Australia Minerals and Mining Group Limited is pleased to announce that it has (through its wholly owned subsidiary Kaolin Resources Pty Ltd) applied for the Gibson Aluminous Clay Project in Esperance. The Company has delineated a JORC inferred resource of 147 million tonnes (Mt) of aluminous clay at 10.3% alumina (Al2O3) at its 100% owned Gibson HPA project. AMMG Managing Director, Mr Ric Dawson said “The acquisition of the Gibson Aluminous Clay Project is significant as it has significantly added to our combined resources of aluminous clay.”

“AMMG applied for the Gibson project based on the available historical data, which indicated grades of up to 21% alumina, with a screened grade of 37% alumina after the removal of the +2 micron size fraction. This attractive mineralogy is appropriate for our HPA processing technology”, he said. “The Gibson project is also strategically located between 10km to 40km from the Esperance port”, he added. The 200-block exploration licence application (E63/1622) covers known aluminous clay outcrops and targets an area previously explored by Western Mining Corporation (WMC) in the early 90’s (now BHP Billiton) during a 47-hole aircore drilling program.

Resource Statement
AMMG’s 100% owned Gibson HPA Project carries a JORC inferred resource of 147Mt of aluminous clay at 10.3% alumina.  An exploration target* has been calculated with a conceptual range of 1 billion tonnes (Bt) to 1.5Bt at 18 – 23% alumina, which has been based on the reported drill hole data in the region, site reconnaissance, aerial photography and geological interpretation of the known outcropping mineralised locations. *The term “Target” should not be misunderstood nor misconstrued as an estimate of Mineral Resources and Reserves as defined by the JORC Code (2004), and therefore the term has not been used in this context. It is uncertain if further exploration or feasibility study will result in the determination of a Mineral Resource or Mining Reserve

Historical Exploration
WMC (now BHP Billiton) first explored the Gibson project area in 1989 with the aim to delineate economic aluminous clay reserves for the paper and ceramic industries.Between 1989 and 1990 a total of 47 aircore holes for 626m were drilled. Bulk samples were taken for possible XRD (mineralogy) analysis. Samples were limited to zones of high brightness, which means aluminous clay with a low brightness from iron staining was not sampled. The iron staining of the aluminous clay does not affect AMMG’s acid-based processing technology for aluminous clay to alumina, thus is considered by AMMG to be of economic interest. 21 bulk samples were composited and sieved to recover the minus 2 micron fraction and tested for brightness, viscosity, particle size and XRD. One sample indicated alumina grades of 20.86%, which upgrades to 36.96% alumina when the +2 micron size fraction is removed. Although the ISO brightness of the screened aluminous clay was commercially acceptable, the viscosity of the minus 2 micron fraction was not suitable for the paper industry, thus the project was relinquished by WMC the following year.

Combined Global Resource
Combining AMMG’s Gibson HPA project’s resource with the Kerrigan HPA project’s inferred resource of 85Mt; and the Meckering HPA project’s 65Mt indicated (16.52Mt) and inferred (48.48Mt) resource, the global resource amounts to 297Mt of aluminous clay at the Company’s South West HPA project. AMMG is currently planning the next phase of exploration in order to increase this resource.

South West HPA Projects
The Company’s 100% owned South West HPA Projects (held by its wholly owned subsidiary Kaolin Resources Pty Ltd) is made up of one (1) granted exploration licence and ten (10) applications, targeting aluminous clay in the south west of Western Australia and in the Yilgarn Craton and Albany-Frasier Orogen: Meckering, Kerrigan, Kellerberrin, Bobalong and Gibson.

The Yilgarn Craton, which hosts the majority of the Company’s HPA Projects, is one of the oldest weathered cratons on earth. The weathered granites have left the residual aluminous clay so that the deposits are ‘primary’ or ‘in situ’ in nature, as opposed to those that are secondary in nature where the aluminous clay has been transported by water and then deposited in narrow deposits or lenses at the bottom of ancient lakes and rivers. The ancient weathering process has also resulted in extremely low levels of impurities (such as iron and titanium); the aluminous clay is whitish in colour extending from surface to a reported depth of 42 metres.

Upcoming Exploration
AMMG is currently planning the next phase of exploration in order to increase the resource at the Meckering project. A drilling program is proposed to commence later in the year. Using aluminous clay samples from four of AMMG’s South West HPA projects (excluding Gibson), the Company’s processing technology successfully produced >99.9% HPA. Based on the mineralogy of the aluminous clay found at the Gibson deposit, AMMG believes it represents an appropriate clean source of aluminous clay for HPA production using the process. Upon receiving the necessary approvals and negotiating land access with the freehold landowners, the Company plans to undertake bulk sampling and metallurgical analysis on aluminous clay samples taken from the Gibson project.