A Cap Energy : Activities Report for Period ended 31 Dec 21
ACB.AX
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(ABN 28 104 028 542)
ASX RELEASE
19 January 2022
QUARTERLY REPORT FOR THE QUARTER ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2021
HIGHLIGHTS
Letlhakane Uranium Project - the project has been reviewed and a work programme and budget for work to be commenced in Q1 2022 was prepared.
The Botswana Minister of Mineral Resources, Green Technology and Energy Security, has extended the start of construction to 30th September 2024, amending a condition of the granted Mining Licence.
At the Wilconi Ni-Co Project, a 2000m, large diameter (PQ sized) diamond core drilling programme commenced during the quarter. Bulk density measurements were collected from the cores and samples prepared for metallurgical testwork.
MiningPlus (Perth) are preparing an updated mineral resource estimate to include the results of the recently completed RC drill programme at Wilconi. The updated MRE is expected to be completed next quarter.
Hydrogeological, biological and geotechnical studies are on-going as part of the Wilconi pre-feasibility study.
QUARTERLY ACTIVITIES
LETLHAKANE URANIUM PROJECT
The Letlhakane Uranium Project, located in Botswana, is one of the world's largest undeveloped Uranium Deposits. A Mining Licence designated ML 2016/16L was granted on 12 September 2016 and is valid for 22 years. The Department of Environmental Affairs formally approved the Letlhakane Uranium Project's Environmental Impact Statement on 13 May 2016. Provisional surface rights were granted on 6 June 2016.
The Company's Letlhakane Uranium Project remains an important project asset within the diversified minerals strategy. While the nuclear industry is confident in the long-term fundamentals of uranium and nuclear power it has not previously translated to an increased uranium price. The creation of two global uranium investment funds, Sprott and Kazatomprom are transforming the spot price market by buying physical uranium. This previously was the domain of utilities direct, which has been held low by long term pricing mechanisms. The fundamental shift in pricing due to these funds buying uranium, has seen the spot price of uranium rise over the six months.
A-Cap Energy Limited - 52 Ord Street, West Perth WA 6005 - T: +61 8 9467 2612 F: +61 8 7200 7612
[email protected] www.a-cap.com.au
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(ABN 28 104 028 542)
The Minister of Mineral Resources, Green Technology and Energy Security, has extended the start of construction to 30th September 2024 and this is seen as positive as it enables the Company to align the Letlhakane project with the rising price of uranium. This approval is timely, amid an increased investor sentiment and a rising uranium price. A-Cap has kept the project on reduced expenditure and now can invest further in the project to update costs and optimise project parameters.
Increased investment sentiment and an increased uranium price has bought forward technical planning of further works. Planning for Drilling and metallurgical testwork that were suspended back in 2018 are underway to further the positive project value-adding results that sort to reduce capes and opex through understanding of the processing acid consumption of different mineralised lenses.
Wilconi Drilling and Resource Modelling
During the quarter, 20 large diameter (PQ sized) diamond core holes totalling 998 metres were drilled at Wilconi. Another 11 holes are planned to be completed in January 2022. The location of the core holes was spread over the same area of the resource that was targeted during the 11,096 metre RC infill drill programme completed in late August 2021 (Figures 1 and 2) (Refer ASX announcement dated 24th September 2021). In addition to improving the confidence in the resource, the large diameter core hole programme was designed to collect representative samples for metallurgical testwork and conduct bulk density measurements on the nickel ore and overburden.
A breakthrough in the recent drilling was the recognition of a distinct source rock for the lateritic Ni-Co mineralisation. Earlier drilling had focussed on the entire ultramafic rock units lying below the laterite. The recent programme has clearly defined a particular rock unit (olivine rich ultramafic) that underlies the better grades in the laterite. This unit can be traced over much of the 20km of strike of the broad ultramafic package, is approximately 250m wide, and typically forms the core of the ultramafic package (Figure 2). Drilling the laterite away from this unit generally returned lower Ni-Co results, whilst holes above this unit mostly intersected >1% nickel with associated cobalt. In some cases e.g. WCN21RC088, drillholes intersected very thick (+30m) mineralisation that represent "keels" in the lateritic profile. Such zones will be followed up in detail in the next drill programme.
A-Cap Energy Limited - 52 Ord Street, West Perth WA 6005 - T: +61 8 9467 2612 F: +61 8 7200 7612
[email protected] www.a-cap.com.au
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(ABN 28 104 028 542)
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Figure 1: Regional geological setting of the Wilconi Nickel-Cobalt Project showing the location of the current large diameter
diamond drilling programme.
A-Cap Energy Limited - 52 Ord Street, West Perth WA 6005 - T: +61 8 9467 2612 F: +61 8 7200 7612
[email protected] www.a-cap.com.au
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(ABN 28 104 028 542)
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Figure 2: Map showing resource outline, underlying nickel bearing ultramafic unit and location of recent drilling referred to
in this release.
A-Cap Energy Limited - 52 Ord Street, West Perth WA 6005 - T: +61 8 9467 2612 F: +61 8 7200 7612
[email protected] www.a-cap.com.au
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(ABN 28 104 028 542)
Figure 3: Cross section showing the nickel and cobalt intercepts lying at the base of the limonitic zone in the laterite.
MiningPlus are preparing an updated mineral resource estimate to include the results of the recently completed RC drill programme. The updated MRE is expected to be completed next quarter.
Metallurgical Testwork
Simulus Engineers (Perth) have provided A-Cap with a proposal for a desktop study on producing a cobalt- nickel sulphate from Wilconi and made recommendations for the next phase of testing once suitable core samples have been collected in light of the positive results obtained in 2020. Refer ASX announcement dated 30th April 2020 for further information. To continue the metallurgical testing programme more sample representative of ores across the deposit are required. These samples are being collected as part of the current large diameter diamond coring programme and will be delivered to the metallurgical lab for testwork in February.
Environmental, Hydrological and Engineering Studies
Independent experts have been engaged to conduct a variety of studies as part of the on-going PFS.
A-Cap Energy Limited - 52 Ord Street, West Perth WA 6005 - T: +61 8 9467 2612 F: +61 8 7200 7612
[email protected] www.a-cap.com.au
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A-Cap Resources Limited published this content on 19 January 2022 and is solely responsible for the information contained therein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 19 January 2022 05:21:04 UTC.