Vancouver — The Bushveld igneous complex in South Africa has long been known to host high-grade platinum group metal (PGM) deposits, but in recent years the discovery of large, lower-grade prospects has underscored the region’s bulk-tonnage potential.
Leading the way in exploring the Bushveld for large-scale deposits amenable to low-cost, open-pit mining is African Minerals, a privately owned affiliate of Robert Friedland’s Ivanhoe Capital. For more than a year, the company has had up to 12 rigs turning on its Turfspruit property on the northern limb of the complex. Some of the holes were drilled less than 5 metres from
Instead of immediately drilling the obvious target near the border, African Minerals elected to test a 1.5-km-long platinum anomaly in the northern portion of the Rietfontein property. With the results showing only anomalous PGMs, the drill rigs have now moved on to the primary area of interest, and so far 25 holes have tested a 1.7-km-long portion of the favourable Platreef horizon. The Platreef appears to correlate structurally with the productive Merensky reef on the eastern and western limbs of the complex but is a wider zone (about 50 metres at its widest), making it more favourable for bulk- tonnage targets.
Results from the first six of the holes confirm the promise of a large, low-grade nickel-copper-platinum-palladium find. All the holes cut wide intervals of disseminated, net-textured and massive sulphide zones within the favourable Platreef horizon. The best grades received to date came from hole 8, which returned 90.6 metres grading 1.1 grams combined platinum- palladium-gold per tonne, plus 0.45% nickel and 0.35% copper. Included in this interval was a higher-grade portion running 1.66 combined platinum-palladium-gold, 1.38% nickel and 1.1% copper over 7 metres at a down-hole depth of 124 metres.
“Hole 8 shows the excellent quality of the mineral deposit that’s starting to take shape at the Rietfontein-Turfspruit project,” says Anooraq President Ronald Thiessen. “More than 297 feet of strongly mineralized Platreef were intersected, indicating a potentially huge accumulation of nickel, copper, platinum, palladium and gold.”
The results from the other holes span an 800-metre section of the Platreef horizon. Highlights include the following:
q Hole 1 — 15.6 metres grading 1.56 grams combined platinum-palladium-gold per tonne, 0.3% nickel and 0.22% copper at 50.5 metres down-hole.
q Hole 2 — 136.2 grading 0.64 gram combined platinum-palladium-gold, 0.19% nickel and 0.15% copper at a down-hole depth of 19.6 metres.
q Hole 3 — 176.3 metres grading 0.58 gram combined platinum-palladium-gold, 0.19% nickel and 0.18% copper at 33.9 metres down-hole.
q Hole 6 — 46.2 metres of 0.75 gram combined platinum-palladium-gold, 0.31% nickel and 0.19% copper at 30.8 metres down-hole.
q Hole 7 — 89.7 metres of 0.74 gram platinum-palladium-gold, 0.24% nickel and 0.19% copper at 73.2 metres down-hole.
So far, the platinum-palladium ratio is about 0.5:1, whereas the platinum-to-gold ratio is 2.5:1.
Based on the initial results, Anooraq believes the project has good potential for a bulk-tonnage mining operation. The company cites as examples,
Regional play
Over the past three years, Anooraq has methodically assembled three land packages which cover some 45 km of the platinum-palladium bearing Platreef horizon.
The company became active in the Bushveld in late 1998 by inking a deal to earn a 70% stake in the Platreef PGM project, 275 km north of Johannesburg. The Platreef properties host a 14.6-km stretch of the favourable Platreef horizon. Platreef’s former owner drilled eight holes into the property, returning up to 2.94 grams combined platinum-palladium-rhodium-gold per tonne over 20.9 metres.
In 2000, Anooraq punched 35 diamond drill holes over a 4.5-km strike length on the southern portion of the property. Particularly encouraging to the company is a 1.6-km strike length section that shows good mineral continuity with the potential of outlining a higher-grade portion. Based on a cutoff grade of 1 gram combined platinum-palladium-gold, the weighted average intercepts from the drilling are 0.86 gram platinum, 1.05 grams palladium, 0.04 gram rhodium, 0.14 gram gold, 0.1% copper and 0.15% nickel over 13.1 metres. Individual drill intercepts have run as high as 4.61 grams combined platinum-palladium-rhodium-gold over 6 metres.
The company’s main target is in the upper 50 metres of the favourable Platreef horizon, which dips at 40 to the west. Most of the mineralization is hosted in a coarse-grained pyroxenite and consists of two zones, dubbed A and B. Separated by a few metres of low-grade material, Zone B tends to occur at the hangingwall contact of a norite unit and is generally 11-14 metres thick, whereas Zone A is typically 6 metres thick.
Earn-in
Spurred on by the initial drill results, Anooraq decided to acquire a 100% interest in the project from Denver-based
Today, the junior is drill-testing this mineralization at depth with three holes. Assay results are pending.
Earlier this year, Anooraq doubled the size of its property portfolio by inking a deal with Anglo American Platinum. Under the deal, Anooraq can earn a 50% stake in 12 properties by spending $3.6 million over five years. It can then earn an additional 30% by bringing a property into production.
Most of the new holdings cover the northern extension of the Platreef horizon, adding another 20 km of prospective strike length to Anooraq’s total property package.
Moving farther south, the deal includes a block of ground near Grass Valley, where Australian-listed Pan Palladium recently completed a resource-drilling program over its Grass Valley platinum group metal project. Situated 15 km south of Potgietersrus, the property hosts an inferred resource of 59.1 million tonnes grading 1.3 grams combined platinum-palladium-gold, plus 0.14% nickel and 0.04% copper. Mineralization occurs in the favourable Platreef horizon.
Anooraq has launched airborne geophysical surveys over its entire land package, as well as a soil geochemical survey over its Grass Valley block, in an attempt to outline additional drill targets. Given the junior’s large land position in the region and the prospects of sharing a mineral deposit with African Minerals, Robert Dickinson, co-chairman of the Hunter-Dickinson group, states: “[Robert] Friedland is the master of monitization, and whatever happens at Rietfontein, Anooraq is positioned to benefit from that monitization.”
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