New PGM reefs at KalplatsWednesday, 23 May 2007Kate Hayco*kNEW...

New PGM reefs at KalplatsWednesday, 23 May 2007
Kate Hayco*k

NEW platinum mineralisation has been identified outside the already known deposits at Platinum Australia's Kalahari project in South Africa, the company reported today, including hits which the company's managing director John Lewins called "pretty bloody good".

Latest drilling at the Kalplats project uncovered completely new platinum-palladium-gold (3E PGM) reefs at the Scorpio prospect and in the gap between the Serpens South and Crux deposits, PlatAust said.

At the Scorpio prospect, a series of apparently continuous platinum group metals reefs were drilled over 300m. Intersections from initial drilling at the prospect included 1m at 4.30 grams per tonne PGM from 85m, and 4m at 3.09gpt PGM from 44m.

More drilling is planned across the 1000m strike length of the Scorpio prospect.

Meanwhile, one of the most significant intersects – 8m at 4.83gpt PGM from 21m – came from the gap between the Serpens South and Crux deposits, where two new reef structures were defined.

Additionally, PlatAust said further results from the Sirius deposit, including 1m at 9.65gpt PGM from 83m, confirmed previous drilling that indicated there was unusually thick reef intersections and possible duplication of the reefs in that area.

PlatAust managing director John Lewins told MiningNews.net that the drilling was designed to target the existing deposits, which remain open at depth, and also to look for new resources – a goal that so far, the company was meeting successfully.

"Scorpio had nothing, for instance," he said. "Now we're found a number of reefs with good thickness and grade of mineralisation."

Lewins also said the company was particularly excited about the intersection from the 800m gap between the Crux and Serpens South deposits, which came from the first line of drillholes conducted in the area.

"That's pretty bloody good – and that would be an understatement as far as we're concerned," he said.

The current inferred and indicated resource at Kalplats stands at 3.4 million ounces of 3E PGM, including a high-grade core of 1.4Moz.

A bankable feasibility study for the project is due by the end of this year and Lewins told MNn that before the BFS, the company was targeting a new resource at Kalplats of 7Moz, including a high-grade area of 3Moz, which would be suitable for openpit mining.

"And we like to think we're being reasonably conservative about these things," he added.

PlatAust is earning up to 49% in the Kalplats project from its joint venture partner African Rainbow Minerals Platinum by completing a BFS and providing the right for the project to use PlatAust's proprietary Panton metallurgical process.