REG - Power Metal - Ditau Project Botswana - Drilling Commences

Power Metal ResourcesAnnouncement

19/04/2022 07:00

For best results when printing this announcement, please click on link below:
http://newsfile.refinitiv.com/getnewsfile/v1/story?guid=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20220419:nRSS5045Ia&default-theme=true

RNS Number : 5045I  Power Metal Resources PLC  19 April 2022

19 April 2022

Power Metal Resources PLC

("Power Metal" or the "Company")

Ditau Project Botswana - Drilling Commences

Diamond Drilling Commences at the i10 Target - Seeking Rare-Earth Element
Carbonatite Intrusives

 

Power Metal Resources PLC (LON:POW) the London listed exploration company
seeking large-scale metal discoveries across its global project portfolio
announces that diamond drilling has now commenced at the i10 Target ("i10" or
the "Target") located within the Ditau Camp Project ("Ditau"), southwestern
Botswana.

The i10 Target is marked by a discrete, circular, geophysical anomaly that is
2.2km in diameter and under an estimated 120m of sand cover. Kanye's primary
objective is to retrieve diamond core to establish whether the Target's
geophysical anomaly is caused by a carbonatite intrusive. Carbonatites are the
world's primary source of rare-earth elements ("REEs") and other
strategic/industrial metals including copper.

The Ditau Camp Project is held by Botswana based Kanye Resources Pty Limited
("Kanye"), which is a 50/50 joint-venture partnership with Kavango Resources
plc (LSE:KAV) ("Kavango") - who are the operators.

Highlights

-    Drill motivation

-  The i10 Target is highlighted by a discrete circular magnetic anomaly,
measuring 2.2km in diameter

-    The Target is interpreted to lie at a shallow depth, below an
estimated 120m of Kalahari sand cover - based on Audio-Magnetotelluric ("AMT")
data obtained over i10.

-    Kanye has successfully completed aeromagnetic and AMT inversions over
the Target.

-   The Target has been independently verified to conform to an idealised
model for carbonatite intrusives, based on its aeromagnetic signature.

-    Idealised Ore Deposit Model

-    I10 is a carbonatite pipe intrusive target

-  Based on the magnetic signature, the Target has concentric "ring-like"
lithological zonation, which could relate to rare-earth element mineralised
horizons

-  Target lies near the margin of the Kaapvaal Craton, a tectonic context
common to other carbonatites globally

-    Drill operations

-    Camp secured, road access and drill pads completed

-    Water borehole successfully drilled and solar powered water pump
installed

-   First of two planned drillholes at i10, hole DITDD003, commenced
drilling on 15 April 2022, which is targeting the core of the magnetic high
and has a target depth of 400m

-    Drilling is being conducted by Mindea Exploration & Drilling
Services (Pty) ("Mindea")

-   The plan is to drill up to six ~400m deep diamond drillholes at Ditau,
including 2 drillholes at three separate magnetic anomlies, including i10.

Paul Johnson, Chief Executive Officer of Power Metal Resources plc, commented:

"I have talked previously about the confidence we hold in the geological
prospectivity across our projects in Botswana. That confidence means within an
18 month period, with Molopo, Tati and now Ditau, we have launched three drill
programmes.

The Molopo drill programme successfully confirmed the presence of nickel, Tati
confirmed the presence of gold and now we seek confirmation of rare earth
elements at Ditau.

To say we are excited about the prospects for our interests in Botswana is an
understatement. Let's see what this drill programme delivers."

 

Background Targeting

The Ditau Camp Project is centred around 12 unique geophysical anomalies
(targets i1 through i12), which Kanye believes could be caused by possible
carbonatites and/or intrusive complexes that may host rare-earth element
mineralisation.

Targets i1 - i12 are seperated into two main target types:

1)    Discrete kilometre-scale carbonatite pipe targets, and

2)  Larger, multi-kilometre scale intrusive complex targets that may also be
host to carbonatites and/or mafic intrusive bodies prospective for base-metal
mineralisation.

The 12 Ditau geophysical targets are not known to have been drill tested for
either REEs or base-metal mineralisation historically. Kanye originally
identified these targets, which range in size from 1km to 20km in diameter,
using interpretation of airborne magnetic data. To date, Kanye has used
combined airborne- and ground-magnetic, and AMT surveys in the exploration at
Ditau.

Target i10

Kanye believes the i10 Target anomaly could be caused by a discrete, 2.2km
wide carbonatite pipe. The Target is interpreted as a simple, single phase
carbonatite pipe with a possible outer ring indicated by a weak magnetic low
ringing the main magnetic high feature.

A 3D inversion of the aeromagnetic data with an AMT section overlay of the I10
Target can be found at Kavango's website at the link below:

https://www.kavangoresources.com/media-library/news-release-media/rns19april2022
(https://www.kavangoresources.com/media-library/news-release-media/rns19april2022)

Based on analysis of the AMT data over i10, the Kalahari sand cover is
estimated to be roughly 120m thick. The magnetic inversion results confirm
that the primary target zone lies just underneath this sand cover.

To confirm the current geophysical interpretation of the i10 Target, Kanye is
currently planning to drill two diamond drillholes into i10. The first
drillhole, which is currently underway, will target the core of the magnetic
high, while the second hole is designed to test the edge of the geophysical
anomaly.

Target i10 Idealised Ore Deposit Model

In the analysis of geophysical data over i10, Kavango has used the rare-earth
element bearing Kangankunde carbonatite pipe ("Kangankunde") located in Malawi
as a model.

Kangankunde is one of the largest carbonatites within the Chilwa Alkaline
Province ("Chilwa") at ~1.5km in diameter. Chilwa is a roughly 300km in
diameter, and is comprised of Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous alkaline rocks
with clusters of carbonatite pipes - including Kangankunde.

At the surface, Kangankunde forms a low hill, which rises approximately 200m
above the surrounding plains, with lower slopes composed of fenitised and
locally fractured (brecciated) rocks with the upper slopes predominantly of
carbonatite intrusive rocks.

Although the i10 target is buried under roughly 120m of Kalahari sand cover,
Kanye's geological team believe that the geophysical signatures are comparable
to that of Kangankunde. The highlight the various similarities, a geological
map of Kangankunde can be found on Kavango's website at the link below:

https://www.kavangoresources.com/media-library/news-release-media/rns19april2022
(https://www.kavangoresources.com/media-library/news-release-media/rns19april2022)

Carbonatites can exhibit significant lithological and structural variation,
both between and within individual pipes. As such, to maximise the chances of
exploration success in exploring for carbonatite hosted REE deposits, it is
common practice to drill multiple boreholes along a fence pattern into a
single target. The geological map of Kangankunde illustrates its concentric
geological complexity and therefore the necessity for drilling multiple
drillholes within i10 to elucidate the geology and locate potential indicators
of REE or base-metal mineralisation.

Ongoing Drilling Operations

The drill camp has been constructed. All supporting equipment and key
personnel are currently  located on site.

Kanye has successfully drilled a 180m deep water borehole, which should yield
enough water to support ongoing drilling operations. A solar powered pump has
been installed and is currently operational.

Road access between the drill camp, drill collar locations and water sources
is also complete.

Drilling operations successfully commenced on Friday 15 April 2022. In total,
Kanye expects to drill up to 6 diamond drillholes as part of the current
campaign (totalling ~2,400m). Each hole has an anticipated target depth of
400m, and Kanye aims to test 3 of the 12 geophysical targets as part of the
ongoing drilling campaign.

Kanye and its contractors have designed the current Ditau drill campaign to be
flexible and guided by ongoing visual results. Kanye will release field and
laboratory results on the current planned 6-hole drill campaign once all data
has been received, processed and verified.

Contingent on results from the ongoing drilling campaign, Kanye has identified
a further 17 drill collar locations for future drill testing across all 12
geophysical targets/structures at Ditau.

Regional Geological Setting

Carbonatite intrusives often occur in swarms or clusters, oriented along
favourable and clearly defined deep continental scale geological and
structural trends. The 12 geophysical structures at Ditau occur within a
southwest-northeast oriented corridor, part of the same corridor that host the
Mabuasehube and Kokong kimberlites. Desktop analysis of regional geological
and geophysical data by Kanye's geologists suggest that this trend is
sub-parallel to other corridors that host other kimberlite groups in Botswana
and northwest Angola. In the latter, these trends are known to host both
kimberlite and carbonatite intrusives, meaning that the presence of one is a
strong indicator for the other.

In addition to the known presence of kimberlites within the geological
corridor where Ditau is located, and further enhancing the prospectivity for
Carbonitites on the Project, there is a small known cluster of carbonatite
intrusives including KW2, Definite, KS12 and KS36 (the "Falconbridge
Carbonatites") which are located near to the Project. The Falconbridge
Carbonatites were drilled by Falconbridge Exploration Botswana (Pty) Ltd in
the late 1970s and early 1980s, to the immediate north of and 30km along
strike to the northeast of the Ditau Project.

 

COMPETENT PERSON STATEMENT

The technical information contained in this disclosure has been read and
approved by Mr Nick O'Reilly (MSc, DIC, MIMMM, MAusIMM, FGS), who is a
qualified geologist and acts as the Competent Person under the AIM Rules -
Note for Mining and Oil & Gas Companies. Mr O'Reilly is a Principal
consultant working for Mining Analyst Consulting Ltd which has been retained
by Power Metal Resources PLC to provide technical support.

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of
the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) 596/2014 as it forms part of UK domestic law
by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 ("MAR"), and is
disclosed in accordance with the Company's obligations under Article 17 of
MAR.

For further information please visit https://www.powermetalresources.com/
(https://www.powermetalresources.com/) or contact:

 Power Metal Resources plc
 Paul Johnson (Chief Executive Officer)                                          +44 (0) 7766 465 617

 SP Angel Corporate Finance (Nomad and Joint Broker)
 Ewan Leggat/Charlie Bouverat                                                    +44 (0) 20 3470 0470

 SI Capital Limited (Joint Broker)
 Nick Emerson                                                                    +44 (0) 1483 413 500

 First Equity Limited (Joint Broker)
 David Cockbill/Jason Robertson                                                  +44 (0) 20 7330 1883

 

NOTES TO EDITORS

Power Metal Resources plc - Background

Power Metal Resources plc (LON:POW) is an AIM listed metals exploration
company which finances and manages global resource projects and is seeking
large scale metal discoveries.

The Company has a principal focus on opportunities offering district scale
potential across a global portfolio including precious, base and strategic
metal exploration in North America, Africa and Australia.

Project interests range from early-stage greenfield exploration to later-stage
prospects currently subject to drill programmes.

Power Metal will develop projects internally or through strategic joint
ventures until a project becomes ready for disposal through outright sale or
separate listing on a recognised stock exchange thereby crystallising the
value generated from our internal exploration and development work.

Value generated through disposals will be deployed internally to drive the
Company's growth or may be returned to shareholders through share buy backs,
dividends or in-specie distributions of assets.

 

Power Metal Exploration Programmes Underway/Results Awaited

Power Metal has exploration programmes completed or underway, with results
awaited, as outlined below:

 Project                Location   POW %            Work Completed or Underway                                                       Results Awaited

 Alamo Gold Project     USA        Earn-in to 75%   Excavation of multiple test pits and mapping & sampling.                         Field and assay results from on-site work programme.
 Athabasca Uranium      Canada     100%             Data compilation across uranium properties                                       Interpretation results from all Properties complete. Next steps upcoming.
 Authier North Lithium  Canada     Earn-in to 100%  Soil & rock sampling completed                                                   Technical Review of exploration results & define next exploration steps.
 Ditau Project          Botswana   50%              Drill programme focused on key targets notably drilling of potential             Field updates and receipt & review of laboratory assay results.
                                                    carbonatites and targeting rare-earth elements.
 Kalahari Copper Belt   Botswana   50%              Exploration programme underway across the South Ghanzi Project and further       Field programme findings and defined drill targets for near term drilling.
                                                    exploration at the more recently acquired South Ghanzi Extension and Mamuno
                                                    licence areas
 Molopo Farms           Botswana   53%              Review of recent exploration findings.                                           Determine next exploration steps and action plan.
 Haneti Project         Tanzania   35%              Diamond drill programme completed                                                Receipt & review of laboratory assay results.
 Victoria Goldfields    Australia  49.9%            Diamond drill programme underway                                                 Field updates and receipt & review of laboratory assay results.

 Paterson Projects      Australia  83.33%           Wallal passive seismic and 2D seismic processing work programme completed.       Findings from multiple work programmes including final approvals and

                                                                                preparations for planned deep diamond drilling.
                                                    Review of historical data and target generation for Ripon Hills & Braeside
                                                    West projects.

 Selta Project          Australia  83.33%           Field reconnaissance work now underway, including mapping and sampling.          Field updates.

 

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  DRLBVLLFLZLEBBK