MC - $23m
SP - 2.3c
Shares - 1.03b
Options - NQ
Cash - $2.5m
Kyrgyzstan Coal Projects
During the Quarter, the Company entered into an agreement to acquire an 80% interest in the Tuyuk-Kargasha, Kokkia and Min-Teke licenses in Central Kyrgyzstan (the Uzgen Basin Projects). The Uzgen Basin Projects have a Exploration Target1 of 501 to 700 million tonnes of thermal and coking coal and are located within 6 kilometres of the route of the proposed Trans-Asia railway.
The Company has engaged seven (7) drilling rigs for the 2012 field season. Earthmoving is progressing well and access tracks and first drill pads are nearing completion. Commencement of drilling is imminent.
During the Quarter, the Company entered into a conditional agreement to acquire interests in three prospective coking and thermal coal tenements (Tuyuk-Kargasha, Kokkia and Min-Teke) located in the Uzgen coal basin in Kyrgyzstan. The details of the Agreement can be found in the ASX announcement dated 18th June 2012.
Key Highlights of the Uzgen Basin Projects include:
• Three adjacent tenements covering an area of 9,763ha (97.6km²); with the Tuyuk-Kargasha and Kokkia tenements being contiguous.
• Almost all of the Project area is underlain by Jurassic sediments, the principal host of coal mineralisation in Kyrgyzstan.
• Outcropping coal can be found in all tenements, along with several small scale adits and open pits.
• The coal bearing formation is up to 250m thick. The formation contains around 50 layers of coal with individual layers up to 8.7m thick. These layers have been grouped into 4 main groups/seams. Interbedded waste layers are on the order of 0.1-0.3m thick.
• Four prospects have been delineated within the Tenements – Tuyuk, Kargasha, Kokkia and Min-Teke.
• Extensive exploration was completed on the Project in the Soviet era, including drilling of 60 cored drillholes at the Tuyuk and Kargasha Prospects for 28,920m, approximately 15,000 metres of trenching and adits and construction of a semi-industrial scale plant to test coking properties.
The Company has derived an Exploration Target for the Project of between 500 and 700 million tonnes of coal . The Exploration Target is based on the results of historical exploration (including drilling) carried out between 1941 and 1953 which is reported in Kashirin, Ibraimov and Karabalaev (1975)3 amongst other sources. The Company is about to commence a drilling and sampling programme which, if successful, may result in the definition of a JORC compliant resource for one or more of the Prospects contained within the Tenements. This drilling programme will also provide important detail on the quality of the coal present at the Project and will be used to validate the extensive drilling results from Soviet era exploration programmes.
Carnilya Hill Joint Venture
View Resources owns a 30% joint venture interest in the Carnilya Hill Joint Venture in Western Australia with Mincor Resources. Mincor Resources is the operator of the Carnilya Hill JV. The tenements covered by the Camilya Hill Joint Venture (JV) include Mining Licences M26/47, M26/48, M26/49 and M26/453.
During the Quarter, the Company received the final payments from the ore parcels treated in the March Quarter. All ore from Carnilya Hill is treated and the resultant concentrate acquired by BHP Billiton Nickel West Pty Ltd under an ore tolling and concentrate purchase agreement.
The Carnilya Hill site has been placed on care and maintenance during the quarter. The Joint Venture will incur nominal running costs to ensure the site is kept secure, safe and well maintained.
Exploration will continue on the tenements comprising the Joint Venture, managed by Mincor as the Operator of the Joint Venture. Results from exploration programmes will be released as they become available.
Regional Nickel Exploration
The Company continues to carry out data compilation and target generation works on its granted tenement E39/1641 and application E39/1684 in the Eastern Goldfields region of Western Australia. The tenements are located near to Minara Resources’ Murrin Murrin mine and the NiWest operation currently under development by GME Resources Ltd and are believed to have potential for both nickel laterite and nickel sulphide mineralisation. The Company aims to commence exploration activities on the tenements shortly following a review of the historical data. In due course, the Company may consider spinning out its nickel interests into a new public vehicle listed on the ASX.