JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – ASX-listed Magnum Mining & Exploration has moved to offload its remaining 40% interest in the Tantalite Valley project, in Namibia, to fellow miner African Tantalum for R7-million, recently signing a sale and purchase agreement that would see it sell its remaining shareholding in the project and outstanding loans by September 11, it said on Monday.
The funds received would be used to expand planned exploration, evaluation and development activities at the Gravelotte emerald project, in South Africa.
More specifically, the cash consideration would be used to fund a current drilling programme, buy an optical sorter, build a plant suitable for the bulk sampling of primary and dump material and fund other exploration activities and infrastructure costs required to support a bulk sampling operation.
Magnum added in a statement that, owing to little detailed geological or mining data available in respect of the Gravelotte project, it had resolved to create its own geological database for the mining area and had commissioned an international consultant firm to prepare a technical review report.
“[We] intend to conduct an initial 800 m reverse circulation (RC) programme in September, followed by a larger 3 000 m RC programme at a later date.
“At this time, it is, therefore, not possible to provide a Joint Ore Reserve Committee- (Jorc-) compliant estimate for the deposit . . . [but] the technical report will be to Jorc standards and will be ready early next year,” said the group.
Magnum was, meanwhile, preparing to build a small emerald sampling and processing plant to process four 1 000 t samples from each of the four largest coarse emerald tailings dumps identified earlier this year.
“The ultimate aim of the exercise will be to expand the plant to include a crushing section able to cope with hard rock feed in due course.
“The plant is expected to be operational by next year,” noted the company.