www.nyotaminerals.com
Nyota Minerals Limited (Nyota) is a mineral exploration and development company dual listed on the AIM Market of the London Stock Exchange (AIM:NYO.L) and the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX:NYO.AX). We are focused on the exploration and concurrent development of Tulu Kapi, our flagship project in Western Ethiopia. Total Inferred JORC Resource containing 1.46 million ounces of gold (15.96 million tonnes @ 2.84g/t gold). The Company is actively exploring several priority targets proximal to Tulu Kapi as well as regional gold targets in the northern blocks which Nyota believes have the potential to become future standalone projects.
Nyota Minerals' Tulu Kapi project making excellent drilling progress
Africa focused nickel and gold exploration and development junior Nyota Minerals (LON:NYO, ASX:NYO) reflected on its performance in the quarter to end-June 2010, which saw an increase in the resource at the company’s flagship Tulu Kapi gold project and a discovery of new high grade structure.
The JORC compliant inferred resource at Tulu Kapi in Ethiopia increased from 3.52 Mt (million tonnes) grading 1.58 g/t (grammes per tonne) gold for 690,000 to 25.45 Mt at 1.68 g/t gold for 1.38 Moz (million ounces) contained. The updated resource represents a 38% increase over the company’s target of 1 Moz.
The upgraded resource statement followed the compilation and technical interpretation of 4,579 metres of reverse circulation (RC) drilling based on data from the Maiden Resource plus verifiable data collated from a further 25 RC holes. Drilling focussed on the NE extension of mineralisation contiguous with the Maiden Resource area, as well as an infill drilling programme, which was aimed at increasing the level of confidence in the diamond drilling previously undertaken.
Last month, the company announced the discovery of a high grade structure beneath the current Inferred Resource that intersected 8.7 metres averaging 8.9 g/t gold and also that lose-spaced ground magnetic and induced polarisation surveys conducted over the main Tulu Kapi deposit and surrounding area had revealed new extensions to the Tulu Kapi deposit.
Twenty-two infill and expansion holes drilling during the quarter returned positive results, indicating the presence of additional mineralisation. Nyota has mobilized a second diamond drill rig to the site to assist with completing the infill drilling and over the current inferred resource and the drilling of high priority targets to form extensions to the main Tulu Kapi orebody.
Nyota reiterated that drilling progress has been “excellent” with cumulative metres drilled exceeding 250 metres per day.
Corporate developments included an investment of £3.44 million in Nyota by IFC to take a 10% stake and the appointment of Terry Tucker as new COO (Chief Operating Officer).
The company has recently appointed SRK Consulting to prepare a Preliminary Economic Assessment over the Tulu Kapi project, which will be a “more rigorous” and detailed version of last year’s desktop scoping study.
Nyota has also reported on progress at its Muremera nickel project in Burundi, where a newly interpreted surface geological map was combined with structural measurements and geophysical inversion of the VTEM survey to generate a three-dimensional geological model of the northern part of the licence areas, to a depth of two kilometres. This model showed the main folded structures in three dimensions and confirmed the continuity of the host stratigraphy between the Kabanga area in Tanzania and the Muremera area in Burundi.
Further desk studies of past exploration results will be undertaken in the coming quarter with no additional field work currently planned.
