TIDMKEN
RNS Number : 8454J
Kendrick Resources PLC
21 August 2023
21 August 2023
Kendrick Resources Plc
("Kendrick" or the "Company")
Operational Update
Kendrick Resources Plc (LSE: KEN), a mineral exploration and
development company with vanadium, nickel and copper projects in
Scandinavia is pleased to provide an operational update for its
Airijoki Project in Vittangi and initial work undertaken on the
recently acquired Mjövattnet nickel - copper - PGM licence in
Sweden.
Highlights
-- Commencement of 1,500m exploration diamond drill programme
over Airijoki 200 licence with the objective of significantly
increasing the existing vanadium mineral resource
-- Completion of ionic leach soil sampling programme over
recently awarded prospective Airijoki licences where extensions to
known vanadium and copper mineralisation may occur.
-- Completion of ionic leach soil sampling programme over the recently acquired Mjövattnet Nickel-Copper-PGM licences in Sweden.
Colin Bird, Executive Chairman of Kendrick Resources Plc
commented:
"The drilling programme is a result of our ongoing fieldwork,
and we are particularly excited about the strong geophysics and
geo-chemical results that have targeted the drilling positions.
We eagerly await the results of the Mjövattnet nickel, copper
and PGM soil sampling programme. We are confident for the potential
of strike extension as well as well as generating future targets
within the licence. The current soil programme will greatly assist
us in this direction.
We will report the results for both the drilling and soil
sampling programme as they are completed and interpreted by the
company's geologist and third-party consultants were
appropriate."
Airijoki Exploration strategy: Earlier in the year the Company
set out its intention to increase the mineral Resource at Airijoki
which currently stands at 44.3Mt @ 0.4% V(2) O(5) for 100,800
tonnes of contained V(2) O(5) and this programme is progressing on
two fronts;
-- Firstly, with additional geochemical surveys over our most
recent licence acquisitions where coincident prospective vanadium
and copper in soil and rock values and geophysical anomalies are
suggestive of a continuation of the geology that has generated the
maiden resource.
-- Secondly, the drill programme has commenced and feedback from
site indicates promising intercepts of magnetite-bearing rock are
clearly present which is expected to host vanadium.
The current focus is on the known geophysical extension of the
current Mineral Resource within Licence Nr 200 where the
geophysical signature clearly shows a continuous anomalous
extension where earlier drilling on the adjacent Kendrick licence
intersected vanadium-bearing lithologies.
There is a noticeable groundswell of interest and commitment to
Vanadium Redox Battery technology. It is all very well generating
renewable energy but the ability to store excess energy has to some
extent been overlooked. The benefits of the Vanadium Redox system
make it an ideal static battery storage option and the intention is
to ensure that Kendrick is well-placed to be a provider of vanadium
in the future".
Airijoki Drilling Programme
The Airijoki 200 licence is located immediately to the northeast
of the Airijoki 100 licence in which the 44.3Mt JORC Inferred
Vanadium resource is estimated. Following the completion of a
Magnetic Ground Survey in March 2021 over the Airijoki 200 licence,
it can be deduced with a reasonable amount of confidence that the
Vanadium mineralisation extends and continues to the northeast into
this licence area.
A public meeting was held at the Vittangi community hall at the
end of July where representatives of the Company presented the
proposed drill programme to the attendees and answered all queries
related to the programme.
The initial diamond drill exploration programme is based on a
line spacing of 400m along strike, with a total of 10 holes and
approximately 1,500m being drilled.
The programme is expected to take around 8 weeks to complete and
should this programme be successful, it is anticipated that it has
the potential to significantly expand the current Vanadium resource
at Airijoki.
Figure 1. is a map showing magnetic survey, JORC Inferred
Resource outline and proposed location of drillholes.
Figure 2. is a cross-section showing proposed drill hole
locations and traces along with interpreted magnetic anomalies
being targeted.
Figure 1. Map showing magnetic survey, JORC Inferred Resource
outline and proposed location of drillholes.
Figure 2. Cross-section showing proposed drill hole locations
and traces along with interpreted magnetic anomalies being
targeted.
Ionic Leach Soil Sampling Programme - Airijoki Vanadium
The Company has recently completed a soil geochemical sampling
programme for ionic leach testing, primarily on the recently
awarded (October 2022) Airijoki 104 and Airijoki 105 licences. The
purpose of this programme is to investigate the mineral potential
of these licences and assist with future targeting in these
licences.
In general, the soil samples were collected every 100m along
profiles spaced 400m apart that are to be followed up with infill
soil sampling in the areas of interest. The sampling covers an area
of approximately 39km(2) at Airijoki 104 and 22km(2) at Airijoki
105 licences respectively, excluding areas covered by lakes, bogs,
or mires.
In total, 907 soil samples were collected and submitted to the
ALS laboratory in Malå, Sweden for processing and further analysis
at the ALS laboratory in Loughrea, Ireland. Once the results are
made available, the data will be processed with ioGAS software and
interpreted with the aim of evaluating the multi-commodity
potential of the area.
Figure 3. Is a map showing Kendrick's areas under licence at
Airijoki and the location of geochemical samples.
Figure 3. Map showing Kendrick's areas under licence at Airijoki
and location of geochemical samples. previous results were released
in March 2023.
Ionic Leach Soil Sampling Programme -Mjövattnet Ni, Cu & PGM
Exploration Licence
The Company has also completed a soil geochemical sampling
programme for ionic leach testing, on the recently acquired (August
2023) Mjövattnet 103 licence. The purpose of this programme is to
investigate the mineral potential of this licence in the vicinity
to the known Lappvattnet deposit(1) and assist with future
targeting.
In general, the soil samples were collected every 50m along
profiles spaced 200m apart. The sampling covers an area of
approximately 5km(2) , excluding areas covered by lakes, bogs or
mires.
In total, 423 soil samples were collected and will be submitted
to the ALS lab in Malå, Sweden for processing and further analysis
at the ALS lab in Loughrea, Ireland.
Figure 4.is a map showing the planned location of geochemical
samples at licence Mjövattnet 103.
Figure 4. Map showing the planned location of geochemical
samples at licence Mjövattnet 103.
This announcement contains information which, prior to its
disclosure, was inside information as stipulated under Regulation
11 of the Market Abuse (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019/310
(as amended).
For additional information please contact:
Kendrick Resources Plc: Tel: +44 2039 616 086
Chairman Colin Bird
------------------------ ---------------------------------
Novum Securities Tel: +44 7399 9400
Financial Adviser David Coffman / George Duxberry
Joint Broker Jon Bellis
------------------------ ---------------------------------
Shard Capital Partners Tel: +44 207 186 9952
LLP Damon Heath / Isabella Pierre
Joint Broker
------------------------ ---------------------------------
Qualified Person
The technical information contained in this announcement has
been reviewed, verified, and approved by Colin Bird, CC.ENG, FIMMM,
South African and UK Certified Mine Manager and Director of
Kendrick Resources plc, with more than 40 years' experience mainly
in hard rock mining.
About Kendrick Resources Plc
Kendrick Resources Plc is a mineral exploration and development
company with projects primarily based across Scandinavia. The
principal of its business is to explore the opportunities within
the natural resources sector with a focus on battery, base, and
precious metals including but not limited to vanadium and nickel.
In doing so, the Company is looking to build a long-term energy
metals business in Scandinavia which delivers energy metals to
Europe to help enable its renewable energy transformation by
building a top tier energy metals production business.
The Airijoki Project
The Airijoki Project lies within the Vittangi Greenstone Group
(VGG) of northern Sweden, in relative proximity to established
infrastructure as well as several significant mines (i.e. Kiruna,
Svapparvaara, Leveäniemi and Mertainen) and other new energy
mineral projects (i.e. Talga Group's Vittangi graphite project).
Geologically the Project is centred on a laterally continuous,
northeast trending gabbroic (locally termed diabase) intrusion
which hosts vanadium-magnetite mineralisation along with lesser
base metal (predominantly copper mineralisation).
Airijoki is currently supported by an Inferred Mineral Resource
comprising 44.3 Mt at an in-situ grade of 0.4% V(2) O(5) ,
containing 5.9 Mt of magnetite averaging 1.7% V(2) O(5) (in
magnetite concentrate) for 100,800 t of contained V(2) O(5) based
on a 13.3% mass recovery of magnetite concentrate and a 0.7% V(2)
O(5) cut-off grade, on a 100% equity basis (and net attributable
basis).
Subsequent Davis Tube Recovery (DTR) and low-intensity magnetic
separation (LIMS) test work indicated that vanadium magnetite
concentrates grading over 2% V(2) O(5) and more than 65% Fe are
possible at mass recoveries over 20% from the vanadium
mineralisation at Airijoki. Overall, vanadium recoveries in excess
of 70% can be achieved using a relatively coarse grind size of 355
um and using LIMS without the need for further treatment.
Conceptual studies completed in 2019 envisage that Airijoki will
be developed by bulk open pit mining techniques from four open pits
using standard drill and blast, load/haul and crusher feed/magnetic
separation to produce a vanadium magnetite concentrate. The
conceptual techno-economic studies demonstrated the Project has the
potential to be financially robust. Further metallurgical test
work, extensional and infill drilling and optimisation studies are
warranted at Airijoki prior to more advanced techno-economic
analysis.
Vanadium
Technological advances are expected to positively influence the
demand for vanadium. Principally used as an alloy in steel and
aluminium production, its' ability to make materials stronger and
lighter offers important benefits particularly for
weight-to-strength ratio, an important consideration particularly
for EVs'. Vanadium pentoxide is also an important component in
REDOX flow batteries used for energy storage associated with solar
and wind farms. With the projected increased use of vanadium in EV
batteries, demand for the metal is expected to grow.
Mjövattnet and Njuggträskliden Licences
The Swedish Nickel Projects are located in east-central Sweden
near Skelleftea, the two licences result from regional nickel
exploration undertaken by the Swedish Geological survey and other
state-run enterprises. Mjövattnet and Njuggträskliden became known
as the "Nickel Line" and the deposits occur just outside the
Skelleftea Mining District, home to Boliden AB's headquarters and
smelting facility.
Regional nickel exploration became a focus of the Swedish
Geological Survey ("SGU") and other state-run mining concerns in
the 1970's and early 1980's, leading to the discoveries of EMX's
Mjövattnet and Njuggträskliden nickel-copper-cobalt-PGE deposits
along what became known as the "Nickel Line" in north central
Sweden. These deposits and occurrences are located just outside of
the Skellefteå Mining District, where Boliden AB has its regional
headquarters and operates a smelting facility.
In the past few years, the recent emphasis on conversion to
electric vehicles within the European Union and construction of a
vehicle battery factory near Skellefteå has resulted in renewed
interest in the Nickel Line and its nickel-copper sulfide
deposits.
Notes from the Swedish Geological Company ("NSG") in 1987 state
that Mjövattnet has only been partly explored and its depth
potential remains unknown. Likewise, several clusters of nickel
sulfide bearing boulders lie to the northeast and southeast (the
Frangsmyran, Holmsvattnet, Långbacken and Vallen occurrences), the
bedrock sources of which have yet to be identified.
The Njuggträskliden deposit was discovered in the early 1970's
via boulder tracing, which led to the identification of several
mineralised outcrops. Multiple drill defined zones of nickel
sulfide mineralisation were delineated in the early 1980's, many of
which were recognised as being enriched in PGE's , but only some of
the collected drill core samples were analysed for PGE's.
Since being drilled by the NSG, a few smaller companies have
conducted limited exploration in the area, including twinning of
some of the historic drill holes and re-analysing some of the
historic drill core for PGE's. However, little or no systematic
exploration has taken place.
The Mjövattnet Licence hosts Syn-deformation or
Feeder-style-type nickel copper mineralisation. Graphite inclusions
within ultramafic cumulates, low Se/S ratios in sulphides and trace
element composition indicate composition of parental magma strongly
modified during ascent. Country rock comprises migmatised
paragneiss with interbedded graphitic schist. Intrusive breccia,
lack of compositional layering, brecciated sulphides as offset
orebodies result in a complicated intrusive complex morphology.
Mjövattnet Historic drilling was completed by NSG, Outokumpu,
SGU, and Blackstone Resources. Results were reported to the SGU and
distributed as a part of their national drill database and is shown
in Figure One shows the drill defined mineralisation on the
Mjövattnet licence.
The translation of Mjövattnet is "mead water" in English, which
was one of the first nickel sulfide discoveries made along the
Nickel Line. Discovered in 1971, the Mjövattnet nickel sulfide
deposit occurs along a structural corridor of similar mineralised
bodies, including the Lappvattnet, Brannorna, and Lappbacken zones
to the southwest, each of which have drill defined zones of
mineralization, with the latter two also lying within the
Mjövattnet Licence (Lappvattnet is currently held by a third
party).
Two targets identified at Mjövattnet, at Brannorna and
Mjövattnet both drill-defined along with boulder occurrences where
the source of the mineralised boulders is yet to be discovered. The
combination of drill defined nickel sulphide mineralisation, which
remains open in multiple directions, and the upside potential near
the clusters of mineralised boulders makes the Mjövattnet project
particularly attractive for further exploration.
The Njuggträskliden Licence is described as an open dynamic
magmatic wedge-shaped conduit featuring intrusive breccias,
multiple magmatic pulses of mafic and ultramafic composition in a
gabbro, pyroxenite, peridotite host lithology. Mineralisation is
made up of massive and disseminated sulphide mineralisation,
veinlets and breccias. As with Mjövattnet, the country rock is
composed of migmatised paragneiss.
The drill defined zones of mineralisation at Njuggträskliden
remain open at depth, and the NSG noted in their summary report
that a 10-kilometre corridor of similar boulder clusters with
nickel sulphide mineralisation remains to be explored at
Njuggträskliden. These occurrences all lie within the
Njuggträskliden Licence and represent considerable upside
exploration potential.
Appendix A - Glossary of Technical Terms
"anomaly or anomalous" something in mineral exploration that geologists
interpret as deviating from what is standard,
normal, or expected.
The laboratory test conducted to determine
"assay" the proportion of a mineral within a rock
or other material. For base metals, usually
reported as percentage which is equivalent
to percentage of the mineral (i.e. copper)
per tonne of rock.
"azimuth" the "compass direction" refers to a geographic
bearing or azimuth as measured by a magnetic
compass, in true or magnetic north.
"diamond drilling" A drilling method in which penetration is
achieved through abrasive cutting by rotation
of a diamond encrusted drill bit. This drilling
method enables collection of tubes of intact
rock (core) and when successful gives the
best possible quality samples for description,
sampling and analysis of an ore body or mineralised
structure.
"dip" A line directed down the steepest axis of
a planar structure including a planar ore
body or zone of mineralisation. The dip has
a measurable direction and inclination from
horizontal.
"geochemical" Refers to geological information using measurements
derived from chemical analysis.
"geophysical" Refers to geological information using unit
measurements derived from the use of magnetic
and electrical readings.
"geophysical techniques" include the exploration of an area by exploiting
differences in physical properties of different
rock types. Geophysical methods include seismic,
magnetic, gravity, induced polarisation and
other techniques; geophysical surveys can
be undertaken from the ground or from the
air.
"grade" The proportion of a mineral within a rock
or other material. For copper mineralisation
this is usually reported as % of copper per
tonne of rock.
"g/t" grams per tonne; equivalent to parts per million
('ppm')
"Indicated Resource" An "Indicated Mineral Resource" is that part
of a Mineral Resource for which quantity,
grade or quality, densities, shape and physical
characteristics, can be estimated with a level
of confidence sufficient to allow the appropriate
application of technical and economic parameters,
to support mine planning and evaluation of
the economic viability of the deposit. The
estimate is based on detailed and reliable
exploration and testing information gathered
through appropriate techniques from locations
such as outcrops, trenches, pits, workings
and drill holes that are spaced closely enough
for geological and grade continuity to be
reasonably assumed.
"Inferred Resource" An "Inferred Mineral Resource" is that part
of a Mineral Resource for which quantity and
grade or quality can be estimated on the basis
of geological evidence and limited sampling
and reasonably assumed, but not verified,
geological and grade continuity. The estimate
is based on limited information and sampling
gathered through appropriate techniques from
locations such as outcrops, trenches, pits,
workings and drill holes.
"intercept" Refers to a sample or sequence of samples
taken across the entire width or an ore body
or mineralised zone. The intercept is described
by the entire thickness and the average grade
of mineralisation.
"massive" In a geological sense, refers to a zone of
mineralisation that is dominated by sulphide
minerals. The sulphide-mineral-rich material
can occur in centimetre-scale, metre-scale
or in tens of metres wide veins, lenses or
sheet-like bodies containing sphalerite, galena,
and / or chalcopyrite etc.
"Measured Resource" A "Measured Mineral Resource" is that part
of a Mineral Resource for which quantity,
grade or quality, densities, shape, and physical
characteristics are so well established that
they can be estimated with confidence sufficient
to allow the appropriate application of technical
and economic parameters, to support production
planning and evaluation of the economic viability
of the deposit. The estimate is based on detailed
and reliable exploration, sampling and testing
information gathered through appropriate techniques
from locations such as outcrops, trenches,
pits, workings and drill holes that are spaced
closely enough to confirm both geological
and grade continuity.
"Mineral Resource" A "Mineral Resource" is a concentration or
occurrence of diamonds, natural solid inorganic
material, or natural solid fossilised organic
material including base and precious metals,
coal, and industrial minerals in or on the
Earth's crust in such form and quantity and
of such a grade or quality that it has reasonable
prospects for economic extraction. The location,
quantity, grade, geological characteristics
and continuity of a Mineral Resource are known,
estimated or interpreted from specific geological
evidence and knowledge.
"mineralisation" In geology, mineralisation is the deposition
of economically important metals (copper,
gold, lead, zin etc) that in some cases can
be in sufficient quantity to form mineral
ore bodies.
"outcrop" A section of a rock formation or mineral vein
that appears at the surface of the earth.
Geologists take direct observations and samples
from outcrops, used in geologic analysis and
creating geologic maps. In situ (in place)
measurements are critical for proper analysis
of the geology and mineralisation of the area
under investigation.
"veins" A vein is a sheet-like or anastomosing fracture
that has been infilled with mineral ore (chalcopyrite,
covellite etc) or mineral gangue (quartz,
calcite etc) material, within a rock. Veins
form when minerals carried by an aqueous solution
within the rock mass are deposited through
precipitation and infill or coat the fracture
faces.
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