The Market Online - At The Bell

Join our daily newsletter At The Bell to receive exclusive market insights

  • MRG Metals (MRQ) has reported further high-grade heavy mineral sands deposits and new exploration targets at its Corridor South project in Mozambique
  • Drilling at the Nhacutse target has revealed encouraging high-grade, heavy mineral sands deposits, with surrounding zones showing further promise
  • The Bungane target contains the highest-grade auger hole drilled since exploration commenced on the Corridor projects in April 2019
  • The two deposits could eclipse MRG’s nearby Koko Massava project in size
  • The company now has the potential to create a heavy mineral sands hub in the region
  • MRG Metals is up 28.6 per cent today, with shares trading for 0.9 cents each

Mineral sands explorer MRG Metals (MRQ) has reported further high-grade deposits and new exploration targets at its Corridor South project in Mozambique.

Nhacutse target

Ongoing hand auger drilling at the Nhacutse target has revealed more encouraging high-grade heavy mineral sands (HMS) deposits, with further zones surrounding the target also showing promise.

Nhacutse has an already established footprint of approximately 5.7 square kilometres. A newly defined zone of HMS mineralisation with a footprint of approximately six square kilometres is located directly east of Nhacutse high-grade zone.

This was previously interpreted as a separate anomalous zone, but testing between the two sites has revealed continuous mineralisation, expanding the aggregate of the two high-grade zones to approximately 12 square kilometres.

A number of magnetic and radiometric anomalies have borne fruit so far, with the completed drilling yielding high-grade results and several others showing considerable promise. Further drilling will be deployed to explore and define the resource.

Bungane target

The Bungane target contains the highest-grade auger hole drilled since exploration commenced on the Corridor projects in April 2019. While preliminary results show there is less continuity of HMS mineralisation at Bungane compared to the Nhacutse target, this interpretation is still only based on wide-spaced drilling.

The broader thorium anomaly of the Bungane target covers over 7.5 square kilometres, so a new closer-spaced drilling program will provide a better understanding of the continuity in near-surface high-grade HMS deposits.

Koko Massava

MRG also has a substantial tenement at Koko Massava, a nearby HMS deposit. The company found test results at Koko exceeded expectations, and the final mineral resource estimate is due imminently.

The new zones at Nhacutse and Bungane have the potential to eclipse Koko in size, meaning the company has the potential to create a HMS hub in the region.

MRG Chairman Andrew Van Der Zwan says there is huge promise for MRG’s Mozambique operations.

“We are pleased to have discovered substantial quality and quantity mineralisation in the extension auger program at Nhacutse, with numerous holes having estimated total heavy mineral grades well in excess of 5 per cent,” Andrew stated.

“The Koko Massava mineral resource estimate due to be released next week will represent a significant milestone for MRG as an exploration company.”

MRG Chairman Andrew Van Der Zwan

“It is pleasing that the ongoing exploration success supports the potential for not only additional mill feed for Koko Massava from other targets, but significantly the potential for another stand alone resource or more significantly the combination into a regional resource base,” he added.

While ‘State of Emergency’ orders are in place in Mozambique due to COVID-19, Mr Van Der Zwan says operations are continuing.

“Operations [will] only continue where our employees and contractors can meet the protective requirements stipulated in the declaration,” Andrew continued.

“We will take all necessary action as required to keep our employees and contractors safe within the declaration orders and will advise the market should our operations be impacted materially in Mozambique,” he concluded.

MRG Metals is up 28.6 per cent today, with shares trading for 0.9 cents each as at 12:30 pm AEST.

MRQ by the numbers
More From The Market Online

Inca’s plan to drill IOCG targets in the Top End sends shares soaring 40%

Inca Minerals keep pushing up - rising 40 percent - as the company announces plans to…

Brightstar kicks off drilling at expanded 1.45Moz portfolio

Brightstar Resources has rolled out a program of up to 30 kilometres of drilling across its…
The Market Online Video

Mantle Minerals to kick off drilling at Mt Berghaus in WA

Mantle Minerals (ASX:MTL) has announced it's kicking off a 122-hole drill run on-site its Mt Berghaus…

Maiden drilling at West Arunta hints at major IOCG system for Rincon

Rincon Resources believes that drill core picked up from a maiden program of work at its…