REG - Mineral & Financial - Investment Update: Lagoa Salgada Project

Mineral & Financial InvestmentsAnnouncement

03/05/2022 13:15

For best results when printing this announcement, please click on link below:
http://newsfile.refinitiv.com/getnewsfile/v1/story?guid=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20220503:nRSC1380Ka&default-theme=true

RNS Number : 1380K  Mineral & Financial Invest. Limited  03 May 2022

MINERAL & FINANCIAL INVESTMENTS LIMITED

 

Investment Update: Redcorp Intersects 78.5 Meters @ 22.72% Zinc Equivalent Of
Massive Sulphide At Lagoa Salgada's Venda Nova North Deposit in Portugal

 

HIGHLIGHTS:

 

·     exceptional results from 6 hole metallurgical drill campaign in
Venda Nova North Zone

·     Met_MS 01 showed 109.0m containing 20.15% ZnEq(1) from 167m of
depth

·     Met_MS_02 showed 84.6m containing 8.95% ZnEq(1) from 161.9m of
depth

·     high-grade cu-ag transition zone defined at venda nova north
including  6m @ 9.06% cu/eq 1 

·     The high grade tenor of these results are expected to significantly
increase the contained metal in both deposits

 

GEORGE TOWN, CAYMAN ISLANDS, May 2, 2022 - Mineral and Financial Investments
Limited (LSE-AIM: MAFL) ("M&FI" or the "Company") is pleased to report
assays from its investement entity, Redcorp Empreedimentos Mineiros Lda and
Ascendant Resources Inc. (who are operating the site). The assay results are
from 6 metallurgical holes drilled between November 2021 and March 2022 at the
Venda Nova deposit at its Lagoa Salgada Project, Portugal.  As previously
announced, the scope of the program was designed to generate fresh
representative samples to optimize the metal recoveries from the various ore
types seen within the Venda Nova as part of the ongoing metallurgical test
work. Samples are being tested at Grinding Solutions Ltd. ("GSL") in the
United Kingdom, and results from the ongoing metallurgical work will be
released when received.

Drill results currently being reported have outlined continuous intervals of
high grade mineralized in the north zone throughout the different domains and
several corridors of Fissural ore in the southern zone.  The high-grade tenor
of these results is expected to significantly increase the contained metal in
both deposits. In addition, the new holes (and incorporating previous results)
have now identified a new subdomain within the massive sulphides in the north
zone. This new subdomain is characterized by a secondary enrichment blanket,
rich in both copper and silver. The increased understanding of the various
domains is expected to improve the accuracy of metallurgical testing and
subsequent results.

DRILL HOLE HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE:

 

Met_MS_01

·     109.0m @ 20.15 % ZnEq.(1) from 167m (6.03% Zn, 0.33% Cu, 5.14% Pb,
1.67g/t Au, 118.35g/t Ag and 0.20% Sn) including:

§ 6.0m @ 9.06% CuEq.(1) from 176m (0.12% Zn, 1.25% Cu, 4.68% Pb, 2.57g/t Au,
401g/t Ag and 0.23% Sn) (newly defined Secondary Massive Sulphide zone); and

§ 78.5m @ 22.72% ZnEq.(1) from 182m (8.17% Zn, 0.26% Cu, 6.57% Pb, 1.60g/t
Au, 105g/t Ag and 0.20% Sn) (Primary Massive Sulphide zone).

Met_MS_02

·    84.6m @ 8.95% ZnEq.(1) from 161.9m (1.61% Zn, 0.35% Cu, 2.28% Pb,
0.40g/t Au, 53.36g/t Ag and 0.21% Sn)

·    48.9m @ 11.68 % ZnEq.(1) from 143.1m (0.34% Zn, 0.41% Cu, 1.65% Pb,
1.55g/t Au, 103.83g/t Ag, and 0.26% Sn)

Met_MS_04

·    46.2m @ 15.43% ZnEq.(1) from 151.1m (4.55% Zn, 0.28% Cu, 4.09%Pb,
0.83g/t Au, 129.04g/t Ag and 0.14% Sn)

Met_ST_01

·    18m @ 2.59% CuEq.(1) from 227.0m (2.55% Zn, 0.79% Cu, 1.84% Pb,
0.11g/t Au and 35.00g/t Ag)

·    12m @ 1.94% CuEq.(1) from 365m (2.25% Zn, 0.79% Cu, 0.59% Pb, 0.04g/t
Au and 19.67g/t Ag)

 

Current results and ongoing infill drilling to date have:

·    assisted in the definition of more accurate metal zoning within the
massive sulphide including the addition of a Copper-Silver enriched blanket
(named the Secondary Massive Sulphide Zone) directly below the Gossan and
above the primary massive sulphides;

·    provided discreet and fresh representative samples to assist with
ongoing metallurgical testing; and

·    returned grades significantly higher than the predictive block model
in the north zone which should enhance the overall metal content.

The detailed zoning and understanding of the north zone have been developed
using geochemical indexes and metal ratios as demonstrated in Figure 1 &
Figure 2.

Jacques Vaillancourt, President & CEO of M&FI stated, "Redcorp's
metallurgical and infill drilling program continues to enhance the potential
resource and economic opportunity we see at Lagoa Salgada and these
exceptional high-grade results and new enrichment blanket demonstrate we are
still in the early stages of understanding the mineral endowment at the Venda
Nova area. With these strong results we continue to focus on rapidly
progressing our feasibility study; however, we continue to believe there is
still significant upside at Venda Nova and the greater Lagoa Salgada land
package."

 

Long Section along the North Zone. Drill traces show new domains, core picture
depicts ore domains in upper portion of Hole Met_MS-01.

(Fig. 1)

 

http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/1380K_1-2022-5-3.pdf
(http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/1380K_1-2022-5-3.pdf)

 

Program Details

The metallurgical drilling program consisted of six drill holes that were
completed in Q1 2022. Four holes were collared in the North Zone and 2 in the
South Zone (Tables 1 and 2 and Figure 2).

Core was split and one half was shipped to GSL, and the other half was sent to
ALS for Geochem analysis.  Besides metal, samples were assayed for full ICP
by mass spectrometry to aid geochemical classification of lithologies and
relevant alteration; and to provide a new ore domain framework.

Metal clustering and ratios were used in the Northern Zone to model the
massive internal zoning. Two subdomains within the massive sulphide ore were
defined (Figure 2), Secondary and Primary. The former represents a shallow
dipping blanket parallel to the overlying gossan ore. This secondary massive
sulphide domain is characterized by higher Cu values due to secondary
enrichment. Zn is generally low and Pb shows some variability but with general
high values.

Separating the enriched blanket from the primary ore has relevant implication
both in processing and mining economics. The enriched blanket relevant
composites reported here average CuEq(1). grade above 6% in an average
apparent thickness of 7 meters. Copper, Tin and precious metals are the main
economic drivers of this domain that could become a separate mining/processing
ore type. The primary massive sulphide domain shows higher Zn grades than the
bulk of the massive sulphide with less metal ratio variability which Ascendant
believes could have positive impact in metallurgical recoveries.

Assays were received in April 2022, and validated results show numerous
mineralized intervals. Significant intercepts in both sectors have confirmed
the shape and extent of the domains used in the current resource model. A
simple prognose exercise reveals that the holes completed in the Northern
Zone, particularly Met_MS-01, have considerable higher metal tenors along its
traces than the one predicted with the estimator of the current block model.

 

Ongoing Drilling Program

Drilling in the property has continued after the completion of the Met holes.
As of April 2022, a total of 5,036m have been completed (inclusive of the
2,000m reported today). Five infill holes have been finalized (2 in the North
and 3 in the souths) and three are in progress (South Zone).

 

Results from all six drill holes are set out below:

 

Table 1: Drill Results by Domains (1)

 

[RNS TO INSERT LINK TO PDF]

 

 

Table 2: Drill Hole Information

 

 Hole Id    Northing  Easting  Elevation  Depth   Azimuth  Dip
 Met_MS_04  4231994   546928   90         250     250      -60
 Met_MS_03  4232069   546893   90         301.9   250      -60
 Met_MS_02  4232185   546919   90         361.75  250      -60
 Met_MS_01  4232264   546882   90         355.7   250      -60
 Met_ST_01  4231295   547355   88         452.7   240      -60
 Met_ST_02  4231162   547432   90         284.7   240      -60

 

 

Plan view with Venda Nova sectors, domain projections and location of new
reported drilling

(Fig. 2)

 

[RNS TO INSERT LINK TO PDF]

 

 

Quality Assurance and Quality Control

Core samples are retrieved from the core barrel by the drilling crew. Each
core box is labeled with the drill hole number, the depth intervals, and an
arrow indicating the downhole direction. Core samples retrieved from the
barrel are immediately transferred to the core boxes and transported after to
the logging facilities in batches. After the logging, core is cut in half and
placed in labeled sample bags with the sample tags and transported to the
sample preparation lab of ALS Lab, in Seville, Spain. Samples are dried,
crushed to 70 % passing 2 mm, split and finally pulverized to 85 % passing 75
μm. Pulp samples are then sent to their analytical Laboratory in Galway,
Ireland, for analysis. The core samples are analyzed for gold (ppm) by fire
assay (Au‐AA25), and for the other elements by two different ICP Multi
element analysis: 1) (ME-ICPORE) - base metal ores and mill products by
optical emission spectrometry using the Varian Vista inductively coupled
plasma spectrometer 2) ME-MS61r: Four-acid digestion paired with ICP-MS and
ICP-AES with REE analytes included.

ALS Laboratories has routine quality control procedures which ensure that
every batch of samples includes three sample repeats, two commercial standards
and blanks. ALS Laboratories is independent from Ascendant. Ascendant used
standard QA/QC procedures, when inserting reference standards and blanks, for
the drilling program. No significant QAQC failure issues were identified in
the reported batches.

 

Review of Technical Information

The scientific and technical information in this press release has been
reviewed and approved by Joao Barros, BSc (Engineering), MSc (Geology), who
has more than 17 years of relevant experience in the field of activity
concerned. Mr. Barros is a Member of the Portuguese Engineers Association. Mr.
Barros is employed by Redcorp Empreedimentos Mineiros, Lda., a 75% owned
subsidiary of M&FI, and has consented to the inclusion of the material in
the form and context in which it appears.

 

 

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of
the UK version of Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 which is part of UK law by
virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018, as amended ("MAR"). Upon
the publication of this announcement via a Regulatory Information Service,
this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain.

 

 

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

 

Jacques Vaillancourt, Mineral & Financial Investments
Ltd.               +44 7 802 268 247

Katy Mitchell and Ben Good, WH Ireland
Limited                              +44 207 220
1666

Jon Belliss, Novum Securities
Limited
            +44 207 399 9400

 

 

 1 Equivalency calculations are based on in-situ values only. Commodity prices
used are as follows: Zn:US$1.20/lb, Pb:US$1.00/lb, Cu:US$3.50/lb, Ag:US$20/oz,
Au:US$1,650/Oz and Sn:US$12/lb)

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact
rns@lseg.com (mailto:rns@lseg.com)
 or visit
www.rns.com (http://www.rns.com/)
.

RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services. For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange use the personal data you provide us, please see our
Privacy Policy (https://www.lseg.com/privacy-and-cookie-policy)
.   END  MSCEAASDEEPAEFA