Target
Laterite hosted Scandium deposit
Introduction
The Nyngan Gilgai Project consists of two exploration license (part of EL 6009 and all of EL 6096) covering over 9,000ha, and is located approximately 500km northwest of Sydney, in New South Wales, Australia. The property is accessible via a 25km sealed road from the town of Nyngan.
In 2010, EMC Metals executed an Exploration Joint Venture Agreement with Jervois pursuant to which EMC will enter into a joint venture on the Nyngan Gilgai property where EMC will be the manager of the joint venture. A NI43-101 compliant Technical Report was completed following the signing of the Joint Venture, which outlined a NI43-101 compliant resources of 12.012 million tonnes grading 261ppm Sc using a 100ppm Sc cut-off grade (Pursell et al., 2009).
Click here for the 43-101 Technical Report for the Nyngan Gilgai Project
The Agreement requires EMC to incur exploration and metallurgical work of AUS $500,000 (CAD $460,000) within 180 business days of the conditions precedent being satisfied, or pay cash in lieu thereof. In the event that EMC wishes to continue the joint venture, EMC must deliver a bankable feasibility study within 480 business days of the conditions precedent being satisfied, failing which the Agreement will terminate.
Upon EMC delivering the bankable feasibility study to Jervois, EMC must pay to Jervois an additional AUS $1,300,000 plus GST at which time it will be granted a 50% interest in the joint venture. The Agreement provides for straight-line dilution, with interests diluted below 10% being converted into a 2% Net Smelter Returns Royalty.
Geology
The Gilgai Scandium Deposit is hosted within the lateritic zone of the Gilgai Intrusion, one of several Alaskan-type mafic and ultramafic bodies which intrude Cambrian-Ordovician metasediments collectively called the Girilambone Group. The laterite zone, locally up to 40m thick, is layered with hematitic clay at the surface followed by limonitic clay, saprolitic clay, weathered bedrock and finally fresh bedrock. The scandium mineralization is concentrated within the hematitic, limonitic, and saprolitic zones with values up to 350ppm Sc.
The property is dominated by Cenozoic alluvial plains derived from the Darling River Basin with minor colluvium and outcrop. The property geology has been interpreted by drill holes intersections where the main rock types encountered in drilling are: Pyroxenite; Olivine Pyroxenite; Hornblende Pyroxenite; Hornblendite; Magnetite Pyroxenite; Dunite; and Monzonite.
There is a suggestion of a layered trend of the complex in a NW-SE direction (this is supported by the magnetic pattern). These trends reflect a broadly concentric zonation of lithologies in the complex. There also appears to be a zone of stronger alteration in the (south) centre of the zone where abundant magnetite and mica (phlogopite) occur.
Historical Work
In the 1980s, 134 rotary air blast (RAB) holes (for 6779 meters) and two diamond drill holes (each 250 meters deep) were drilled in the area exploring several of these Alaskan-type pyroxenite bodies for platinum group. Between 1999 and 2001, two traverses of reverse circulation (RC) drill holes exploring for nickel were drilled across the Gilgai Intrusion. Jervois obtained the sample pulps from these RC holes and analyzed them for scandium; the results indicated there was a significant enrichment of Scandium in the Gilgai laterite.
In 2006, Jervois completed a 2,638 meter drill program consisting of 64 reverse circulation (RC) holes and 5 air core holes at the Gilgai Project. From this drilling, Douglas McKenna and Partners produced a JORC* compliant resource estimation for Jervois, and in 2010 EMC completed a NI43-101 compliant technical report which outlined a current resources estimation given in Table 1 below.
Nyngan Gilgai Scandium Project NI43-101 Compliant Resource Estimation |
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Resource Category |
Cut -off Sc (ppm) |
Total Tonnes (kt) |
Grade |
Overburden Ratio |
Measured |
100 |
2,718 |
274 |
0.81:1 |
Indicated |
100 |
9,294 |
258 |
1.40:1 |
Total |
100 |
12,012 |
261 |
1.10:1 |
Notes: This resource has been prepared to comply with NI43-101 and JORC Code - Joint Ore Reserves Committee of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. Resource calculation prepared by Douglas McKenna and Partners and signed off by Duncan Pursell (BSc, MAusIMM) and Derek Foster B. (Appl. Sc (Applied Geology), MAusIMM). The resource calculation is based on a total of 2,638 meters of drilling in 69 drill holes, of which 64 holes were reverse circulation and 5 were air core. The Gilgai laterite resource is covered by a minimum of 15 meters of Quaternary- aged alluvials. The significant resource is not below 65m and the entire resource is amenable to open pit mining. Assays for this program, by ALS Chemex, used the following methods: ME-ICP61s Up to 27 elements 4 acid digest ICPAES PGM - MS23 Pt, Pd, Au 30g FA ICP-MS. QC checks on sampling and assaying quality are satisfactory. In-situ densities: Limonite 1.63 g/cm3, Saprolite 1.41 g/cm3. Scandium resource was calculated by plan polygonal method. The reported mineral resource estimate has been rounded to appropriate significant figures.
Current Program
EMC and Jervois have set the following targets for the Nyngan Project:
- Completion of a bankable feasibility study in mid to late 2011;
- Subject to financing, the design, engineering and construction of a 100 -- 200 ton per day commercial plant producing from 10 to 20 tons of Scandium oxide per year at 99.99% purity, with a start-up target of mid to late 2012;
- Our initial target for mining will be a high grade area. In March 2008 Jervois' engineering staff designed a preliminary open pit to a 30 meter depth with an overburden ratio of 1.8:1, yielding 305,062 tons of ore at a grade of 350.4 grams/ton. This grade translates to $751/ton of ore in the ground. These high grade reserves are sufficient for the first the first five years of operation at 150 tons per day.
 Nyngan Gilgai Regional Geology click on image to view enlarged |
 New South Wales - Australia click on image to view enlarged |
 Drilling at the Gilgai Scandium Project click on image to view enlarged |
 Drilling at the Gilgai Scandium Project click on image to view enlarged |
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 Drilling at the Gilgai Scandium Project click on image to view enlarged |
