REG - Kendrick Resources - Airijoki Project Soil Geochemical Characterisation

Kendrick ResourcesAnnouncement

29/03/2023 07:00

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RNS Number : 5166U  Kendrick Resources PLC  29 March 2023

29 March 2023

 

Kendrick Resources Plc

("Kendrick" or the "Company")

 

Airijoki Project Soil Geochemical Characterisation - Additional Targets

 

Kendrick Resources Plc (LSE: KEN), a mineral exploration and development
company with vanadium, nickel and copper projects in Scandinavia is pleased to
provide shareholders with an update on a geochemical characterisation and
targeting study recently completed on soil samples collected over its northern
Airijoki licenses in Sweden.

 

An Ionic Leach soil sampling programme was completed late last year to cover
licence numbers 100 -104 to test for other metals in this vanadium-rich
environment, the analysis of which has now been received and reviewed by the
Company. Historic wide-spaced soil geochemistry had indicated the presence of
copper mineralisation and the most recent study has highlighted the
prospectivity of the Airijoki Project with the addition of copper-nickel-
cobalt - gold - palladium anomalies and targets over and above the existing
vanadium mineral resource and potential vanadium extensions.

 

Highlights

·    Four new exploration targets identified outside the main Vanadium
trend.

·  New targets are anomalous for copper, nickel, cobalt, gold, and
palladium and are coincident with underlying airborne geophysical anomalism.

·    Two of the copper, Nickel, cobalt, gold, palladium targets have been
prioritised for immediate follow-up once weather permits.

·    Two targets have estimated minimum strike lengths of approximately
2km and 1km.

·    The Airijoki licences remain highly prospective for vanadium.

 

Chairman of Kendrick Resources Colin Bird said "The discovery of other targets
for copper, gold, nickel, cobalt, and palladium within the suite of Airijoki
licences is very encouraging particularly as the Project remains highly
prospective for vanadium. Geophysics has proven successful at defining
economic grades of vanadium mineralisation as evidenced by the 40Mt of Mineral
Resource reported to date and, we have a number of kilometres of additional
geophysical targets that will be drilled later this Year. The potential for
the discovery of other metals raises the profile of the Airijoki project and
offers scope for the future recovery of valuable by-products to complement
vanadium production.  We look forward to providing further updates and
notifying shareholders of the commencement of drilling".

 

Background to Geochemical Survey

 

A geochemical soil sampling programme was initiated on the back of an
observation that in the assays from the drilling of the vanadium resource at
Airijoki, a number of other metals at elevated concentrations were observed to
occur at random in the drill core and hence the need to explore the wider
Airijoki area for other potential mineral occurrences.

 

A geochemical sampling programme was carried out on four of Airijoki licenses
in 2022 (license numbers 100, 101, 102 and 103), as a direct follow up and
southern extension to the soil and rock sampling carried out in October 2021
on the Airijoki license number 200.

 

The geochemical soil sampling programme was carried out with profile lines
roughly orientated northwest-southeast with a nominal profile spacing of 250
metres for the 100 licence, which covers the existing Vanadium JORC resource
at Airijoki and 400m profile line spacing for the other licenses, which are at
an earlier stage of exploration.

 

A total of 523 samples were collected in 2022 and with the 128 samples
collected in 2021 a total of 651 soil samples were analysed at ALS Pitea using
their ionic leach method that is designed to enhance the most subtle labile
geochemical anomalies for a wide range of commodities.

 

A geochemical characterisation and targeting study on these assayed samples
identified six different elemental assemblages that were considered as being
anomalous. Of the six assemblages, two were considered to be false anomalies
that did not conform to known geological/geophysical features.

 

Figure: Airijoki Licences with Ionic Leach soil sampling results indicating
Cu-Ni-Co and Au-pd anomalies and targets.

 

The known vanadium resource at Airijoki was not picked up by this study as
vanadium is closely associated with magnetite, which is a resistant mineral
that does not weather as easily and hence does not appear to have left an
obvious geochemical signature is the soil samples assayed.

 

Out of the remaining four anomalies, a Cu-Ni-Co-Mg assemblage that is also
high in Au & Pd, orientated northwest-southeast, was identified in two
areas (~2km and ~1km long respectively) and is considered to be a priority for
follow up exploratory work.

 

The Airijoki Project

The Airijoki Project lies within the Vittangi Greenstone Group (VGG) of
northern Sweden, in relative proximity to established infrastructure as well
as several significant mines (i.e. Kiruna, Svapparvaara, Leveäniemi and
Mertainen) and other new energy mineral projects (i.e. Talga Group's Vittangi
graphite project).  Geologically the Project is centred on a laterally
continuous, northeast trending gabbroic (locally termed diabase) intrusion
which hosts vanadium-magnetite mineralisation along with lesser base metal
(predominantly copper mineralisation).

 

Airijoki is currently supported by an Inferred Mineral Resource comprising
44.3 Mt at an in-situ grade of 0.4% V(2)O(5), containing 5.9 Mt of magnetite
averaging 1.7% V(2)O(5) (in magnetite concentrate) for 100,800 t of contained
V(2)O(5) based on a 13.3% mass recovery of magnetite concentrate and a 0.7%
V(2)O(5) cut-off grade, on a 100% equity basis (and net attributable basis).

 

Subsequent Davis Tube Recovery (DTR) and low-intensity magnetic separation
(LIMS) test work indicated that vanadium magnetite concentrates grading over
2% V(2)O(5) and more than 65% Fe are possible at mass recoveries over 20% from
the vanadium mineralisation at Airijoki.  Overall, vanadium recoveries in
excess of 70% can be achieved using a relatively coarse grind size of 355 µm
and using LIMS without the need for further treatment.

 

Conceptual studies completed in 2019 envisage that Airijoki will be developed
by bulk open pit mining techniques from four open pits using standard drill
and blast, load/haul and crusher feed/magnetic separation to produce a
vanadium magnetite concentrate. The conceptual techno-economic studies
demonstrated the Project has the potential to be financially robust.  Further
metallurgical test work, extensional and infill drilling and optimisation
studies are warranted at Airijoki prior to more advanced techno-economic
analysis.

 

Demand for Vanadium

Technological advances are expected to positively influence the demand for
vanadium. Principally used as an alloy in steel and aluminium production, its'
ability to make materials stronger and lighter offers important benefits
particularly for weight-to-strength ratio, an important consideration
particularly for EVs'. Vanadium pentoxide is also an important component in
REDOX flow batteries used for energy storage associated with solar and wind
farms. With the projected increased use of vanadium in EV batteries, demand
for the metal is expected to grow.

 

 

This announcement contains information which, prior to its disclosure, was
inside information as stipulated under Regulation 11 of the Market Abuse
(Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019/310 (as amended).

 

 For additional information please contact:
 Kendrick Resources Plc:     Tel: +44 203 961 6086

 Chairman                    Colin Bird

 Novum Securities            Tel: +44 7399 9400
 Financial Adviser           David Coffman / George Duxberry

 Joint Broker                Jon Bellis

 Shard Capital Partners LLP  Tel: +44 207 186 9952

 Joint Broker                Damon Heath / Isabella Pierre

 

Qualified Person:

The technical information contained in this announcement has been reviewed,
verified, and approved by Colin Bird, CC.ENG, FIMMM, South African and UK
Certified Mine Manager and Director of Kendrick Resources plc, with more than
40 years' experience mainly in hard rock mining.

 

About Kendrick Resources Plc

 

Kendrick Resources Plc is a mineral exploration and development company with
projects primarily based across Scandinavia. The principal of its business is
to explore the opportunities within the natural resources sector with a focus
on battery, base, and precious metals including but not limited to vanadium
and nickel. In doing so, the Company is looking to build a long-term energy
metals business in Scandinavia which delivers energy metals to Europe to help
enable its renewable energy transformation by building a top tier energy
metals production business.

 

 

 

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