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Company Statement
MOUNT BURGESS MINING N.L. has been listed on the Australian Securities Exchange since 1985 and is currently developing a 27 million tonne Zinc, Lead and Silver resource in botswana as well as exploring for diamonds in both Botswana and Namibia.
Current Operations
Kihabe Base Metals Project - Botswana
Location: Ngamiland, Botswana and Tsumkwe, Namibia
Owner: Mount Burgess Mining NL 100%
Project Location
The Kihabe Base Metals Project is located on the border of Botswana and Namibia about 700km north-west of the capital, Gaborone, in Ngamiland. The Project is 350km by road from Maun and 50km from Tsumkwe, Namibia
Tenements
The Company has tenements covering 100% of the known prospective Proterozoic Belt of metasedimentary rocks, with around one third of the prospective geology occurring in Botswana (PL 69/2003, area ~1,000km˛) and two thirds in Namibia.
The Kihabe Project was held in the early 1980’s by Billiton Botswana (Pty) Limited, which carried out extensive soil geochemical reconnaissance and drilled three anomalous prospects, Kihabe , Nxuu Prospect and the Gossan Prospect.
The Kihabe and Nxuu Zinc-Lead-Silver Resources
The Kihabe Resource is located along a contact between the dolomite footwall and a sequence of rhythmically bedded sandstones, which have been folded and metamorphosed to, respectively, dolomitic marble and chloritic quartzite. The local geology of the deposit is known to be a west-plunging syncline.
Zinc, lead and silver mineralisation which is developed within the host quartzite within thick, coarse grained beds, weakens upwards in the stratigraphy as the grain size reduces. Mineralisation forms a series of overlapping stacked horizons controlled by the beds within the quartzite, over a strike length of 2.4 km.
The Nxuu resource is located approximately 5.5 km east south-east of Kihabe. Zinc and lead mineralisation at Nxuu is developed within a shallow, flat lying sedimentary quartz wacke host rock, situated in a synclinal structure or basin, bounded by barren dolomite.
The Company has published an initial JORC Resource at Kihabe and Nxuu. An initial programme of 13,000m of reverse circulation drilling and close to 6,000 metres of diamond core drilling has defined 27.4 million tonnes grading 2.32% zinc equivalency. 60% of the Resource conforms to an Indicated Category and 40% to the Inferred Category.
Gossan Prospect
The Gossan anomaly is a two kilometre long, by half kilometre wide soil anomaly with +1,000ppm zinc and +500ppm lead in soil, hosted within a valley bounded by dolomite, situated 15 km south of the Kihabe resource.
The Company has identified an in-situ gossan outcrop with peak values in rock sampling of 21.95% zinc, 7% Pb and 30 ounces per tonne of silver, which is a likely source for the extensive soil anomalism.
Development Progress
The Company is awaiting the results of a revised scoping study to determine the break-even metal prices required for the Kihabe/Nxuu Project.
Tsumkwe Diamond Project
Location: Ngamiland, Tsumkwe, Namibia
Owner: Mount Burgess Mining NL 90%, Kimberlite Resources (Pty) Ltd 10%
Project Location
The Tsumkwe Diamond Project is located on the north-eastern border of Namibia adjacent to the Kihabe Base Metals Project and the Western Ngamiland Diamond Project in Botswana The project surrounds the small town of Tsumkwe and covers an area of 6700km2 under 10 Exclusive Prospecting Licences, seven of which are in Joint Venture with Kimberlite Resources (Pty) Ltd.
Exploration to Date
Exploration by the Company to date has involved the collection of 3700 loam samples, which were processed for kimberlitic indicator minerals and drilling over 51,100m of percussion drilling to test potential kimberlite targets and to sample the basal Kalahari contact for indicator minerals.
The basal drilling and surface loam samples have generated several distinct surface and subsurface indicator mineral anomalies. These indicator minerals include 8 macrodiamonds and significant numbers of G9 and G10 kimberlitic garnets, occurring in distinct clusters.
The Company believes that the freshness and sub-rounded state of some of these G9 and G10 garnets is indicative of a short transport distance in the regolith and, thus, these indicator mineral anomalies are in close proximity to as yet undiscovered kimberlitic sources.
Exploration Model
The Company believes that the known kimberlitic indicator anomalies can be constrained to discrete palaeosurface domains defined by a series of subtle extensional half-grabens filled by the Kalahari Sands and bounded by listric extension faults.
It is the interpretation of the Company that these listric faults bounding the sediment-filled grabens represent zones of transcrustal weakness providing conduits for kimberlitic intrusives. As such, the Company’s focus for ongoing exploration is to define the relationship of indicator mineral anomalies to
the palaeosurface and to nearby fault domains and grabens, and to back-trace the source of the indicator minerals to kimberlite intrusions.
Initial success of this model has been the discovery of three non-diamondiferous Gura Kimberlites. The Company believes that the presence of macrodiamonds and G10 garnets infers the existence of a local diamondiferous kimberlite source.
Further Exploration
The forward programme to assess the diamond potential of the Tsumkwe Diamond Project revolves around:
- Imaging the palaeosurface and basement contours of the extensional half-grabens via magnetics, drill testing and gravity surveys to refine transport directions for kimberlitic indicator mineral anomalies
- Targeted ground magnetic and gravity surveys over the upland sources of kimberlitic indicator mineral anomalies
- Drilling discrete kimberlite type magnetic targets as well as sampling the base of the Kalahari sand cover in order to best assess the distances any recovered indicator minerals have travelled.
Hardap Project
Location: Maltahohe district, Hardap, Namibia
Owner: MTB (Namibia) (Proprietary) Ltd. (various percentages)
The Company's wholly owned subsidiary, MTB (Namibia) (Proprietary) Ltd has been granted four adjoining Exclusive Prospecting Licences (EPLs), covering a total area of 3,796 km˛ in the Hardap region of Namibia. The EPLs 3435, 3473, 3474 and 3475 have been granted with the right to explore for precious stones.
Several kimberlite pipes are known to exist within the area covered by these EPLs and the potential for the discovery of further kimberlites is ranked as very high. Recent work conducted by the Geological Survey of Namibia concluded that this area has potential to host diamantiferous kimberlites. The area lies inland and west of Meob Bay and Diamond Area 2, in the drainage area of the Tsauchab River and its tributaries. Although the present river disappears beneath the sands of the Namib Desert, its palaeochannel reaches the coast near Meob Bay. The Company believes that kimberlites contained in the EPL's have the potential to be the source for the diamond placer deposits that have been found around Meob Bay.
MTB (Namibia) (Proprietary) Ltd will maintain a 60% interest in EPL3435, with 40% equity being held on behalf of other Namibian corporations and an 80% equity in EPLs 3473, 3474 and 3475, with a 20% equity being held on behalf of other Namibian corporations.
North Western Ngamiland Diamond Project
Location: North Western Ngamiland, Botswana
Owner: Mount Burgess (Botswana) (Proprietary) Limited (100%)
Project Location
The North Western Ngamiland Project granted in February 2009 is located on the north western border of Botswana and adjoins the Company’s Tsumkwe Diamond Project in Namibia. Seven exploration licences which are situated some 30km south of the Xau Xau kimberlite field cover an area of approximately seven thousand square kilometres.
Regional Geology
Similar to the adjoining Tsumkwe diamond project area in Namibia the North Western Ngamiland project area is located on the southern margins of the Angolan Craton and is underlain by basement lithologies of Proterozoic and granite gneiss belts of pre-Damaran and Damaran age. A portion of the area has been intruded by the Trans-African Limpopo-Botswana dolerite dyke swarm. A veneer of Kalahari sands covers virtually the whole of the area.
Exploration Model
The Company believes that the North Western Ngamiland Project area has high potential for the discovery of kimberlites for the following reasons:
- The area is situated on the southern margins of the Angolan Craton.
- The area is some 30 km south of the Xau Xau kimberlite field in Botswana and the western borders are some 30 kms east of the Gura Kimberlites in Namibia.
- A large portion of the area is situated within the Trans-Africa Limpopo-Botswana dolerite dyke swarm, offering a potential zone of weakness for the intrusion of kimberlites.
- There is a probability that one or possibly two of the G10 garnet nomalies found by the Company in Namibia were sourced from the area now covered by the prospecting licences in Botswana and transported into Nambia through an evident palaeo drainage.
Future Exploration
This area in Botswana was flown for aero-magnetics in 1998, which led to the discovery of the Xau Xau kimberlite field, some 30 km to the north of the Company’s prospecting licences.
A number of aeromagnetic targets, displaying similar characteristics to kimberlite magnetic signatures have been identified and are currently being surveyed by close-spaced ground magnetic surveys in preparation for drilling. Some forty of these targets will be test drilled in an initial 2000 metre drilling programme.
The Company believes that it is in an extremely advantageous position to have secured the grant of these prospecting licences in Botswana as, together with its adjoining ground holding in Namibia it has consolidated a significant area, highly prospective for the discovery of diamondiferous kimberlites.
Through its previous base metals exploration and resource development of its Kihabe zinc/lead/silver project, which falls within this same area in Botswana, the Company has a well established base camp and infra-structure from which it can conduct future diamond exploration programmes within reasonable distances. This will significantly reduce on going future exploration costs while operating in this area during this period requiring strict resource management.
Geographical Spread
Tsumkwe, Namibia
Kihabe, Botswana
Board of Directors and Key Management
| Nigel Raymond Forrester, F.C.A. | Chairman and Managing Director |
| Ben Mosigi, M.Sc | Technical Director |
| Godfrey Edward Taylor, LLB | Non-Executive Director |
| Ronald William O'Regan | Non-Executive Director |
| Alfred P Stirling, F.C.A. | Non-Executive Director |
| Management | |
| BEN MOSIGI | Director of Mount Burgess (Botswana) (Proprietary) Limited |
| Serene Chau | Company Accountant & Joint Company Secretary |
| Jan Forrester | Joint Company Secretary |
Company AddressLevel 4, 109 St Georges Terrace
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Additional Address/Key ContactMailing Address |
CapitalAs at 1 April 2009 the Company had 320,257,000 ordinary shares on issue. |
Year End30th June |
Major Shareholders
| Citicorp Nominees Limited | 57,110,109 | 17.833% |
| National Nominees Limited | 15,284,457 | 4.773% |
| N R Forrester & Associates | 11,358,591 | 3.550% |
| Strata Drilling WA Pty Ltd | 11,000,000 | 3.430% |
| ANZ Nominees Australia Ltd | 9,882,603 | 3.086% |
| HSBC Custody Nominees (Australia) Ltd | 6,370,050 | 1.989% |
| Mrs Alison Fay Davies & Mr Peter Murray Davies | 5,100,000 | 1.590% |
| Mr Damian Connelly | 4,153,141 | 1.297% |
| Ronald William O'Regan | 3,950,000 | 1.230% |
| Cen Pty Ltd | 3,070,000 | 0.959% |
| Mr Jeremy Bewick Dowler | 3,000,000 | 0.937% |
Related News
25/01/10 - Mount Burgess Can Now See Light At The End Of A Long Zinc-Plated Tunnel25/06/09 - Mount Burgess Mining Is Poised To Take Advantage Of Any Upturn In The Zinc Price
06/11/08 - Riding Out The Downturn: Mount Burgess Takes A Realistic Look At The Zinc Market
08/01/08 - Mount Burgess Joins The Queue At The Assay Labs
Most Recent Statement
05/03/10 - High Metal Recoveries - Nxuu Deposit, Botswana11/02/10 - Results from Mineralogical Testwork - Nxuu Deposit
08/02/10 - Ministerial Visit to Kihabe Project, Botswana
20/01/10 - Kihabe Zinc/Lead/Silver Project, Botswana
16/12/09 - Significant Upgrade in Metal Recoveries - Kihabe Project
17/09/09 - KIHABE ZINC/LEAD/SILVER PROJECT, BOTSWANA - UPDATE