Mineral Commodities beefs up African mineral sands resource

Mineral Commodities Ltd has beefed up its mineral resource estimate at the company’s Western Strandline deposit in South Africa to a hearty 193 million tonnes grading 9.5 per cent total heavy minerals. The updated resource estimate represents a whopping 82 per cent increase in total mineral resources relative to the previous estimate. Importantly, a 67 per cent increase in measured and indicated resources has been achieved in addition to 37 per cent of the estimated resource being upgraded to the measured and indicated categories. A maiden mineral resource has also been carved out for the Eastern Strandline deposit that runs adjacent to the Western Strandline that has been estimated at 19.5 million tonnes going 3.3 per cent total heavy minerals. The Western and Eastern Strandline deposits sit adjacent to each other, both forming part of the Tormin Inland Strands deposit in the Western Cape region, approximately 370km north of Cape Town in South Africa. All mineral resource estimates were collated in accordance with Australian JORC 2012 regulations and use a 2 per cent total heavy mineral cut-off grade. The combined mineral resource of the inland Strands project now stacks up at a staggering 212.7 million tonnes going 9 per cent total heavy minerals. Inland Strands is composed of multiple discrete paleo strandlines running sub-parallel to the coastline. Mineral Commodities says aeromagnetic data indicates that Inland Strands run continuously along the length of the company’s tenure. The Tormin operation consists of a mix of mining right licenses and prospecting right licenses in addition to a large area currently under application. Phase one of resource aircore drilling at the Eastern Strandline deposit consisted of approximately 7,000m and focussed on the granted mining license tenure. Phase two of the resource drilling campaign consisted of 9,831m aiming to extend and infill the known mineralised zones on the Western Strandline. Approximately 1.6 million tonnes have already been mined from the Southern pit and stockpiled. Mined material was subtracted from the mineral resource estimate and reported separately as a stockpile. Heavy mineral sands can be used for a variety of industrial purposes such as pigment for paint, paper, plastics and ceramics. Mineral Commodities is planning to deliver an ore reserve estimate in early March 2022 after a final phase three infill resource drill campaign is complete. With an 82 per cent increase to its total heavy minerals resources, Mineral Commodities will no doubt be itching to complete its phase three drill campaign in order to get to a reserve estimate before the excavator bucket can swing into action in the new year. Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@wanews.com.au