Photo by: Bloomberg
JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Aim-listed multicommodity natural resources company Premier African Minerals said on Wednesday that its Zimbabwe-based rare-earth project would likely be the next complex to undergo additional drilling.
Throughout 2013, Premier continued trenching the multiphased rare-earth elements- (REE-) enriched carbonatite surface complex of the Katete project, in Matabeleland North, near the Zambian border, continuously striking mineralisation at surface level in the mineralised zones.
"The ongoing trenching at Katete has continued to produce promising results. The company believes that Katete will be the next project to undergo a further drilling programme in addition to the completion of mineralogical and metallurgical testwork and the delineation of a Samrec Code-compliant resource statement during the course of 2014,” Premier CEO George Roach said.
This followed the recently completed drilling programme at Premier’s 49%-owned RHA tungsten project, also in Zimbabwe.
Premier, in December, completed the additional drilling of Lode 2A, with the completion of 12 inclined diamond drill holes totalling 1 300.7 m – the metallurgical testwork results of which would guide the finalisation of offtake and marketing agreements.
Last month, Premier entered into a nonbinding memorandum of understanding (MoU) with an offtake partner, which would acquire tungsten from the tungsten project.
The MoU was the first step for the commercialisation of the project.
“Our primary focus remains the early reopening of this mine and the updating of the geological model and resource statement, [which,] together with the confirmatory metallurgical work being undertaken, are important steps in facilitating this,” Roach said.