Lindian Resources Ltd (ASX:LIN) has been granted three mining licences over the Lushoto Bauxite Project in Tanzania by the Tanzania Mining Commission.
The granted licences cover an area of 53.2 square kilometres and include the high-grade, low-silica Magamba bauxite deposit.
Previous rock chip sampling undertaken by Lindian at Magamba returned average alumina levels of 54% and less than 1% average of reactive silica and other deleterious elements.
The company will proceed with an auger drilling program while it is in discussions with potential farm-in and strategic offtake partners.
Exploration work to begin this week
Lindian chairman Asimwe Kabunga said the granted tenements were an outstanding development for the company and added considerable value to its portfolio.
Kabunga said: “We have wasted no time, with exploration work to commence this week and a low-cost, high-impact auger drilling program also scheduled to be undertaken this quarter.
“This is not distracting us from our key focus – being the development of the Kangankunde Rare Earths Project in Malawi.
“The granting of the exploration licence in respect of the Kangankunde Rare Earths Project will be another key value event for the company.
Kabunga noted Lindian had a dedicated technical team currently in Tanzania ready to work across projects in both countries.
Outcropping bauxite mineralisation
Ongoing field activities have mapped bauxite mineralisation to the northwest of the Magamba deposit, increasing the size of the deposit to a strike length of more than 2 kilometres.
Mapping of the mineralisation was conducted concurrently with rock chip sampling which confirmed outcropping bauxite mineralisation.
The Lushoto project’s bauxite mineralisation was formed by deep weathering of metamorphic rocks of the Mozambique Belt that are exposed in eastern Tanzania.
A report by the University of Dar es Salaam in 2003 confirmed bauxite mineralisation between 40-60% at Lushoto based on historical drilling data and surface geological mapping.