Celamin Holdings (ASX: CNL) has received trench and drill hole sampling results for the Salsala Prospect, and for trenches and a pit at the Bir El Afou Prospect, confirming the phosphate mineralisation in Tunisia as expected.
Drill holes at Salsala were the first holes put into this prospect and were located at regular intervals along the outcrop, with most confirming more than 95% core recovery.
The company said the trenching program was curtailed at Bir El Afou in favour of drilling as the terrane necessitated deeper pits and trenches than originally planned.
Kevin Nichol, Celamin Holdings' chairman, said “our exploration team has now overcome some organisational issues, partly caused by the events in Tunisia in January and we expect results will flow more regularly from now on.”
Drilling was slowed by the events that occurred during the ouster of Tunisian President Zine el Abidine Ben Ali and the subsequent curfew, along with the more recent conditions in the limestone overburden at Bir El Afou and Boukechrid.
The company said the initial survey results at Salsala indicate that the southern end of the area is prospective and will be examined in more detail during the proposed Feasibility Study.
Importantly, a Pre-Feasibility Study targeted on a high grade, low cost Stage 1 mine development is expected to be completed by end September 2011.
Evaluation of data from the BEA prospect area, as well as engineering planning considerations, has led the drilling focus into this prospect area for the delineation of the initial Stage 1 mineralisation target.
The Bir El Afou Phosphate project is held in partnership with local company Tunisian Mining Services SA (TMS) and Celamin is targeting first mine production by the end of 2013.
On May 30 Celamin announced it has signed an earn-in agreement with Faïenceries Algériennes (FA) for its El Kebir base metals project in Algeria, allowing Celamin to earn up to a 49% interest.
Substantial shareholders in Celamin include Lion Selection Group (NSX: LGP) with a 14.55% stake and Commonwealth Bank holding 5.02%, reflecting the potential upside in this little known phosphate play.