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MRG Metals (ASX:MRQ) reports further high-grade mineral sands in Mozambique

Materials, Mining
ASX:MRQ      MCAP $2.525M
09 April 2020 13:45 (AEST)

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.

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