ASX Code: TON
16 September 2016
ASX Announcement
Triton Minerals Ltd
(Subject to Deed of Company Arrangement) ABN 99 126 042 215
Unit 1, 256 Stirling Highway,
Claremont WA 6010
PO Box 1518, West Perth WA 6872 Phone +61 8 6489 2555
Fax +61 8 6489 2556
Email [email protected] Web www.tritonminerals.com
Restated Mineral Resource Estimate for the Nicanda Hill Project
Key Points
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Restated Mineral Resource estimate for the Nicanda deposit.
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Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resource of 1,430 Mt grading 11.1% Total Graphitic Carbon (TGC) for 158.9 Mt of contained graphite.
Triton Minerals Ltd (Subject to Deed of Company Arrangement) (ASX:TON) ('Triton' or the 'Company') announces a restatement the Nicanda Hill Mineral Resource estimate ('MRE') reported in accordance with the JORC1 Code 2012. This action by the Company follows on the findings and recommendations of the Independent Technical Report ('ITR') of the Nicanda Hill MRE, completed in March 2016.
Triton commisioned the ITR to evaluate the quality of the data, the domain interpretations, and the technical details of the grade estimate, which underpinned the October 2015 MRE. The ITR found no material issues with the data base, assay data and the estimation methodology.
Triton has acted to resolve the issues highlighted in the ITR, by commissioning CSA Global Pty Ltd (CSA Global) to restate the MRE. The work completed included review of metallurgical test results, modification of the interpreted weathering domain boundaries and reassessment of the density values, which has resulted in a minor reduction of estimated tonnage. Since the grade estimate was not separated by weathering state, these modifications had no impact on the individual block grades in the model, and the estimated block grade values were not revised. The deposit should be capable of producing small and fine graphite flakes up to 0.15 mm in size, ranging up to about 97% TGC.
The restated Mineral Resource has been classified taking into account the level of geological understanding of the deposit, quality of samples, petrographic and metallurgical results, density data and drill hole spacing. The Mineral Resource is classified as Indicated and Inferred, with roughly 55% of the Mineral Resource considered to be extrapolated. The restated Nicanda Hill Mineral Resource estimate is set out in Table 1 below. The completed JORC Code Table 1 is included as an Appendix to this announcement.
Table 1: Inferred and Indicated Mineral Resource estimate for Nicanda Hill
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Classification
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Million Tonnes
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TGC %
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Contained Graphite (Mt)
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Indicated
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369
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11.3
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41.5
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Inferred
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1,062
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11.1
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117.3
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Indicated + Inferred
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1,430
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11.1
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158.9
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Note: The Mineral Resource was estimated within constraining wireframe solids defined above a nominal 9% TGC cut-off. The Mineral Resource is reported from all classified blocks above 5% TGC within these wireframe solids. Differences may occur due to rounding.
1 Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves. The JORC Code, 2012 Edition. Prepared by: The Joint Ore Reserves Committee of The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, Australian Institute of Geoscientists and Minerals Council of Australia (JORC).
Competent Person's Statement
The information in this announcement that relates to in situ Mineral Resources for Nicanda Hill is based on information compiled by Mr. Grant Louw under the direction and supervision of Dr Andrew Scogings, who are both full-time employees of CSA Global Pty Ltd and as consultants to Triton. Dr Scogings takes overall responsibility for the report. Dr Scogings is a Member of both the Australian Institute of Geoscientists and Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and has sufficient experience, which is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration, and to the activity he is undertaking, to qualify as a Competent Person in terms of the 'Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves' (JORC Code 20121) Dr Scogings consents to the inclusion of such information in this announcement in the form and context in which it appears.
ASX LR 5.8.1 Summary:
The following summary presents a fair and balanced representation of the information contained within JORC Table 1 (sections 1-3), attached as Appendix 1:
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The graphite mineralisation at the Nicanda Hill deposit occurs within a fine-grained graphitic schist package sandwiched between coarser-grained gneissic units.
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Samples were obtained from reverse circulation (RC) and diamond (DD) drilling, using 2m composites. Quality of drilling and assaying was of an acceptable standard, commensurate with the Indicated and Inferred classification of the current estimate.
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The estimate was classified as Indicated and Inferred on the basis of surface mapping, geophysical information, drill hole sample assay results, drill hole logging and the measured density values. Roughly 55% of the interpreted mineralisation is considered to be extrapolated.
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Grade estimation was completed using ordinary kriging estimation, and checked using inverse distance to the power two estimation.
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Additional grade estimate validation was by ordinary kriging and inverse distance to the power two methods into a larger block size model with a smaller search ellipse, with results within 1% of the primary model.
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The Mineral Resources were estimated within constraining wireframe solids using a nominal 9% TGC cut-off. The resource is quoted from all classified blocks above 5% TGC within these wireframe solids.
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In keeping with the classification, the likelihood of eventual economic extraction was considered in terms of assuming open pit mining; and consideration was given to product specification with regards purity and flake size distribution, in addition to TGC and tonnages of graphite as an industrial mineral.
Location, Geology and Exploration
The Nicanda Hill Project, which forms part of the Balama North Project, is located in northern Mozambique roughly 230 km west of the port of Pemba (Figure 1) within Grafex Limitada (Triton majority owned) licences 5365 and 5966 (Table 2).
Graphite is an electrical conductor and can therefore be explored for using electromagnetic (EM) geophysical techniques such as versatile time domain electromagnetics (VTEM). A VTEM geophysical survey was completed over the Nicanda Hill deposit and showed a number of elongate EM targets of which two were drilled and confirmed to host graphite mineralisation at Nicanda Hill and Nicanda West (Figure 2).
Table 2: Balama North tenement descriptions
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Project
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Tenement ID
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Area ha
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Owner
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Approval date
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Expiry date
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Balama North
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5365
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18,491
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Grafex Lda
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21031029
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20181029
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Balama North
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5966
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14,192
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Grafex Lda
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20130619
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20180619
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Figure 1: Location of Triton's projects in northern Mozambique
Figure 2: VTEM map of Balama North Projects - Nicanda Hill and Nicanda West
The Nicanda Hill graphite deposit is located within Neoproterozoic rocks of the Xixano Complex in north-eastern Mozambique. The Xixano Complex is composed predominantly of mafic to intermediate orthogneiss, with intercalations of paragneiss, meta-arkose, quartzite, marble and graphitic schist (Figure 3). The metamorphic grade of the complex is mostly amphibolite facies.
The host rocks of the Nicanda Hill deposit comprise metamorphosed sedimentary rocks intruded by thin gneisses that strike roughly parallel to the regional foliation (northeast to east-northeast) and which dip between 40° and 60° to the northwest (Figure 6 and Figure 7). A priority zone of interest at Nicanda Hill is the Mutola zone, which displays distinctive carbonate alteration and generally has higher graphite content than other mineralised units.
Figure 3: Regional geology of the Balama North project areas
The JORC Code 2012 Clause 49
Clause 49 of the JORC Code 2012 requires that minerals such as graphite that are produced and sold according to product specifications to be reported "in terms of the mineral or minerals on which the project is to be based and must include the specification of those minerals". Therefore, graphite Mineral Resources must be reported at least in terms of purity and flake size distribution, in addition to TGC and tonnages.
Mineral Resource tonnes and TGC are key metrics for assessing flake graphite projects, however these projects also require attributes such as product flake size and product purity to be evaluated. This is because flake size distribution and carbon content are parameters that drive the value in a graphite project. Flake graphite is defined primarily according to size distribution, with a number of terms such as fine (sometimes described as amorphous) small, medium and large defined in the marketplace (Table 3).