JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Africa-focused mineral explorer African Eagle on Friday reported that it had successfully completed the drilling programme to define the margins of the Wamangola Hill deposit, at the Dutwa nickel project, in Tanzania.

“We recently received preliminary assay results from the first few drill holes, which are in line with our expectations. The rig will now move to the Ngasamo Hill, where our recently completed surface surveys have confirmed that the laterite is nickel bearing,” said African Eagle MD Mark Parker.

Parker said that as a result of this, African Eagle has exercised its option to earn an interest in the Ngasamo deposit from its owners, Safina a.s. of the Czech Republic and its Tanzanian subsidiary, the Precious Metals Refinery company.

Under the earn-in agreement, the company would now earn an initial 35% interest by conducting and cofunding the current reverse circulation drilling programme to delineate a Joint Ore Reserve Committee inferred resource at Ngasamo. 

It could then increase this to 50% by sole-funding the promotion of the resource to indicated category and to 75% by including the Ngasamo deposit in the global feasibility study. 

On completion of the feasibility study, Safina would convert its interest in Ngasamo into an interest in the whole project, according to the ratio of the two companies' attributable interests in the global resources.

African Eagle has to date, awarded two significant contracts, which would form key parts of the Dutwa feasibility study.

The company has appointed Snowden Mining Industry Consultants to carry out deposit modelling and mine planning on the drill results, and has awarded the contract for a logistics and transport study to Drum Resources, a UK-based group specialising in logistics in Africa.