Baobab Resources (LON:BAO) and North River Resources’ (LON:NRRP) evaluation work in Mozambique is starting to reveal a significant multi-commodity project.
Baobab is earning into North River’s Monte Muande licences in the Tete province of Mozambique. The area is prospective for iron, phosphorus, uranium and gold.
It is spending US$625,000 to earn a 60 percent interest in the project, it also has the right to increase its stake to 75 percent and then 90 percent as it takes the project through pre-feasibility and completes a definitive feasibility study.
The partners first agreed the terms of the Monte Muande joint venture in November 2010, and since then Baobab has been compiling and analysing all the historic data from the area.
Today it unveiled its findings as well as its plans to start a 2,000 metre drilling programme in April.
Baobab managing director Ben James: "the data compilation of historical work has paid off handsomely.”
“The North River JV area is shaping up to be a robust, multi-commodity project in what is becoming a major mining and infrastructure hub of southern Africa.”
Baobab has nearly completed the compilation of historic exploration data from Monte Muande, based on work that was carried out between 1983 and 1985.
It gave a few of the highlights which include significant head grades.
The drilling data included intersections of 39.5 to 44.1 metres grading 22.2 - 33.3 percent iron and 3.21 - 5.91 percent phosphorous (P2O5). Meanwhile trenching results featured intersections of 41.5 to 85 metres with grades ranging 39.4 -49.5 percent iron and 1.04 – 3.32 percent phosphorous.
Also soil geochemistry work, done in 2006-2007, shows an anomalous corridor of iron and phosphorous – with more than 15 percent iron and 1 percent phosphorous – extending four kilometres southwest from the drilling-trenching area.
Geochemistry also shows a discrete copper in-soil anomaly near this ‘corridor’.
Baobab has hired Coffey Mining consultants to review the collated data. The consultant will also identify exploration targets from its findings and it will carry out preliminary investigations for potential mineral processing flow sheets.
“The drill hole and trench results highlight the potential grades of the deposit while the soil geochemistry indicates that the magnetite/phosphorus mineralisation extends for a considerable distance to the southwest where it has yet to be drill tested,” James added.
"The company looks forward to reviewing the results from the commissioned studies over the coming months and, in particular, to collaring the first drill hole into the Muande deposit in 25 years."
The company also notes that the south-western corner of the Mont Muande licences may contain coal resources. The area was previously mapped Mavuzi Resources in 2008, with evidence of exposed coal in river banks.
The area is underlain by 12 square kilometres of lithologies of the Lower Karoo - which hosts the nearby coal resources of Vale's (NYSE:VALE) Moatize and Riversdale's (ASX:RIV) Benga and Zambeze projects.
Baobab has separately hired consultants to carry out a more detailed assessment of the area’s coal potential.