Base Resource Ltd (LON:BSE, ASX:BSE) has announced an updated resource estimate for its Kwale South Dune deposit in Kenya.
The company has been drilling indicated mineral zone extensions to the north and south at Kwale, and announced on Wednesday that results from the first drilling programme have now been included in an updated mineral resource as a result of the footprint of the Kwale South Dune being expanded to 6.5 kilometres (km) in length and up to one km wide.
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The updated estimate boasts a 29% increase in mineral resource tonnes for the Kwale South Dune to 114.1mln tonnes (Mt) and a 13% increase in contained in situ heavy minerals to 3.47Mt.
The increase has been primarily attributed to the discovery of an additional, contiguous resource extension to the south of the deposit.
Additional Resources are characterised by a high-value mineral assemblage, consistent with the previously reported Kwale South Dune deposit, Base said.
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An infill drilling programme has resulted in a significant increase in confidence with 76% of the heavy mineral tonnes within the Kwale South Dune deposit mineral resources now in the “measured” category, it added.
Work to determine an indicative economic pit shell for the updated 2017 Kwale South Dune mineral resource estimate will be undertaken in the coming months, which will then form the basis for the application to the Kenyan Ministry of Mines for an extension of mining tenure.
Base Resources said its preference would be for this tenure to take the form of an extension to the existing Special Mining Licence 23 or, alternatively, could involve the granting of a new mining licence. We'll have to wait and see what happens with the Ministry of Mining before an updated ore reserve for the South Dune deposit can be completed.