REG - GreenRoc Mining PLC - Amitsoq Graphite Exploration Target Upgrade

GreenRoc Strategic MaterialsAnnouncement

12/05/2022 07:00

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RNS Number : 1907L  GreenRoc Mining PLC  12 May 2022

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GreenRoc Mining Plc / EPIC: GROC / Market: AIM / Sector: Mining

12 May 2022

GreenRoc Mining plc

("GreenRoc" or the "Company")

 

Amitsoq Graphite Project Update

Significant Tonnage Upgrade to Amitsoq Island Exploration Target

 

 

GreenRoc Mining plc (AIM: GROC), a company focused on the development of
critical mineral projects in Greenland, is delighted to announce a significant
increase to the Exploration Target for the Amitsoq Island graphite deposit
(the "Amitsoq Island Deposit" or the "Deposit") at the Amitsoq Graphite
Project in southern Greenland ("Amitsoq" or the "Project"), one of the
highest-grade graphite deposits in the world.

 

Highlights

·      Following the Maiden Resource estimate announced on 8 March 2022,
the Exploration Target for the Amitsoq Island Deposit has now been updated.

·      The Exploration Target 1  has increased from a tonnage range of
1.7 Mt-4.5 Mt at a grade range of 24-36% Graphitic Carbon ('Cg') (as announced
by Alba Mineral Resources plc on 7 May 2021) to a tonnage range of 5-15 Mt at
a grade range of 18-22% Cg.

·      The Maiden Resource for the Amitsoq Island Deposit (announced by
GreenRoc on 8 March 2022) defined a combined Indicated and Inferred JORC
Resource of 8.28 million tonnes (Mt) at an average grade of 19.75% Cg, giving
a total graphite content of 1.63 Mt.

·      The Deposit is open along strike (predominantly to the north) and
down dip to the west, and this will be tested in the Phase 2 drilling
programme this year.

·      There is additional considerable upside potential to come from
the, as yet undrilled deposit, (the "Kalaaq Deposit") to the south of Amitsoq
Island; a revised Exploration Target calculation is being undertaken for this
deposit.

·      Graphite is a core component of an Electric Vehicle ("EV")
battery and this is driving graphite demand and prices, with UBS estimating a
natural graphite deficit of 3.7Mt by 2030, representing circa 37% of the
global market.

·      GreenRoc's technical work to date has confirmed that Amitsoq
graphite can be upgraded to a more than 99.95% pure graphite product, which is
the specification requirement for EV batteries, making GreenRoc well
positioned to capitalise on the transition to Net Zero.

 

GreenRoc's Interim CEO, Lars Brünner, commented:

"Amitsoq is one of the highest-grade graphite deposits globally, and our
graphite has been shown to be amenable to the production of the high purity
graphite, which is the requirement for EV batteries.  Our focus now is on
building our Resource tonnage to a level that will support a detailed
feasibility study.  The current Maiden Resource of 8.28Mt at an average grade
of 19.75% Cg, giving a total graphite content of 1.63 Mt, is a fantastic
result but we are confident we can improve this further and in so doing
strengthen the commercial value of the Project.

"More than half of the Exploration Target area for Amitsoq Island remains
undrilled and the upcoming drill programme will focus on unlocking this
Resource potential.  We look forward to sharing further details in due
course."

 

Figure 1. Amitsoq Graphite Project in southern Greenland, showing Amitsoq
Island Deposit to the north (site of the former graphite mine) and Kalaaq
Deposit to the south

 

Details

The Company commissioned Dr John Arthur (CGeol FGS) to prepare a revised
Exploration Target for the Amitsoq Island Deposit in southern Greenland.  Dr
Arthur is a Chartered Geologist and qualifies as a Competent Person/Qualified
Person (as defined by CRIRSCO and the majority of National Reporting
Organisations).

Followed a detailed assessment of all pertinent data sets for the Amitsoq
Project, Dr Arthur has concluded that the volume and grade ranges for the
Amitsoq Island Exploration Target are between 5 and 15 million tonnes
(assuming a density of 2.63t/m3) with a grade range of between 18-22% Cg, for
between 900,000 and 3.3 million tonnes of contained graphite.

In accordance with the JORC Code (2012), the potential quantity and grade of
the above Exploration Target for the Amitsoq Island Deposit is conceptual in
nature, there has been insufficient exploration to estimate a Mineral Resource
in respect of the area covered by the Exploration Target and it is uncertain
if further exploration will result in the estimation of a Mineral Resource in
respect of that area.

The data used for the revised Exploration Target includes all drilling,
surface channel sampling and field mapping carried out during the 2021 field
season as well as information validated from previous surface mapping and
investigations.

The Exploration Target is constrained within the area immediately north (along
strike) and west (down dip) from the previously reported MRE (Figure 2).  In
the case of the Amitsoq Island Deposit, given the apparent continuity seen in
the initial drill results and from the extended field mapping, the Competent
Person considers an appropriate range for the Exploration Target tonnage to be
between 5-15Mt and the range of grade (at a cut off of 0.0% Cg) to be between
18-22%.

In addition to the diamond drilling, 18m of surface exposure of the graphitic
body were channel sampled in 12 channel sample locations.  Some of the
channel samples were located on the drill lines and several also sampled
around the historic mine location.

The graphite deposit at Amitsoq Island is subdivided into an upper and lower
unit (UGL and LGL) and both units outcrop along the eastern slope of the
island.  Historical mining was carried out on the higher grade LGL unit and
the upper levels of the mine are still accessible with care and allowed the
field team to investigate limited exposures of the deposit underground.

Figure 2. Outline of the area defined as Exploration Target (green) showing
the relationship with the current Mineral Resource outline (marked Indicated
and Inferred) and drilling (marked with black dots and drill hole numbers)

 

The surface exposure of both the LGL and UGL units is visible and can be
followed over a strike length of several kilometres.  The 2021 field team
carried out detailed surface mapping over the southernmost 1km strike length
of the units adjacent to the drill pads and for approximately 600m further
north.

A revised Exploration Target calculation for the Kalaaq Deposit is being
undertaken and will be announced also, in due course.

 

Methodology

Geological domain modelling was carried out using the Seequent Leapfrog Geo
software® and used a combination of the drill intersection results along with
the surface mapping and channel sample results.  Continuity appears to be
good along strike as evidenced from the continuous exposure on surface and,
based on pre-drilling interpretation from surface mapping and structural
analysis, the drilling intercepted the deposit generally where expected and
thickness was in most cases thicker than expected.  A high degree of
confidence in the geological continuity of the deposit structure is thus
interpreted, at least in the vicinity of the drilling and mapping.

Drilled thicknesses were variable with a minimum of <1m and a maximum of
17m with a mean of 5m.  the LGL unit has a mean thickness of 7.5m while the
UGL is thinner with a mean of 3m.

The assay results from the drilling, along with the observed contact styles
seen on surface, indicate that the contact between deposit and host rock are
very sharp with little or no transition zone.  The grade is consistent and
continuous in nature in both the LGL and UGL units.

Block Modelling was performed after compositing the assay grades within the
domained deposit boundaries to a 1m composite.  A sub-blocked model was
created in order to allow better block definition along the boundaries.  The
model was also rotated to orientate the y axis with 030(o)N.  Grade modelling
for the Mineral Resource statement was performed using ordinary kriging after
initial semi-variogram analysis.  Further planned drilling will aim to infill
the current drilling as well as provide additional intersections at depth with
the aim of increasing the reliability of the current 3D modelling and
variography.

The kriging was carried out in three expanding search patterns based on the
results of the initial variogram modelling.  The initial search radius used a
150x200m ellipse and a minimum of four composites.  This was followed by two
wider searches at 300x500m and 1000x1000m to fill the remaining volume of the
modelled domain.  The maximum extent of Indicated and Inferred category
blocks was constrained by the second search radius (500m in the strike
orientation and 300m down dip).  All blocks within the third category have
not been classified as Mineral Resource and the volume and extent of the
blocks filled using the third expanded search have been used as the underlying
basis for the Exploration Target range of grade and tonnes outlined above.

Peer Group Comparison

The Amitsoq project is among the very highest-grade graphite projects in the
world (see Figure 3) with, to the Company's knowledge, only Talga Group Ltd's
("Talga") Vittangi project having higher average grades amongst all advanced
(ie at least to Resource definition stage) projects globally.

 

Figure 3. Global graphite projects ranked by average grades.  Amitsoq Island
Deposit shown in light blue.

 

If the upper end of this revised Exploration Target for the Amitsoq Island
Deposit is successfully converted into defined Resources following the planned
further drilling, this would place Amitsoq not only as one of the
highest-grade projects globally but also with Resource tonnes which compare
favourably with those of Vittangi (see Table 1).  Further, this does not take
into account any future Resources to be derived from GreenRoc's separate,
high-grade Kalaaq Deposit (for which a revised Exploration Target is awaited).

 

Table 1. Comparison between Talga and GreenRoc flagship graphite projects

 Company   Market Cap    Project                     Reserves (Mt)  Resources (Mt)  ET (Mt)  Grade (%)  Contained Ore (Mt)  Combined Contained Ore (Mt)  Stage
 Talga     A$412m        Vittangi (Sweden)           2.26                                    24         0.5447

           (ASX: TLG)

                                                                                                                            5.22                         Feasibility
                                                     19.5                                    24         4.673

 GreenRoc  £6.7m         Amitsoq Island (Greenland)                 8.28                     19.75      1.63

           (AIM: GROC)

                                                                                                                            2.53-4.93                    Resource
                                                                                    5-15     18-22      0.9-3.3

 

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of the UK
Market Abuse Regulation and the Directors of the Company are responsible for
the release of this announcement.

 

Glossary

 Cg%                  Contained graphite as a percentage of the total rock.
 cut-off              The minimum grade required for a mineral or metal to be economically mined (or
                      processed). Material found to be above this grade is considered to be ore,
                      while material below this grade is considered to be waste.
 Exploration Results  Exploration Results include data and information generated by mineral
                      exploration programmes that might be of use to investors but which do not form
                      part of a declaration of Mineral Resources or Ore Reserves.
 Exploration Target   An Exploration Target is a statement or estimate of the exploration potential
                      of a mineral deposit in a defined geological setting where the statement or
                      estimate, quoted as a range of tonnes and a range of grade (or quality),
                      relates to mineralisation for which there has been insufficient exploration to
                      estimate a Mineral Resource.
 graphitic            of, relating to, resembling, or having the structure of graphite.
 graphitic carbon     Carbon may be present in rocks in various forms including organic carbon,
                      carbonates or graphitic carbon. Carbon in rocks may be reported as fixed or
                      total carbon (i.e. organic carbon + carbon in carbonate minerals + carbon as
                      graphite) or as graphitic carbon (i.e. total carbon - (organic + carbonate
                      carbon)).
 Indicated Resource   Indicated Resources are economic mineral occurrences that have been sampled
                      (from locations such as outcrops, trenches, pits and drill holes) to a point
                      where an estimate has been made, at a reasonable level of confidence, of their
                      contained metal, grade, tonnage, shape, densities, physical characteristics.
 Inferred Resource    An Inferred Resource means that part of a mineral resource for which quantity
                      and grade or quality are estimated on the basis of limited geological evidence
                      and sampling. Geological evidence is sufficient to imply but not verify
                      geological and grade or quality continuity.
 JORC                 The Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources
                      and Ore Reserves ('the JORC Code') is a professional code of practice that
                      sets minimum standards for Public Reporting of minerals Exploration Results,
                      Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves.
 Maiden Resource      The first Mineral Resource estimate to be completed on a project.
 Mineral Resource     A Mineral Resource is a concentration or occurrence of solid material of
                      economic interest in or on the Earth's crust in such form, grade (or quality),
                      and quantity that there are reasonable prospects for eventual economic
                      extraction. The location, quantity, grade (or quality), continuity and other
                      geological characteristics of a Mineral Resource are known, estimated or
                      interpreted from specific geological evidence and knowledge, including
                      sampling. Mineral Resources are sub-divided, in order of increasing geological
                      confidence, into Inferred, Indicated and Measured categories.
 Ore Reserves         The economically mineable part of a Measured or Indicated Mineral Resource. It
                      includes diluting materials and allowances for losses which may occur when the
                      material is mined. Appropriate assessments, which may include feasibility
                      studies, have been carried out, and include consideration of and modification
                      by realistically assumed, mining, metallurgical, economic, marketing, legal,
                      environmental, social and governmental factors. These assessments demonstrate
                      at the time of reporting that extraction can reasonably be justified. Ore
                      Reserves are sub-divided in order of increasing confidence into Probable Ore
                      Reserves and Proved Ore Reserves.
 strike               The direction and length of a geological feature (for example, a vein or rock
                      formation) measured on a horizontal surface.

 

Forward Looking Statements

This announcement contains forward-looking statements relating to expected or
anticipated future events and anticipated results that are forward-looking in
nature and, as a result, are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, such
as general economic, market and business conditions, competition for qualified
staff, the regulatory process and actions, technical issues, new legislation,
uncertainties resulting from potential delays or changes in plans,
uncertainties resulting from working in a new political jurisdiction,
uncertainties regarding the results of exploration, uncertainties regarding
the timing and granting of prospecting rights, uncertainties regarding the
timing and granting of regulatory and other third party consents and
approvals, uncertainties regarding the Company's or any third party's ability
to execute and implement future plans, and the occurrence of unexpected
events.  Actual results achieved may vary from the information provided
herein as a result of numerous known and unknown risks and uncertainties and
other factors.

Without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, uncertainties also exist
in connection with the ongoing Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic which may
result in further lockdown measures and restrictions being imposed by
Governments and other competent regulatory bodies and agencies from time to
time in response to the pandemic, which measures and restrictions may prevent
or inhibit the Company from executing its work activities according to the
timelines set out in this announcement or indeed from executing its work
activities at all. The Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic may also affect the
Company's ability to execute its work activities due to personnel and
contractors testing positive for COVID-19 or otherwise being required to
self-isolate from time to time.

 

Competent Person Declaration

The information in this release that relates to Exploration Results and
Mineral Resources has been reviewed by Dr John Arthur.  Dr Arthur is a Fellow
of The Geological Society of London and a Chartered Geologist (FGS CGeol no.
1005744) and 28 years' experience in the minerals and mining industry.

Dr Arthur has sufficient experience that is relevant to the style of
mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity
being undertaken to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2012
Edition of the ''Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration targets,
Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves'', also known as the
JORC Code. The JORC code is a national reporting organisation that is aligned
with CRIRSCO. Dr Arthur consents to the inclusion in the announcement of the
matters based on his information in the form and context in which they appear.

 

**ENDS**

 

For further information, please contact:

 GreenRoc Mining Plc                                                            +44 20 3950 0724

 Lars Brünner, Interim CEO

 Cairn Financial Advisers LLP (Nomad)                                           +44 20 7213 0880

 James Caithie / Sandy Jamieson / Louise O'Driscoll

 ETX Capital (Broker)                                                           +44 20 7392 1494

 Tom Curran / Thomas Smith

 St Brides Partners Ltd (Financial PR & IR) Susie Geliher / Oonagh Reidy /      +44 20 7236 1177
 Charlotte Page

About GreenRoc

GreenRoc Mining Plc is an AIM-quoted company, which is developing mining
projects in Greenland in high-demand and high-value critical minerals.

Led by a group of highly experienced mining industry professionals, GreenRoc
has a portfolio of 100% owned projects:

·      Amitsoq Graphite, one of the highest-grade graphite deposits in
the world with a combined Indicated and Inferred JORC Resource of 8.28 million
tonnes (Mt) at an average grade of 19.75% giving a total graphite content of
1.63 Mt.

·      Thule Black Sands Ilmenite ('TBS'), which has an initial Mineral
Resource of 19Mt@ 43.6% Total Heavy Minerals with an in-situ ilmenite grade of
8.9%.

·      Melville Bay Iron, which has a Mineral Resource Estimate of 67Mt
at 31.4% iron and has been proven to be processable to a high-grade, 70%
concentrate with low impurities.

·      Inglefield Multi-Element, which has the potential to host a
range of mineralisation styles, including iron oxide-copper-gold.

 1  In accordance with the JORC Code (2012), the potential quantity and grade
of the above Exploration Target for the Amitsoq Island Deposit is conceptual
in nature, there has been insufficient exploration to estimate a Mineral
Resource in respect of the area covered by the Exploration Target and it is
uncertain if further exploration will result in the estimation of a Mineral
Resource in respect of that area.

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