17 December 2018
Savannah Resources Plc
Further Zones of Lithium Mineralisation Identified at the Grandao and Pinheiro Deposits
Mina do Barroso Lithium Project ('MdB' or 'the Project'), Portugal
HIGHLIGHTS:
· Reverse Circulation ('RC') and diamond drilling at both the Grandao and Pinheiro Deposits has returned a series of significant lithium intersections, confirming the potential of the project area
· Key lithium intersections at Grandao include:
o 22.9m at 1.05% Li₂O from 84.1m in 18GRADD010
o 29.55m at 1.67% Li₂O from 95.45m in 18GRADD011
o 53.6m at 1.41% Li₂O from 65m in 18GRADD014*
o 20.7m at 1.21% Li₂O from 41.5m in18GRADD017**
o 28m at 1.17% Li₂O from 15m in 18GRARC118
o 18m at 1.47% Li₂O from 39m in 18GRARC119
o 27m at 1.41% Li₂O from 36m in 18GRARC120
· Key Lithium intersections at Pinheiro include:
o 9m at 1.05% Li₂O from 39m in 18PNRRC012
o 27m at 0.91% Li₂O from 57m in 18PNRRC017
· Drilling continues to expand both the Grandao and Pinheiro deposits with lithium mineralisation confirmed over significant strike lengths and grades at the Grandao deposit increasing with depth
· RC drilling will commence on the Aldeia ground in early 2019
· RC and diamond drilling at the project now total 295 holes for 24,723m
· Phase 3 of the metallurgical test-work programme continues and is scheduled to be completed early next year
· Drilling operations will take a break over the Christmas and New Year holiday for maintenance and crew holidays
*Twin of 18GRARC105 for metallurgical purposes
**Twin of 18GRARC63 for metallurgical purposes
Savannah Resources plc (AIM: SAV, FWB: AFM and SWB: SAV) ('Savannah' or the 'Company'), the resource development company, is pleased to announce further results from the ongoing reverse circulation and diamond drilling programme at the Mina do Barroso Lithium Project, located in northern Portugal (Figure 1). To view the press release with the illustrative maps and diagrams please use the following link:
http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/6029K_1-2018-12-16.pdf
Savannah's CEO, David Archer said: "The ongoing drilling programme at Mina do Barroso continues to define excellent widths and grades of lithium mineralisation at both the Grandao and Pinheiro deposits. Thanks to much of the resource definition work and geotechnical drilling to support the definitive feasibility study being largely complete, we anticipate a slower drilling tempo at the C-100 Mining Lease in 2019.
"Over the past months we have had three drill rigs on site and we will be looking to work with the RC rig and only one diamond rig next year. In 2019, we plan for the RC rig to initially drill test the Aldeia ground whereas the diamond rig will focus on obtaining material for the ongoing metallurgical test-work programme as well as some geotechnical drilling.
"The year 2018 has been exceptional for the metres drilled and the resource defined in such a quick time and we look forward to continuing excellent progress for the Project next year.''
Further Information
A total of 295 holes for 24,723m have been drilled to date at Mina do Barroso as part of the ongoing RC and diamond drill programme primarily focused on the Grandao, Reservatorio and NOA deposits.
The results from the recent RC and diamond drilling at Grandao and Pinheiro have now been received with diamond drilling ongoing at Grandao with a series of diamond tails being completed on some original RC drill holes and geotechnical drilling now well advanced at both Reservatorio and Grandao.
Figure 1. Mina do Barroso Project Summary Map showing Prospects and Drilling Completed
Grandao Diamond Drilling
Diamond drilling continued at Grandao with the aim of completing geotechnical testing, infill drilling of deep sections of the mineralisation and the gathering of samples for metallurgical testing. The geotechnical drilling was aimed at gathering structural data and collecting samples to get an understanding of the mechanical properties of the rock that will make up the wall of the proposed stage 1 pit; the results are currently with Knight Piesold for detailed evaluation.
The infill drilling was carried out to target the continuity of the west dipping pegmatite ore body at depth to get a better understanding of the continuity of mineralisation for future mine planning. The results have been very encouraging with 22.9m @ 1.05% Li2O from 84m in 18GRADD010, 29.55m @ 1.67% Li2O from 95.45m in 18GRADD011, and 20.7m @ 1.21% Li2O from 41.5m in 18GRADD017. The results have demonstrated that the mineralisation has very good continuity to the west, showing some significant increase in grade at depth.
Metallurgical testing as part of a feasibility programme has meant that considerable quantities of fresh pegmatite material are required to get a good understanding of the mineralisation properties for further processing. This has resulted in the need to produce high quality un-weathered sample from diamond drill core. A programme of diamond drilling to produce this sample was initiated, which often required the twining of holes with known Li₂O content to expedite the sampling procedure. These samples have been sent to Nagrom in Perth and are currently being used for testing.
Grandao RC drilling
The focus of the RC drilling at Grandao has been to intercept the pegmatite within the areas of the mineralised body that will be mined to get a better understanding of the continuity of lithium mineralisation. The RC rig has also been used to assist in drilling deeper targets that will be completed with the diamond drill rig, which helps to reduce costs and time in getting to the deeper target zone. The results from the infill drilling have been encouraging with results up to 28m @ 1.17% Li₂O from 15m in 18GRARC118, 27m @ 1.41% Li₂O from 36m in 18GRARC120.
Table 1. Summary of diamond drill results for Grandao using a 0.5% Li2O cut-off
Hole ID |
Prospect |
Easting |
Northing |
rL |
Azimuth |
Dip |
EOH |
From (m) |
To (m) |
Down hole |
Grade |
|
|
|
|
(Deg) |
(Deg) |
(m) |
|
|
Interval (m) |
% Li2O |
18GRADD008 |
Grandao |
601992 |
4608025 |
592 |
231 |
-65 |
100.30 |
35.25 |
52.75 |
17.50 |
1.13 |
18GRADD009 |
Grandao |
601612 |
4607986 |
502 |
70 |
-65 |
111.15 |
45.20 |
53.50 |
8.30 |
1.12 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
55.90 |
60.00 |
4.10 |
0.98 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
82.00 |
88.10 |
6.10 |
0.85 |
18GRADD010 |
Grandao |
601743 |
4607748 |
566 |
90 |
-65 |
157.80 |
84.10 |
107.00 |
22.90 |
1.05 |
18GRADD011 |
Grandao |
601530 |
4608002 |
505 |
80 |
-65 |
179.30 |
95.45 |
125.00 |
29.55 |
1.67 |
18GRADD012 |
Grandao |
601747 |
4607746 |
566 |
270 |
-70 |
183.15 |
43.00 |
48.70 |
5.70 |
1.13 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
57.80 |
62.00 |
4.20 |
1.37 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
110.80 |
115.00 |
4.20 |
0.90 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
157.20 |
165.15 |
7.95 |
1.36 |
18GRADD014* |
Grandao |
601695 |
4608035 |
526 |
311 |
-65 |
119.20 |
65.00 |
118.60 |
53.60 |
1.34 |
18GRADD016 |
Grandao |
601760 |
4608019 |
547 |
0 |
-90 |
63.40 |
3.70 |
40.00 |
36.30 |
0.94 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
50.90 |
55.25 |
4.35 |
1.30 |
18GRADD017** |
Grandao |
601669 |
4607898 |
528 |
90 |
-65 |
100.10 |
41.50 |
62.20 |
20.70 |
1.21 |
|
* twin of 18GRARC105 for metallurgical purposes |
|
|
** twin of 18GRARC63 for metallurgical purposes |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Table 2. Summary of RC drill results for Grandao using a 0.5% Li2O cut-off
Hole ID |
Prospect |
Easting |
Northing |
rL |
Azimuth |
Dip |
EOH |
From (m) |
To (m) |
Down hole |
Grade |
|
|
|
|
(Deg) |
(Deg) |
(m) |
|
|
Interval (m) |
% Li2O |
18GRARC117 |
Grandao |
601785.45 |
4607933.73 |
533.78 |
105 |
-60 |
116.00 |
4.00 |
10.00 |
6.00 |
0.89 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
32.00 |
36.00 |
4.00 |
0.60 |
18GRARC118 |
Grandao |
601736.91 |
4607928.68 |
517.46 |
115 |
-60 |
63.00 |
15.00 |
43.00 |
28.00 |
1.17 |
18GRARC119 |
Grandao |
601733.59 |
4607930.58 |
517.83 |
295 |
-65 |
80.00 |
18.00 |
28.00 |
10.00 |
1.25 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
39.00 |
57.00 |
18.00 |
1.47 |
18GRARC120 |
Grandao |
601733.80 |
4607987.78 |
532.95 |
119 |
-75 |
249.50 |
36.00 |
63.00 |
27.00 |
1.41 |
18GRARC121 |
Grandao |
601581 |
4608181.00 |
539.00 |
0 |
-90 |
139.70 |
No Significant Assays |
|
18GRARC122 |
Grandao |
601543 |
4607865.00 |
534.00 |
270 |
-72 |
200.30 |
No Significant Assays |
|
18GRARC123 |
Grandao |
601768 |
4607861 |
519 |
100 |
-60 |
75.00 |
8.00 |
18.00 |
10.00 |
1.00 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
32.00 |
40.00 |
8.00 |
1.31 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
46.00 |
58.00 |
12.00 |
1.20 |
18GRARC124 |
Grandao |
601715 |
4607845 |
530 |
103 |
-70 |
188.00 |
45.00 |
49.00 |
4.00 |
0.65 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
58.00 |
63.00 |
5.00 |
1.13 |
Figure 2. Summary of drilling at Grandao showing significant assay results
Pinheiro RC Drilling
The awaited results from the remaining four drill holes for Pinheiro have now been received (Table 3 and Figure 3).
The results of the first phase of exploratory drilling at Pinheiro outline a significant zone of lithium bearing pegmatite. The drilling was aimed at getting an understanding of the geometry of the pegmatite to determine the continuity of the mineralisation at depth. Significant results from the outstanding four drill holes include 9m @ 1.05% Li₂O from 39m in 18PNRRC012 and 27m @ 0.91% Li₂O from 57m in 18PNRRC014. Drilling also located another
unknown pegmatite further to the east and further work is needed to determine its extent.
Table 3. Summary of drill results for Pinheiro using a 0.5% Li2O cut-off
Hole ID |
Prospect |
Easting |
Northing |
rL |
Azimuth |
Dip |
EOH |
From (m) |
To (m) |
Down hole |
Grade |
|
|
|
|
(Deg) |
(Deg) |
(m) |
|
|
Interval (m) |
% Li2O |
18PNRRC012 |
Pinheiro |
601575 |
4606855 |
585 |
270 |
-60 |
132.00 |
39.00 |
48.00 |
9.00 |
1.05 |
18PNRRC013 |
Pinheiro |
Hole abandoned due to technical problems |
|
|
|
|
|
18PNRRC014 |
Pinheiro |
601578 |
4606857 |
585 |
0 |
-90 |
123.00 |
57.00 |
84.00 |
27.00 |
0.91 |
18PNRRC015 |
Pinheiro |
601675.83 |
4606842.85 |
3.387 |
274 |
-60 |
93 |
No Significant Assays |
18PNRRC016 |
Pinheiro |
601677.00 |
4606842.00 |
603.00 |
274 |
-80 |
132.00 |
91.00 |
99.00 |
8.00 |
0.85 |
18PNRRC017 |
Pinheiro |
601530.76 |
4606855.06 |
579.97 |
270 |
-60 |
165 |
No Significant Assays |
Figure 3. Summary of drilling at Pinheiro showing significant assay results
Competent Person and Regulatory Information
The information in this announcement that relates to exploration results is based upon information compiled by Mr Dale Ferguson, Technical Director of Savannah Resources Limited. Mr Ferguson is a Member of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM) and has sufficient experience which is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity which he is undertaking to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the December 2012 edition of the "Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves" (JORC Code). Mr Ferguson consents to the inclusion in the report of the matters based upon the information in the form and context in which it appears.
This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of Regulation (EU) 596/2014.
**ENDS**
For further information please visit www.savannahresources.com or contact:
David Archer |
Savannah Resources plc |
Tel: +44 20 7117 2489 |
David Hignell / Dugald J. Carlean (Nominated Adviser) |
Northland Capital Partners Ltd |
Tel: +44 20 3861 6625 |
Christopher Raggett / Camille Gochez (Broker) |
finnCap Ltd |
Tel: +44 20 7220 0500 |
Grant Barker (Equity Adviser) |
Whitman Howard |
Tel: +44 020 7659 1225 |
Lottie Wadham / Cosima Akerman (Financial PR) |
St Brides Partners Ltd |
Tel: +44 20 7236 1177 |
About Savannah
Savannah is a diversified resources group (AIM: SAV) with a portfolio of energy metals projects - lithium in Portugal and copper in Oman - together with the world-class Mutamba Heavy Mineral Sands Project in Mozambique, which is being developed in a consortium with the global major Rio Tinto. The Board is committed to serving the interests of its shareholders and to delivering outcomes that will improve the lives of the communities we work with and our staff.
The Company is listed and regulated on AIM and the Company's ordinary shares are also available on the Quotation Board of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (FWB) under the symbol FWB: AFM, and the Börse Stuttgart (SWB) under the ticker "SAV".