For personal use only

Size: px
Start display at page:

Download "For personal use only"

Transcription

1 KRUCIBLE METALS LTD Mineral Discovery Company ABN: ASX Code: KRB About KRUCIBLE Krucible Metals Ltd is a diversified, Australian owned minerals explorer with a proud discovery history. The main focus is western Queensland. The company has 62.6 million fully paid shares on Issue the stock is tightly held with the top 20 holding 59%. The directors hold about 11.4%. All of the tenements (except one) are 100% owned by Krucible. ASX ANNOUNCEMENT 11 TH OF JANUARY 2012 HIGHLIGHTS Preliminary surface sampling at Coorabulka has returned strongly anomalous results for Heavy Rare Earth (HREE) values up to 1.2 kilogram/tonne Yttrium Oxide, 4.02 kg/t Neodymium Oxide, 1.08 kg/t Praseodymium Oxide and 0.23 kg/t Dysprosium Oxide have been returned. Coorabulka is located 200km south of the Korella Inferred Resources for Yttrium and Rock Phosphate (see previous 2011 ASX announcements on Krucible s website Coorabulka is also prospective for Oil Shales in the Toolebuc Formation and Cannington Style Lead Zinc Silver deposits in the underlying Proterozoic basement. Its Korella Phosphate & Rare Earth resources are immediately adjacent to the fully integrated fertiliser plant at Phosphate Hill near Mt Isa Queensland. Depending upon economic feasibility, Krucible aims to undertake trial mining then upscale production from late Also Krucible discovered virgin Copper mineralisation by drilling conceptual targets. The next phase of drilling for 2012 will be guided by 3D geological & geophysical modelling to test for potentially large and high grade Copper orebodies. Surface sampling at Yttro (located 15km northwest of Korella) has previously returned up to 2.2kg/t Neodymium Oxide and 1.8kg/t Yttrium Oxide. These high value results are considered to be very encouraging for successful Rare Earth exploration by Krucible in Queensland ultimate value depends on favourable metallurgy results. No drilling for Rare Earths has been carried out to date at the Coorabulka and Yttro EPM Applications (due to be granted in late 2012?) CONTACT INFO PO Box 499, Castletown, Townsville, QLD 4812, Australia Tel: +61(0) , Fax: +61 (0) info@kruciblemetals.com.au KRUCIBLE BOARD Michael Leonard Chairman Tony Alston Managing Director Ray Koenig Non-Executive Director Dennis Lovell Company Secretary

2 Heavy Rare Earth Discovery at Coorabulka / Queensland The Directors of Krucible Metals Ltd are pleased to announce that potentially significant results for Heavy Rare Earth Elements (HREE) have been received from surface sampling near the Pigeongah waterhole at Coorabulka (Located about 300km SSE of Mount Isa See Figure 1). Sampling of large concretionary nodules (see photo below) from a council road borrow pit has returned values (kilograms per tonne) up to 1.2 Yttrium Oxide, 4.02 Neodymium Oxide, 1.08 Praseodymium Oxide and 0.23 Dysprosium Oxide. Svanbergite Concretionary Nodules from Coorabulka, containing strongly anomalous Heavy Rare Earths The full suite of values is shown on Table 1 whilst the current nominal prices for HREE are shown in Table 2. TABLE 1 COORBULKA MAXIMUM VALUES FOR SVANBERGITE SAMPLES FROM PIGEONGAH WATERHOLE Element Oxide Metal (Kilo per (parts per million) tonne) Yttrium Neodymium Dysprosium Europium Gadolinium Praseodymium Samarium TABLE 2 CURRENT QUOTED PRICES (10 JANUARY 2012) FOR HEAVY RARE EARTH ELEMENTS (METAL PAGE WEBSITE) APPROX. PRICE PER KILO ($US) Element Metal Oxide Yttrium $170 $160 Neodymium $210 $190 Dysprosium $2,800 $1,500 Europium $5,300 $3,900 Gadolinium $205 $190 Praseodymium $250 $160 Samarium $150 $80 NB. PRICE OF COPPER PER KILO IS APPROX $7.5 PRICE OF CERIUM PER KILO IS APPROX $80

3 This location (Pigeongah Waterhole) is mentioned in the Geological Explanatory notes for the Springvale 1:250,000 Sheet (Reynolds M. A., 1965, Bureau of Mineral Resources) as the mineral Svanbergite which is a secondary Strontium Phosphate mineral (as well as Barium Phosphate mineral) that usually forms as concretionary nodules this is thought to be the only documented occurrence of Svanbergite in Queensland. Krucible became interested in this site as it was noticed that there is a strong Strontium (Sr) and Barium (Ba) association with Yttrium Phosphate minerals at Krucible s Korella and Yttro HREE deposits (these are located approximately 200km north of Coorabulka see Figure 2). Krucible has applied for Exploration Permit for Minerals (EPMA and 19476) at Coorabulka over this sedimentary basin environment which is considered to be prospective for large scale, shallow HREE / Phosphate mineralisation at the Disconformity contact of the Cretaceous Toolebuc Formation and the overlying Alluru Mudstone (the Toolebuc Formation is also prospective for Uranium Molybdenum Vanadium mineralisation as well as oil shales). A strong magnetic complex underlies the relatively shallow sedimentary cover units (see Figure 3) and this is considered to be an ideal setting for Cannington style Lead Zinc Silver mineralisation (depth m?). It is hoped EPMA19286 will be granted by late 2012 so that drill testing can be undertaken in In the interim period remote scanning geophysical surveys (gravity and electro-magnetics) can be utilised to define sedimentary channels and Paleo-aquifers for possible high grade HREE enrichment at shallow depths (less than 50m). Primary sources for these secondary HREE enrichment zones may be from nearby Proterozoic basement rocks. Mineralogical investigation of the Svanbergite nodules will also be carried out as a prelude to metallurgical test work. IN SUMMARY KRUCIBLE HAS BEEN FORTUNATE TO DISCOVER YTTRIUM MINERALISATION ASSOCIATED WITH A DISCONFORMITY AT THE TOP OF THE PHOSPHATE SEQUENCE AT KORELLA. PROJECTION OF THIS SEDIMENTARY FAULT MODEL HAS RESULTED IN THE DISCOVERY OF POSSIBLE SIGNIFICANT HREE ENRICHMENT AT YTTRO (15KM TO THE NORTHWEST) AND COORABULKA (200KM TO THE SOUTH). WHILST IT IS RECOGNISED THAT FAVOURABLE METALLURGICAL TEST WORK WILL BE CRITICAL TO THE POSSIBLE DEVELOPMENT OF THESE AREAS; THE GEOLOGICAL MODELLING TO DATE BY KRUCIBLE HAS OPENED UP NEW BOUNDARIES FOR SEDIMENTARY STYLE HREE DEPOSITION (+ URANIUM?). EXPLORATION FOR FURTHER AREAS OF ENRICHMENT WILL CONTINUE IN 2012 TO EXPAND KRUCIBLE S MULTI ELEMENT PORTFOLIO.

4 ABOUT RARE EARTH ELEMENTS (REE) The so called Rare Earth Elements (REEs) are a group of 15 chemical elements knows as Lanthanides (Scandium and Yttrium are usually added to these because of their similar properties); These have unique physical and chemical properties, such as high ductility and melting points, which make them ideal for modern high-tech manufacturing. Although the elements are in fact, not all that rare in abundance in the earth s crust; they are usually finely dispersed and can only be exploited when combined in minerals that are concentrated in zones these deposits are not common, especially for the Heavy Rare Earths (HREE) which usually have a higher atomic mass than the Light Rare Earths (LREE). Lower value LREEs such as Lanthanum and Cerium are mainly used in ceramics, glass production, automobile glazing and oil refineries / catalysts etc. Most of the higher value HREEs are produced as a by product from the Cerium / Lanthanum mineral processing plants. The metallurgical extraction techniques for REEs are usually complex, costly and often site specific, so that currently there are not many new mines being developed in the Western world. HREE such as Yttrium, Neodymium and Dysprosium are vital for the production of super magnets, super conductors, super alloys and other compounds, which are increasingly being utilised in hybrid cars, wind turbines, aerospace technology, computers, mobile phones and TV s etc, as well as laser communication, ceramics and water treatment. The current world consumption of Rare Earths is about 130,000 tonnes a year this is predicted to double in the next 10 years. The values of Heavy Rare Earths have dramatically increased over the past 2 years (although more subdued in the past 6 months) due to increasing high-tech demand and tight restriction of exports from China, who control over 90% of the world market. China recently has reviewed its export policy and announced that it is separating the light and heavy rare earth quotas. LREE will get 85% of the export quota whilst HREE is allocated 15% of the quota. This effectively means that the supply of HREE will remain tight (requiring production from new mines outside China); whilst supplies of LREE (such as Cerium and Lanthanum which are associated with radio-active Thorium minerals) will likely move into surfeit in the next 5-10 years. Krucible is heavily into HREE exploration (especially for shallow sedimentary style deposits, which have hitherto been largely ignored in Queensland), because of their high value and global demand and because they do not seem to have any association with radio-active Thorium minerals.

5 Attached: FIGURES 1, 2 and 3 Tony Alston Managing Director Krucible Metals Ltd. Further Information: Mr Tony Alston Phone (07) WEB SITE: COMPETENT PERSONS STATEMENT Information of a scientific or technical nature in this report was prepared under the supervision of A.J. Tony Alston, CEO and Chief Geologist of Krucible, who is a member of the Australian Institute Geoscientists and the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. Mr Alston has sufficient experience, which is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration, and to the activity he is undertaking, to qualify as a competent person as defined in the 2004 edition of the Australasian Code of Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves. Mr Alston has reviewed and approved Krucible s quality assurance program, quality control measures, the geology, samples collection and testing procedures the basis for information contained in this report. For further information regarding the mentioned Prospects please refer to reports and releases to the Australian Stock Exchange over the last 18 months together with the Company s website at This report contains forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements reflect management s current beliefs based on information currently available to management and are based on what management believes to be reasonable assumptions. A number of factors could cause actual results, or expectations to differ materially from the results expressed or implied in the forward looking statements. Mr Alston consents to the inclusion in this report of the matters based on his information in the form and context in which it appears.

6

7

8