelve target areas were identified based upon open file data review, appraisal of previous drill results and reprocessing of geochemical data.
Ormonde Mining withdrew from Ireland to concentrate their resources on other projects. A number of potential targets have previously been identified by strong geochemical anomalies and where previous drilling has recorded tungsten mineralisation in a number of drill holes. The majority of these targets remain untested along strike and at depth provides further potential upside. Previous drilling has successfully intersected meaningful grades of tungsten, although at present these occur in narrow structures only. Drilling to-date, however, is very widely spaced and shallow, allowing for the opportunity to identify more strongly developed mineralisation elsewhere along the strike extent and at depth. Ormonde
Mining reported significant previous operator drilling results as follows:
--------------------------------------------------Hole Name From(m) Width(m) Grade(W%) Grade(WO3%)--------------------------------------------------AYBG/3 146.3 1.52 0.145 0.18AYBG/5 26.5 1.52 0.14 0.18 38.4 0.30 1.22 1.54 103.6 0.46 1.65 2.1 65.4 0.30 0.11 0.14AYBG/6 73.5 1.22 0.20 0.25 112.2 1.22 0.23 0.29AYBG/11 33.5 0.91 >0.2 >0.25 52.4 1.52 >0.2 >0.25AYBG/13 46.0 1.52 >0.2 >0.25 63.1 1.52 0.144 0.18 74.2 1.37 >0.2 >0.25 150.6 1.52 0.12 0.15AYBG/18 128.3 1.52 >0.2 >0.25 163.7 1.52 >0.2 >0.25 192.6 1.52 0.24 0.30 200.3 1.52 >0.2 >0.25 215.2 1.52 >0.2 >0.25----------------------------------------------
For the Full announcement including tables and charts, please visit:
http://media.abnnewswire.net/media/en/docs/71932-asx-sor-2012-03-09.pdf
About Strategic Elements Ltd
Strategic Elements (ASX:SOR) shares are listed on the Australian Stock Exchange under the code “SOR”. The Company is registered under the Pooled Development Program run by the Australian Federal Government to encourage investment into SME’s. To assist Pooled Development Fund’s to invest and raise capital, the Federal Government enables most shareholders in a Pooled Development Fund to make capital gains and receive dividends tax-free.
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