REG - Alba Mineral Resrcs. - GROC Update - Progress at Amitsoq Graphite Project

Alba Mineral ResourcesAnnouncement

27/07/2023 07:15

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RNS Number : 3334H  Alba Mineral Resources PLC  27 July 2023

Alba Mineral Resources Plc / EPIC: ALBA / Market: AIM / Sector: Mining

 

Alba Mineral Resources Plc

("Alba" or the "Company") 

 

GROC Update

 

Progress at Amitsoq Graphite Project

 

Alba Mineral Resources Plc (AIM: ALBA) is pleased to note the RNS today by its
portfolio company, GreenRoc Mining Plc ("GreenRoc") (AIM: GROC), announcing an
operational update re its Amitsoq Graphite Project in South Greenland.

 

The GreenRoc announcement is set out below without material changes.

 

 

GreenRoc Mining plc

("GreenRoc" or the "Company")

 

Amitsoq Operational Update

 

GreenRoc Mining plc (AIM: GROC), a company focused on the development of
critical mineral projects in Greenland, is pleased to announce the following
update for its Amitsoq Graphite Project in South Greenland.

 

Highlights

 

-    Potential off-take customer for Amitsoq has requested graphite
concentrate and spheronised graphite samples in order to conduct its own
testwork.

 

-    700kg bulk sample of graphite ore nearing the final stages of
separation at process engineering contractors UVR-FIA.

 

-    Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Social Impact Assessment
(SIA) work progressing well with both studies remaining on track for delivery
in 2024:

o  Further ecological fieldwork scheduled for this August.

o  Draft SIA Terms of Reference submitted for comment to Greenlandic Ministry
of Mineral Resources.

 

-    Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA), being conducted by SLR,
advancing as planned with expected delivery this autumn.

 

-    CEO visit to Amitsoq completed in July to supervise bathymetric survey
over possible location for Amitsoq tailings storage facility (TSF).

 

-    Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS) has delivered a
detailed study testifying to the uniformity of the Amitsoq ore.

 

GreenRoc's CEO, Stefan Bernstein, commented:

 

"I am happy to report progress on the many fronts needed to advance a project
like Amitsoq through the development stages. We believe that the fact that a
potential off-taking company has requested material for its own testwork
demonstrates that our work on marketing Amitsoq to a broad range of major
industry players is starting to bear fruit. To this end, further graphite
concentrate material will soon be available from our bulk sample collected at
Amitsoq last autumn.

 

"With the team of biologists from BioApp visiting Amitsoq in early August, we
will have completed the main field sampling programme of the EIA, which is an
important milestone to have reached. Similarly important is the submission of
the Terms of Reference of the SIA to the Ministry of Mineral Resources in
Greenland, which essentially marks the beginning of the negotiation process
with the Government of Greenland towards exploitation permitting.

 

"The PEA work is in full swing and will be reported in September.  This is
anticipated to demonstrate how feasible and profitable a mining operation at
Amitsoq may be and will be extremely important for discussions with potential
project partners, ranging from anode and battery manufacturers to car makers
and raw material traders."

 

Details

 

Dispatch of Samples to Potential Offtake Customer

 

ProGraphite GmbH has been engaged by GreenRoc to provide processed graphite
samples from Amitsoq to a potential international off-take customer with which
the Company has been in discussions. The graphite material will be sourced
from the previous processing of Amitsoq graphite ore by ProGraphite in 2021
and 2022 and will comprise graphite concentrate, purified graphite
concentrate, and spherical graphite. The potential off-take company, whose
identity cannot be disclosed, has requested the sample material in order to
conduct its own verification testwork.

 

Bulk Sample Processing

 

The 700kg bulk sample of graphite ore collected by the Company in September
2022 is nearing the final stages of processing at UVF-FIA in Germany. The aim
of the work is to provide graphite concentrate material for GreenRoc's further
testwork requirements, to have material ready for analysis by potential
industry customers and to understand the best options for processing the ore.
The concentrate material from this exercise is expected to be available this
autumn.

 

EIA and SIA Update

 

With the help of its professional consultants, the Company continues to
progress work on the EIA and SIA studies for Amitsoq, which remain on track
for delivery in 2024; these are important milestones towards the granting of
an exploitation permit.

 

Work on the EIA, which commenced in 2022, is being undertaken by the Danish
environmental consulting firm BioApp. In early August, two biologists from
BioApp will continue field work at Amitsoq, completing their sampling of plant
and animal species, collecting water samples, and studying other matters
pertaining to the EIA.

 

The SIA, which is being undertaken by the Danish firm Niras a/s, is also
progressing well. This month, the draft Terms of Reference were submitted for
comment to Greenland's Ministry of Mineral Resources.

 

PEA Update

 

The PEA, which is being conducted by UK mining consultancy SLR Consulting
Limited (SLR), is advancing as planned, with expected delivery this autumn.
The PEA will assess all key aspects of a future graphite mining operation at
Amitsoq based on a projection of annual mining of 400,000t of ore for the
production of c. 80,000t of graphite concentrate. The PEA is an important
piece of work and its delivery within a few months is expected to assist
greatly in the next round of discussions with potential project and offtake
partners. As part of the PEA, a representative from SLR visited Amitsoq
project area together with a Company representative in May 2023.

 

Earlier this month, GreenRoc's CEO Stefan Bernstein oversaw a bathymetric
survey at a location within the Amitsoq project area as part of its evaluation
of possible sites for a future TSF, a key element in the Company's ongoing
feasibility studies.

 

Positive GEUS Study on Amitsoq Ore

 

The GEUS has produced a detailed study of the graphite ore from Amitsoq based
on samples from both the Upper Graphite Layer (UGL) and Lower Graphite Layer
(LGL). The study demonstrates that the UGL and LGL ore bodies contain similar
mineral assemblages with distinct graphite crystals disseminated throughout
the ore. We believe the result of this study, coupled with the consistent
graphite grades across both ore bodies, suggests that processing of ore during
production is easily optimised with little need for continuous adjustment of
processing parameters.

 

Finally, GreenRoc has supported a master's thesis at the University of
Bologna, Italy, on the origins of Amitsoq graphite ore. The thesis, which
demonstrates that the remarkable grade and consistency of grade of the ore
bodies at Amitsoq is related to metamorphic fluids with a biotic carbon
source, will be presented by the author Giacomo Fratelli at the Society of
Economic Geologists 2023 Conference entitled "Resourcing the Green Transition"
to be held in London next month.

 

**ENDS**

 

 

For further information, please visit www.albamineralresources.com
(http://www.albamineralresources.com/)  or contact:

 

 Alba Mineral Resources plc                   +44 20 3950 0725

 George Frangeskides, Executive Chairman
 SPARK Advisory Partners Limited (Nomad)      +44 20 3368 3555

 Andrew Emmott
 CMC Markets plc (Broker)                     +44 (0) 20 3003 8632

 Thomas Smith / Douglas Crippen
 St Brides Partners (Financial PR)            alba@stbridespartners.co.uk

 Isabel de Salis / Catherine Leftley

 

 

 Alba's Projects & Investments
 Projects Operated by Alba          Location   Ownership
 Clogau (gold)                      Wales      100%
 Dolgellau Gold Exploration (gold)  Wales      100%
 Gwynfynydd (gold)                  Wales      100%
 Investments Held by Alba           Location   Ownership
 GreenRoc Mining Plc (mining)       Greenland  44.67%
 Horse Hill (oil)                   England    11.765%

 

 

 

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