LUKE GRAHAM The latest drilling results will strengthen the economic outlook of Tajiri
The latest drilling results from Australian mineral exploration and development company Strandline Resources show there is significant potential to expand its 100%-owned Tanga South Tajiri mineral sands project, in Tanzania.
The reconnaissance drilling returned multiple intersections of high-grade mineral sands from surface of up to 60 m thick and highlighted the strong potential to extend the existing Tajiri T4C Channel mineral resource at Tajiri to the north and south along the 7.5 km strike length.
Tajiri’s Joint Ore Reserves Committee (Jorc-) compliant indicated mineral resources stand at 147-million tonnes at 3.1% total heavy minerals (THM), containing in situ valuable minerals of 339 000 t rutile, 201 000 t zircon, 3 132 000 t ilmenite and 322 000 t almandine garnet. The T4C Channel currently accounts for 10-million tonnes of this at 3.4% THM.
In light of these outstanding results, Strandline has set a revised exploration target for the Tajiri mineralised corridor, and is now planning a further resource drilling campaign.
“The latest assay results are exceptional because they extend the known corridor of mineralisation significantly, based on thick, high-grade intersections along a 7.5 km strike,” Strandline MD Luke Graham said in a press release in June. “The existing Tajiri resources already host a large-scale mineral resource with a strong grade and valuable mineral assemblage which is more than adequate to underpin the current project scoping study. Further increases in this resource will only strengthen the economic outlook for Tajiri.”
The Tanga South Tajiri Project
The large-scale Tajiri deposits are in northern Tanzania, near the port city of Tanga, some 60 km to the north. Strandline has rapidly performed multiple stages of exploration to define the higher grade mineralised zones along Tajiri’s 20 km mineralised corridor.
The current mineral resource hosts a rutile enriched, ilmenite dominant mineral assemblage with zones of elevated zircon-rich and garnet mineralisation within some of the mineralogical domains. The mineralisation also shows strong geological and grade continuity along and across strike which bodes well for future mine planning activities. Importantly, the deposits are outcropping and will have low strip ratios with high grades occurring close to surface in most of the resource areas.
The mineral resources extend over 20 km forming a semicontinuous string of outcropping heavy mineral sands (HMS) mineralisation. At least three of the defined mineral resources remain open, including Tajiri T1, T3 and the channel-style target which is the subject of this announcement.
Air-core (AC) drilling completed along the channel target zone has identified thick, well mineralised zones of HMS along strike from the T4C Channel mineral resources, currently 10-million tonnes at 3.5 % THM. The T4C resource estimate was based on detailed drilling to depths of 40 m along 0.8 km of strike. The latest drilling has now confirmed thicker and deeper, 40-m- to 60-m-thick zones of mineralisation along the 7.5-km-long target zone with the potential to add significant tonnage to the project.
Exploration Target Update
With the completion of the AC drilling programme along the channel, Strandline has been able to update an exploration target estimate for the remainder of the undrilled portion of the 7.5-km-long mineralised channel and other areas within the tenement areas. The exploration target is an estimate of potential HMS tonnage where there has been insufficient exploration for mineral resource estimation.
Strandline has now defined an exploration target of 73-million to 133-million tonnes at 2.8% to 4.4% THM. This is in addition to the current indicated resources of 147-million tonnes at 3.1% HMS already delineated.
However, Strandline remains cautious as the potential quantity and grade of the combined exploration target is conceptual in nature and there has been insufficient exploration to define a Jorc-compliant mineral resource. It is also uncertain if further exploration and resource development work will result in the determination of a mineral resource.