During geotechnical drilling for the positioning of the Merlin decline at the southern end of the Merlin Zone, high grade molybdenum mineralisation was encountered close to surface. This zone became known as Little Wizard.
Ivanhoe Australia, through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Ivanhoe Cloncurry Mines, holds 100% title to the Little Wizard Project.
Geology
Additional separate pods of high-grade material have the potential to exist both north and south of the Little Wizard zone which lies around 90 m below surface and is about 150 m east of the proposed Merlin decline (Figure 1).
Figure 1 Merlin Long Section showing Existing Resource and Little Wizard Deposit
Mineral Resource Estimate
The Little Wizard Mineral Resource has been estimated by Golders Associates Pty Ltd and replaces earlier estimates based on limited drilling by Ivanhoe and Quantitative Group Pty Ltd.
The Indicated Mineral Resource is shown in the table below, at a 0.3% Mo cut-off
1:
CATEGORY |
TONNES |
Mo (%) |
Re (g/t) |
Cu (%) |
Ag (g/t) |
Au (g/t) |
Indicated |
15,000 |
6.5 |
84 |
2.3 |
25 |
0.63 |
1See announcement of August 4, 2010 for full details
The key drilling results for Little Wizard for the resource are as follows:
- MDQ0264 - 3.7m @ 15.5% Mo, 150 g/t Re from 90 m
- MDQ0276 - 1.4m @ 9.3% Mo, 103 g/t Re from 96.6 m
- MDQ0278 - 1.8m @ 12.9% Mo, 178 g/t Re from 87 m
- MDQ0279 - 3.4m @ 9.0% Mo, 109 g/t Re from 90.5 m
- MDQ0280 - 4.3m @ 15.0% Mo, 188 g/t Re from 93.3 m
- MDQ0264 - 3.7m @ 15.5% Mo, 150 g/t Re from 90 m
Development
This high-grade resource has not been included as part of the Merlin Scoping Study and as such provides a significant upside financial opportunity for Ivanhoe Australia within the Merlin development plan.
Work on the Merlin decline commenced in September 2010. It is expected the decline could progress to be adjacent to the Little Wizard zone within 7 months of the commencement of the decline with a further 3 months required to access the mineralisation to allow mining extraction.
The mineralisation consists of massive coarse-grained molybdenite which may be readily upgraded to a marketable grade Mo/Re concentrate by crushing and either gravity or flotation processes. This high-grade concentrate could be sold to a toll roaster capable of maximising the rhenium recovery and payable metal.
The evaluation of Little Wizard as an early cashflow project is underway and will be included as part of the Merlin prefeasibility study.
