Platinum and precious metals exploration miner Village Main Reef reports that is has intersected the Meren- sky platinum reef at 204 m below the surface at its jointly owned Lesego operation near Burgersfort, in Limpopo.

Village controls a 77% interest in the Lesego project, with the Industrial Development Corporation owning the remaining 23%, as well as fully funding the operation to the tune of R142-million.

The intersected reef has a width of about 1 m and contains visible sulphide mineralisation, which indicates that it may contain economic grades of platinum- group elements and gold.

The company says, as the reefs are intersected closer to the surface, both the Merensky reef and Upper Group 2 (UG2) chromitite tend to steepen up to a near-vertical dip, but maintain thicknesses and grades that it believes are economically mineable using a sublevel open stoping method.

This mining method, which is well established in the mining industry, lends itself to mechanisation that, in turn, significantly reduces operational costs and enhances safety.

“Our consistent drilling results continue to demonstrate that this orebody is economically viable at shallow depths and depths greater than 700 m, where high grades have previously been reported. The shallower, consistent grade intersections have greatly improved the capital expenditure, operating expenditure and mining requirements for a future potential mine,” says Village CEO Bernard Swanepoel.

Meanwhile, Village asserts that the drilling programme has successfully delineated additional Merensky reef between depths of 204 m and 700 m below the surface, while the UG2 chromitite has been intersected at depths of between 470 m and 900 m along strike lengths of about 2 km.

Lesego’s prefeasibility study was due for release at the start of this year, with the bankable feasibility study scheduled for completion by 2013.