JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – A second prospecting right over the Tweed farm, in the Northern Cape, was on Monday granted to the Aim-listed Ferrex, consolidating prospecting rights over the ten farms within its 46 868 ha Leinster manganese prospecting project.

The Leinster project has a Joint Ore Reserves Committee- (Jorc-) compliant exploration target of 5.5-million tons to 8.7-million tons of ore at a grade of 28.6% to 31.3% of manganese.

Previous exploration work had been undertaken by Anglo American between 1877 and 1988, which resulted in contractor Coffey Mining defining the exploration target.

“This prospecting right over the Tweed farm, results in Ferrex controlling the entire Leinster sub-basin.

“With this prospecting right now in place, we can fast-track a drilling campaign designed to calculate a maiden Jorc-compliant resource on the project area in the third quarter of 2012, and in turn, assess the Leinster project’s economic potential,” Ferrex MD Dave Reeves said in a statement.

The programme would entail an airborne magnetic survey and a drilling campaign to twin with historic drill holes.

Ferrex has a 49% interest in the Leinster project through its interest in Umbono Minerals Holdings, which would increase to 74%, once Mineral Resources Department approval has been granted.

Further, Reeves added that the company’s Malelane iron-ore project was on track to deliver its maiden Jorc-compliant resource in the first quarter of the year, while its Togo-based Nayega manganese project reported “impressive” exploration results, with a Jorc-compliant resource expected in the second quarter of the year.
 

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