Quarterly Activities Report
30 1월 2009 - 5:45PM
UK Regulatory
TIDMBKY
RNS Number : 5183M
Berkeley Resources Limited
30 January 2009
Quarterly Activities Report
For the Quarter Ended
31st December 2008
Key Developments
Corporate
*
*
* In light of the rapid deterioration in the global capital markets, and the
expectation that risk capital will be both scarce and expensive for the
foreseeable future, the Company has undertaken a comprehensive review of its
operational activities, staffing levels and costs and implemented substantial
reductions.
Exploration
* Seven Reverse Circulation holes totalling 624m were drilled on the North West
extension of the Gambuta deposit, and results indicate substantial thickening of
tertiary cover, possibly due to normal faulting..
* A review of Berkeley's extensive ground holding position, supported by ground
reconnaissance assessment of both conceptual and known target areas, was largely
completed with the aim of prioritising future exploration and rationalising
holding costs. This work also identified some very significant prospects and
enhanced others.
* Successful water sampling orientation surveys were completed with the
aim of using this technique for exploring for blind mineralisation below
Tertiary cover.
* Representative samples from the Retortillo deposit were sent to SGS Lakefield
and Ultrasort in Australia for metallurgical and radiometric sorting testwork
aimed at assessing the potential for establishing a heap leach operation.
Enquiries - Managing Director: Matt Syme Tel: +61 417 906 717
RBC Capital Markets: Martin Eales Tel: +44 20 7029 7881
Corporate
In December 2008, Berkeley agreed the terms of a Co-operation Agreement with
ENUSA Industrias Avanzadas S.A. (ENUSA), pursuant to which Berkeley will
undertake a Feasibility Study with a view to re-commencing uranium mining based
on ENUSA and Berkeley's assets in Salamanca Province, Spain.
The transaction was approved by Berkeley shareholders on 19 January, 2009.
Pursuant to the Agreement, Berkeley will have the right to acquire up to 90% of
ENUSA's uranium mining and exploration assets, which include State Reserve
permits containing substantial historical resources and also access to ENUSA's
Quercus uranium processing plant (in its present condition), which was
previously permitted to produce up to 950tpa of U3O8.
Berkeley's objective is to generate a total resource base for the project of
over 65m lbs of U3O8 and to complete a Feasibility Study within 18 months of
approval by the Spanish Government.
The ENUSA assets include:
* The advanced Sageras, Zona M and Mina D deposits, with historical foreign
estimates of resources totalling 16.56mt at 466ppm for 17m lbs of U3O8. These
deposits are located largely on ENUSA owned land and have been the subject of a
previous ENUSA "viability" study which will provide a strong starting point for
Berkeley's study. These deposits are extensions of the previously mined Fe
deposit and are located within 2 km of ENUSA's Quercus processing plant.
* The less advanced, but extensively drilled, Alameda and Esperanza deposits,
which along with Berkeley's existing JORC resources, may provide substantial
further sources of feed. Berkeley has established exploration targets of
25.5-29.0mt at grades ranging from 450-500ppm in these deposits (about 28-29 m
lbs U3O8), based on very extensive work by ENUSA. These deposits are
approximately 10 km from the Quercus plant.
* The right to use the Quercus uranium processing plant, which has been on care
and maintenance since 2003, along with its associated infrastructure. The plant
was permitted to produce 950tpa of U3O8 and is in excellent condition, albeit
that it lacks a comminution circuit. It includes static and dynamic leach
facilities and all necessary infrastructure and offers major capital cost and
time savings over building a new plant.
* Substantial exploration potential in all of the ENUSA State Reserves, which will
be very complementary to Berkeley's own exploration portfolio.
The main terms of the Co-operation Agreement are:
* Berkeley will pay ENUSA an initial deposit of EUR5m to acquire ENUSA's database
relating to the assets.
* Berkeley will undertake a Feasibility Study on mining the ENUSA State Reserves
for processing through the Quercus plant, probably in conjunction with
Berkeley's own resources in Salamanca Province (Salamanca I Project). The
Study will commence upon approval of the transaction by the Spanish Council of
Ministers and is expected to take 18 months to complete.
* Berkeley may then pay ENUSA a further EUR20m to acquire a 90% interest in a joint
venture company owning the ENUSA assets. Up to the time of commencement of the
Feasibility Study ENUSA may choose to retain a 10% free carry in the joint
venture, or it may opt to retain up to 49% contributing equity, in which case
the consideration is reduced accordingly and ENUSA will fully fund its share of
the joint venture.
* ENUSA will retain a 2.5% royalty on production from the State Reserves. ENUSA
will also receive a lease fee for the Quercus plant, representing 2.5% of the
value of uranium produced through the Quercus plant, regardless of source.
* Berkeley will pay 50% of the maintenance costs of the plant over the Feasibility
Study period, up to EUR250,000pa.
* The Joint Venture company will assume environmental and rehabilitation
liabilities for any new mining areas and plant additions, as well as its
proportionate share of the overall costs of the existing Quercus plant, based on
its future use of the plant, relative to ENUSA's past utilisation.
Further details of the transaction and the assets are set out in the
announcement dated 9 December 2008.
Costs Review
The unprecedented downturn in global economies and markets in late 2008 is
likely to adversely affect the availability and cost of capital for junior
resource companies for the foreseeable future. The Directors of the Company
therefore took the view that it was prudent to undertake an immediate review of
operational activities, staffing levels and costs, to ensure cash resources are
maintained for the impending ENUSA Feasibility Study.
As a result a number of actions were taken in late 2008, including severe
curtailment of exploration programs. Unfortunately, these actions resulted in a
number of retrenchments and the Company is now maintaining staffing at a level
appropriate to undertake the Feasibility Study, and enable limited exploration
of the ENUSA ground.
Additional cost saving measures are also under consideration.
EXPLORATION
Caceres VI Project - Gambuta
Following completion of the initial 36 hole RC and diamond drilling program in
July 2008, and calculation of the maiden Gambuta inferred resource of 9.23
million pounds of U308, drilling activities were halted during the high risk
part of the local fire season.
Interpretation of the initial results indicated that the deposit was still open
to the NW, where the final drill traverse intersected significant thicknesses of
mineralization. RC drilling recommenced in October to complete the most
north-westerly drill traverse and to test for extensions to the NW. Whilst
continuity of mineralization was established across the last drill traverse, the
first extension traverse, 200m to the NW, revealed >90m of Tertiary sediments.
This abrupt thickening of the Tertiary cover, from 10m in the previous traverse,
indicates normal faulting with the NW block down.
The Gambuta deposit has potential as a stand alone heap leach operation, with
uranium recovery from an operation at the Quercus plant. Therefore
further drilling and metallurgical testwork will follow progress of the ENUSA
project.
Regional Exploration
The strong reduction in drilling activity during the quarter provided an
opportunity to undertake an in-depth technical review of the Company's
exploration projects. This included a revision of the current exploration
process in parallel with an examination of the target portfolio and tenement
holdings.
In addition water sampling was successfully trialled for its potential
to identify blind uranium mineralisation, where surface radiometric responses
are absent because prospective basement stratigraphy is overlain by Tertiary
sediments.
Assessment of Berkeley's exploration portfolio was divided into two categories:
firstly to review known targets which resulted from both historical work and
Berkeley exploration; and secondly to review the potential of ground holdings
based on conceptual targeting. In both cases, these reviews benefited from the
Company's increasing confidence in identifying the key ingredients required for
forming an Iberian-type uranium deposit. A total of 23 granted licences and
applications in the Salamanca, Caceres and Toledo provinces, covering an area of
approximately 200,000ha, were covered.
At the Salamanca 1 project, review of the recent drilling programs on known
prospects enabled approximate estimation of additional resource potential
within the project and prioritisation of greenfield exploration targets when
work resumes.
In Caceres Province, the prospect reviews also included field work to assess
additional potential along strike from known prospects, with results feeding
into decisions re future exploration priorities and opportunities for ground
relinquishment.
The conceptually targeted areas were subject to regional reconnaissance scale
ground radiometric surveys and geological mapping, with some very encouraging
results. Some of these areas have never previously been assessed for uranium.
Others have apparently been subject to some ground radiometric surveys by JEN
and ENUSA, which allowed Berkeley geologists to focus on field inspection of
anomalous areas identified from historical information. Some essential follow
up field work is required in the current quarter before results can be reported.
Water Sampling
Berkeley recognises strong potential for uranium mineralisation where
prospective Late Proterozoic and Lower Palaeozoic basement is overlain by
younger Tertiary rocks. In such areas any anomalous radiometric response from
mineralization will be masked by relatively thin cover and therefore blind
deposits will be difficult to detect by the usual uranium exploration
technologies. Therefore it has conducted geochemical orientation surveys using
water from existing bore holes around known mineralisation in the Caceres and
Salamanca provinces with encouraging results. This method will be used, in
combination with geological mapping, to assess the potential of significant
areas of untested Tertiary cover over prospective stratigraphy, particularly
within the ENUSA project.
Metallurgical Testwork: Retortillo
A total of 800kg of representative sample material from the Retortillo deposit
were sent to SGS Mineral Services in Perth, Australia in December, 2008, with
the aim of assessing the potential for establishing a heap leach operation.
The initial program of testwork on these samples has the following objectives:
* To establish the uranium distribution with size.
* To establish the crushing and grinding characteristics of the ore.
* To determine if the ore is amenable to heap leaching, and, if so assess the
suitability of resin ion-exchange as a first stage in the recovery of uranium
from the leached liquor.
Samples were also sent to Ultrasort Pty Ltd in Sydney for initial testwork on
their amenability for radiometric sorting.
Initial results are expected in the March 2009 quarter.
The information in this report that relates to Exploration Results, Mineral
Resources or Ore Reserves is based on information compiled by Dr James Ross, who
is a Fellow of The Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and a
consultant to Berkeley Resources Limited. Dr Ross has sufficient experience
which is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under
consideration and to the activity which he is undertaking to qualify as a
Competent Person as defined in the 2004 Edition of the 'Australasian Code for
Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves'. Dr Ross
consents to the inclusion in the report of the matters based on his information
in the form and context in which it appears.
+----------+--------+---------+--------+-------------+-----------+--------+-------+--------+--------+----------+
| Positive Results from Gambuta Drilling (31.12.08) |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| HOLE | UTM | UTM | RL |Inclination | Recovery | End | Minimum Intersections > 200ppm |
| ID | East | North | | | | of | U3O8 |
| | | | | | | Hole | |
+----------+--------+---------+--------+-------------+-----------+--------+------------------------------------+
| |metres | metres |metres | Degrees | % |metres | From | To | Int |U3O8 (%) |
| | | | | | | | | | (m) | |
+----------+--------+---------+--------+-------------+-----------+--------+-------+--------+--------+----------+
|GAMR-037 |291300 |4404199 | 413 | -90 | - |119.00 |82.00 | 83.00 | 1.00 | 0.02040 |
+----------+--------+---------+--------+-------------+-----------+--------+-------+--------+--------+----------+
| | | | | | | |86.00 | 87.00 | 1.00 | 0.02382 |
+----------+--------+---------+--------+-------------+-----------+--------+-------+--------+--------+----------+
|GAMR-039 |291365 |4404282 | 412 | -90 | - | 115.0 |38.00 | 40.00 | 2.00 | 0.10988 |
+----------+--------+---------+--------+-------------+-----------+--------+-------+--------+--------+----------+
| | | | | | | |41.00 | 44.00 | 3.00 | 0.02264 |
+----------+--------+---------+--------+-------------+-----------+--------+-------+--------+--------+----------+
| | | | | | | |53.00 | 54.00 | 1.00 | 0.02158 |
+----------+--------+---------+--------+-------------+-----------+--------+-------+--------+--------+----------+
| | | | | | | |56.00 | 57.00 | 1.00 | 0.02217 |
+----------+--------+---------+--------+-------------+-----------+--------+-------+--------+--------+----------+
| | | | | | | |63.00 | 64.00 | 1.00 | 0.03902 |
+----------+--------+---------+--------+-------------+-----------+--------+-------+--------+--------+----------+
| | | | | | | |86.00 | 87.00 | 1.00 | 0.02452 |
+----------+--------+---------+--------+-------------+-----------+--------+-------+--------+--------+----------+
Note: All assays are by Delayed Neutron Count by Actlabs and only the positive
holes are shown
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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