Alba Mineral Resources (ALBA) has declared a significant exploration target for the Thule Black Sands Ilmenite Project which is due to be tested in a forthcoming drilling programme.

Following a detailed assessment of all pertinent data sets for Thule Black Sands (TBS), Dr John Arthur, a geologist who was recently commissioned by Alba to prepare an exploration target for TBS has concluded that the exploration target for the combined North, Central and South areas at TBS ranges from 70 million tonnes to 300 million tonnes of material.

The mineral exploration firm has declared an independent exploration target for the Ilmenite project of 70-300 megatonne (“Mt”) at a grade of 35-50% total heavy mineral (“THM”) with an in situ ilmenite grade of 6-11% following the detailed independent assessment. 

From the grades stated, the minimum exploration target of 70Mt of material would, if verified, equate to a further 3Mt of contained ilmenite and the maximum Exploration Target of 300Mt of material would, if verified, equate to a further 33Mt of contained ilmenite, Alba noted.

Addressing shareholders, the company stated, ‘Even at the lower end of the exploration target range, therefore, if proven up by subsequent drilling this would result in a significant uplift in the current contained ilmenite of 1.7Mt per the existing maiden Mineral Resource Estimate for the Project, with the result that the contained ilmenite would increase to 4.7Mt in total.’

This would represent, at the lower end of the range, an almost three times increase in the current figures for contained ilmenite. Alba said the exploration target will be tested in a forthcoming drilling programme at TBS, details of which will be released in due course.
 
Alba told investors that because the potential quantity and grade of this Exploration Target is conceptual in nature, there has been insufficient exploration to estimate a Mineral Resource and it is uncertain if further exploration will result in the estimation of a Mineral Resource.

"We commissioned this independent assessment of the potential quantity and grade of the ilmenite at Thule Black Sands to provide support for the significant tonnage potential at the Project.  Having now declared an initial Exploration Target ranging from between 3 to 33 million tonnes of contained ilmenite, this gives us a great deal of optimism as we move forward to a drilling programme at TBS,” said Executive Chairman, George Frangeskides.

He added, "If the next round of drilling is able to prove up just the lower end of this range, even that would represent an almost three times increase on our current figures."

View from Vox

Alba's recently proposed Greenland-focused, spin-out company will enable it to form a new vehicle that could unlock ‘real and sustained value’ across its Greenland projects  which the company views as being ‘materially undervalued’ within its current asset portfolio. 

Shares in Alba Mineral Resources have traded within a tight range over the past two weeks with the shares reacting positively to this recent news of the spin out of assets based in Greenland. The stock was trading 1.92% higher this morning at 0.265p following the news. 

Alba Mineral Resources is a well-diversified exploration and development company which owns and operates mining projects in Greenland, Wales and Ireland. Its strategy is to identify and secure undervalued assets with a diversified commodity mix where there is potential for discovering further unexploited resources alongside the existing mine site.   

Limerick Base Metals Project   

Historically, only eight drillholes have been completed within Alba’s Project area of the Limerick Base Metals Project, the most recent being the three holes drilled in Q2 of 2019.   

Alba said these low levels of drilling are unusual in the Irish context and, for this reason, the area is considered under-explored. Alba has previously identified a number of attractive targets that have never been drilled before.    

Alba’s current technical team, led by Mark Austin, Alba’s COO and Senior Geologist, will undertake a comprehensive review of the licence area before determining the next phase of planned exploration activities.    

The expenditure conditions attached to the renewal of PL 3824 require Alba to incur expenditure of €15,732 by 26 May 2021 with a further €50,000 to be spent by 26 May 2022.     

JORC Resources expected   

Despite losing field time to the COVID-19 pandemic, Alba said it is in a position to execute one of the most significant underground work programmes seen for several decades at its Clogau gold mine in Wales, just as the commodity is reaching all-time highs in value.      

Alba said its mining projects remain on ‘a sound footing’, with JORC resources at both Thule Black Sands and Melville Bay, and plans to drill a maiden JORC resource at Amitsoq in 2021.    

Amitsoq   

In recent weeks, Alba said an independent testwork programme at the Group’s Amitsoq graphite project in southern Greenland has confirmed ‘very high carbon content.’ Due to the high carbon content, the product would offer ‘a significant advantage, as no purification would be needed to achieve that level,’ the Company explained to investors.   

Accordingly, subject to certain follow-up testwork which the Group said is recommended, the testwork successfully indicates the suitability of Amitsoq graphite as feed material for Lithium-Ion Batteries ("LIBs"), the fastest growing market for flake graphite globally.    

‘This finding that the concentrate appears to be suitable for LIBs is significant, as the market for LIBs is the fastest growing market for flake graphite, with massive growth rates forecast for the next decade due to the expected demand for LIBs in electric vehicles,’ Alba outlined.   

Transition from Exploration to Production in Greenland and Wales   

Other ‘significant’ progress has also been made in recent years towards Alba’s ultimate goal of achieving commercial production at one or more of its sites, including at the Thule Black Sands in Greenland, the Amitsoq project in Greenland and the Horse Hill well in Surrey.    

In 2020, Alba announced that surface trenching activities would kick-start over the first of the group’s 10 regional gold targets over the Dolgellau Gold Field.     

The trenching will target the first of 10 separate new gold targets over the Dolgellau Gold Field which have previously been identified by Alba.     

Alba said up to eight trenches have been planned in this first phase, each varying in length from 40-90m for a total of 575m, with each trench being 1m wide and up to 2m deep.    

Once exposed, the quartz veining and other structures from the trenches, those of which are pictured below, will be sampled, and those samples sent to a laboratory for assaying.   

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