Highlights
Oriel is pleased to announce an update on the measured & indicated resource on Oriel’s 90% owned Shevchenko nickel project, which complies with the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, JORC 1999 (“JORC”) classification.
Key data are:
- At a cut-off of 0.60% Ni, a Measured & Indicated resource of 107.4 million tonnes at 0.84% Ni for 902,043 tonnes of contained nickel
- At a cut-off of 0.70% Ni, a Measured & Indicated resource of 76.4 million tonnes at 0.91% Ni for 697,051 tonnes of contained nickel
- Oriel has completed over 18,000 metres of confirmation and infill drilling
This has been modeled using Datamine® by Adam Wheeler and approved by Dr. Phil Newall, both of UK-based Wardell Armstrong International (“WAI”). Dr. Newall is a qualified competent person in accordance with definitions set out in National Instrument 43-101 and is a chartered engineer (CEng) and Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (FIMMM).
The September 2004 Preliminary Assessment Study completed by Oriel on the Shevchenko nickel project was based on a mine life of 15 years. The revised indicated mine life on this latest resource estimate is now well in excess of 25 years, which was a primary goal of the Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS). The DFS is being managed by Bateman Metals (South Africa) in conjunction with Mintek (South Africa), Polysius, a member of the Thyssen-Krupp Group (Germany), and Wardell Armstrong International (UK).
Commenting, Dr Sergey V Kurzin said:
“Oriel is pleased with the results of the resource drilling programme and the subsequent modeling has broadly confirmed the Soviet era resource tonnage and grade.
We are confident that further resources will be delineated when the complete results of the Yuzhniy drilling program are modeled and additionally when we drill the Kundybai deposit. We expect to have a production life at Shevchenko well in excess of 25 years.
In addition, Oriel, through its Kazakh subsidiary Muzbel LLP – Shevchenko license holder, is actively pursuing interests in a number of satellite nickel deposits in the Shevchenko project region and has submitted applications for a number of licenses on nickel properties to the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan”.
For further information, please contact:
Dr Sergey V Kurzin, Executive Chairman, Oriel Resources plc
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7514 0590
Nick Clarke, Managing Director, Oriel Resources plc
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7514 0590
Jonathon Brill/Billy Clegg, Financial Dynamics
Direct: + 44 (0) 20 7831 3113
Vanguard Shareholder Solutions
Tel: 1-800 866-788-9288
Oriel Resources is pleased to present its revised, AusIMM JORC 1999 compliant resource statement for the Shevchenko nickel project
Oriel is pleased to announce an update on the measured & indicated resource on Oriel’s 90% owned Shevchenko nickel project, which complies with the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, JORC 1999 (“JORC”) classification.
17 November 2005
Oriel Resources presents its revised, AusIMM JORC 1999 compliant resource statement for the Shevchenko nickel project
Key data are:
- At a cut-off of 0.60% Ni, a Measured & Indicated resource of 107.4 million tonnes at 0.84% Ni for 902,043 tonnes of contained nickel
- At a cut-off of 0.70% Ni, a Measured & Indicated resource of 76.4 million tonnes at 0.91% Ni for 697,051 tonnes of contained nickel Oriel has completed over 18,000 metres of confirmation and infill drilling
- Oriel has completed over 18,000 metres of confirmation and infill drilling
This has been modeled using Datamine® by Adam Wheeler and approved by Dr. Phil Newall, both of UK-based Wardell Armstrong International (“WAI”). Dr. Newall is a qualified competent person in accordance with definitions set out in National Instrument 43-101 and is a chartered engineer (CEng) and Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (FIMMM).
The September 2004 Preliminary Assessment Study completed by Oriel on the Shevchenko nickel project was based on a mine life of 15 years. The revised indicated mine life on this latest resource estimate is now well in excess of 25 years, which was a primary goal of the Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS). The DFS is being managed by Bateman Metals (South Africa) in conjunction with Mintek (South Africa), Polysius, a member of the Thyssen-Krupp Group (Germany), and Wardell Armstrong International (UK).
This JORC compliant resource has been defined as a result of Datamine® block modeling of eight of the nine ore deposits forming the Shevchenko Project, namely Shevchenko, Blizhny, Grigoriev, Tarasov, Jubilee and Yuzhniy-1, 2 and 3. The remaining ore deposit is Kundybai. The block model has been based on an 18-month Oriel drilling campaign comprising in excess of 18,000 metres of confirmation and infill drilling. Confidence gained as a result of this campaign has enabled Oriel to utilize the results from in excess of 144,000 metres of Soviet drilling across some 7,000 drillholes and combine these with the Oriel data into the block model.
A summary of the WAI Measured & Indicated resource statement is provided in the following table which illustrates the resource by ore deposit defined at a range of cut-off grades from 0.50% to 0.80% nickel.
- At a cut-off of 0.60% Ni, a Measured & Indicated resource of 107.4 million tonnes at 0.84% Ni for 902,043 tonnes of contained nickel
- At a cut-off of 0.70% Ni, a Measured & Indicated resource of 76.4 million tonnes at 0.91% Ni for 697,051 tonnes of contained nickel Oriel has completed over 18,000 metres of confirmation and infill drilling
- Oriel has completed over 18,000 metres of confirmation and infill drilling
This has been modeled using Datamine® by Adam Wheeler and approved by Dr. Phil Newall, both of UK-based Wardell Armstrong International (“WAI”). Dr. Newall is a qualified competent person in accordance with definitions set out in National Instrument 43-101 and is a chartered engineer (CEng) and Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (FIMMM).
The September 2004 Preliminary Assessment Study completed by Oriel on the Shevchenko nickel project was based on a mine life of 15 years. The revised indicated mine life on this latest resource estimate is now well in excess of 25 years, which was a primary goal of the Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS). The DFS is being managed by Bateman Metals (South Africa) in conjunction with Mintek (South Africa), Polysius, a member of the Thyssen-Krupp Group (Germany), and Wardell Armstrong International (UK).
This JORC compliant resource has been defined as a result of Datamine® block modeling of eight of the nine ore deposits forming the Shevchenko Project, namely Shevchenko, Blizhny, Grigoriev, Tarasov, Jubilee and Yuzhniy-1, 2 and 3. The remaining ore deposit is Kundybai. The block model has been based on an 18-month Oriel drilling campaign comprising in excess of 18,000 metres of confirmation and infill drilling. Confidence gained as a result of this campaign has enabled Oriel to utilize the results from in excess of 144,000 metres of Soviet drilling across some 7,000 drillholes and combine these with the Oriel data into the block model.
A summary of the WAI Measured & Indicated resource statement is provided in the following table which illustrates the resource by ore deposit defined at a range of cut-off grades from 0.50% to 0.80% nickel.
| Cut-off Grade Ni % | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 0.8 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shevchenko | ||||
| WAI Resource, Kt | 23,661 | 21,003 | 16,678 | 12,317 |
| Grade Ni % | 0.87 | 0.91 | 0.96 | 1.00 |
| Contained Ni Metal, t | 205,851 | 191,127 | 160,109 | 123,170 |
| Blizhny | ||||
| WAI Resource, Kt | 11,693 | 10,815 | 8,954 | 7,049 |
| Grade Ni % | 0.92 | 0.95 | 1.01 | 1.07 |
| Contained Ni Metal, t | 107,576 | 102,743 | 90,435 | 75,424 |
| Grigoriev | ||||
| WAI Resource, Kt | 4,043 | 3,489 | 2,573 | 1,694 |
| Grade Ni % | 0.8 | 0.84 | 0.9 | 0.97 |
| Contained Ni Metal, t | 32,344 | 29,308 | 23,157 | 16,432 |
| Tarasov | ||||
| WAI Resource, Kt | 30,265 | 25,345 | 19,374 | 14,251 |
| Grade Ni % | 0.81 | 0.86 | 0.93 | 0.98 |
| Contained Ni Metal, t | 245,147 | 217,967 | 180,178 | 139,660 |
| Jubilee | ||||
| WAI Resource, Kt | 42,430 | 28,008 | 16,804 | 8,347 |
| Grade Ni % | 0.69 | 0.76 | 0.83 | 0.91 |
| Contained Ni Metal, t | 292,767 | 212,861 | 139,473 | 75,958 |
| Yuzhniy-1, 2, 3 | ||||
| WAI Resource, Kt | 24,812 | 18,739 | 12,058 | 6,979 |
| Grade Ni % | 0.73 | 0.79 | 0.86 | 0.92 |
| Contained Ni Metal, t | 181,128 | 148,038 | 103,699 | 64,207 |
| TOTAL | ||||
| WAI Resource, Kt | 136,904 | 107,399 | 76,441 | 50,637 |
| Grade Ni % | 0.78 | 0.84 | 0.91 | 0.98 |
| Contained Ni Metal, t | 1,064,811 | 902,043 | 697,051 | 494,850 |
The resource is grade sensitive and depending on the cut-off grade used, the resource may be significantly higher. By dropping the cut-off grade to 0.5% nickel, the Measured & Indicated resource is increased to 136.9 million tonnes at 0.78% Ni, for 1,064,811t of contained nickel. Open-pit optimization will define the optimum pit shells and Proven & Probable reserves based on this resource statement and by application of operating costs and plant recovery parameters. This optimization using NPV Scheduler® is progressing with a plan to produce a reserve statement sufficient to sustain a project life in excess of 25 years.
The Soviet era B+C1+C2 resource for the nine ore deposits of the Shevchenko Project totaled 79.3 Mt at 0.92% Ni. The combined Ni-Co cut-off grade used in the Soviet resource calculation is poorly defined and was is estimated as equivalent to a 0.70% nickel cut-off. The revised resource statement for the eight ore deposits as presented here of 76.4 Mt at 0.92% Ni, giving 705,693t contained nickel compares favourably with the Soviet era total of 63.2 Mt at 0.94% Ni for a metal content of 594,296t contained nickel, giving a 20% increase in overall tonnage and 19% increase contained metal for a 2% reduction in overall grade. The quoted Soviet B+C1+C2 category resources are not JORC compliant nor are they NI 43-101 compliant and should not be relied upon.
The Soviet era resource, for the remaining ore deposit Kundybai for which Oriel holds the licence are a Soviet C2 resource of 16 Mt at 0.82% nickel, and for which a drilling program is planned. Soviet C2 category resources are not JORC compliant nor are they NI 43-101 compliant and should not be relied upon. With these resources and with the potential from further known satellite deposits, Oriel is confident that both the ore resource and contained metal resource will be further increased.
Ends
Note: Certain information contained in this press release is forward-looking and is subject to unknown risks or uncertainties. The actual results, performance or achievements of the Company may differ materially from the results, performance or achievements of the Corporation expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.
