Modern Mining October 2017

MINING News

Drilling demonstrates high-grade nature of Tijirit orebody

areas and 10 km due south of Bujumbura and is, importantly, next to a main asphalt road, which will provide ease of access for the container trucks collecting rare earth concentrate for export. In partnership with thyssenkrupp Raw Materials (TK), Rainbow expects to make first sales of rare earth concentrate in Q4 2017. Prices for rare earth elements have been increasing rapidly in recent months and this has translated to Rainbow’s own basket price, which by 18 September 2017 had risen to over US$18 per kg (an increase of more than 80 % since the company’s IPO on 30 January 2017). Based on recent market feedback, Rainbow and TK are confident that there is strong demand for all of Rainbow’s planned near-termproduction.The company expects to achieve a run rate of 5 000 t/a of rare earth concentrate before the end of 2018.  time for assay results analysis, a Mobile Site Preparation Unit (MSPU) managed by SGS has been installed on the Tijirit property. The MSPU laboratory became operational in late August and is expected to increase efficiency and reduce lag time in the preparation and ship- ment of assay samples, thereby reducing overall turnaround time for assay results. Algold has also announced assay results, including high grade values of 100 g/t Au and 89 g/t Au, from rock chip panel (1 m 2 ) sampling car- ried out on the new Salma vein at Tijirit. Assay results from the samples, which were gathered during recent systematic 50 m spaced pitting and trenching exploration activities, extend the known gold mineralised structure to 3 km on strike. The Salma vein represents the newest high-grade discovery at Tijirit and is located only 5 km from the Eleonore and Lily veins. “These results highlight the compelling potential of the new Salma vein to rapidly add substantial high-grade resources at the Tijirit project,”said Algold CEO Francois Auclair. “We continue to focus on building and expanding upon the existing and new mineralised zones, which are all within very close proximity.” 

A drill rig working at the Tijirit property (photo: Algold).

Algold Resources, listed on the TSX-V, has announced additional assay results from the diamond (DDH) and reverse- circulation (RC) drilling carried out on its Tijirit property in Mauritania as part of the Corporation’s Phase III 25 000-m drilling campaign. The results, which include 6,84 g/t Au over 15 m, continue to demonstrate the high-grade nature and the continuity of the mineralisation, both near surface and

at depth, over the 3,5-km strike length of the Eleonore zone. The Phase III programme was initiated in February this year with the objective of further delineating the high-grade gold deposit. The programme was concluded in August with 182 RC holes, 18 DDH and 30 RC pre-collar/diamond tails completed for a total of 24 205 m of RC and 5 930 m of diamond drilling. In order to reduce future processing

Gakara rapidly approaches first production Rainbow, the rare earth element min- ing company, has issued an update on its Gakara rare earth project in Burundi, where first production and sales of rare earth con- centrate are being targeted for Q4 2017. Gakara is reportedly one of the highest grade rare earth element mining projects globally, with an estimated in situ grade of 47-67 % Total Rare Earth Oxide (TREO).

strength to strength, and our basket price has nearly doubled since our listing on 30 January 2017.” At the Gasagwe site, the company has focused on the pre-stripping work since April 2017, which has exposed the ‘Main Vein’ to a depth of around 3–5 m along 90 m of strike with several other subsidiary veins that are connected or adjacent. Following completion of the construc- tion of the run-of-mine (ROM) bunkers at the Kabezi plant site, Rainbow has com- menced extraction of ROM ore and will be stockpiling the feedstock in advance of plant commissioning within the next few weeks. Rainbow continues to develop the new processing plant, which is located approxi- mately 20 km from the company’s mining

“I am pleased to report extremely positive news on all fronts, which sees the company firmly on track to deliver its first shipment of concentrate in Q4 2017,” comments Martin Eales, CEO of Rainbow. “The construction of the plant at Kabezi is progressing well, despite minor logistical difficulties, and we have commenced min- ing ore from the Gasagwe pit. Meanwhile, the market for rare earths goes from

16  MODERN MINING  October 2017