14 Oct 2015 07:00
14 October 2015
Ormonde Mining plc
("Ormonde" or "the Company")
Barruecopardo Update
The Board of Ormonde is pleased to provide an update on progress at the Barruecopardo Tungsten Project in Salamanca, Spain ("Barruecopardo" or the "Project").
Highlights
· Council Building Permit and Extraordinary Use of Rustic Land approvals received
· Exercise of Land Option to Purchase Agreements 88% completed
· Drilling campaign commenced, with the aim of further confirming the potential for the mineral resources to be expanded and extended at depth, both in the central and northern areas
· Other progress includes
o Construction Readiness: First environmental bond placed
o Services: Electrical connection contract signed
o Engineering: Detailed engineering advanced with site layouts and process flow diagrams finalised
o Land: Compulsory acquisition process advanced on lands not covered by Option to Purchase Agreements
· Focus of activities over next quarter is on placing orders for priority 1 and 2 equipment, agreeing Construction Management Contract, commencing water line installation, finalising water dams engineering, commencing environmental works, and continuing to advance compulsory land acquisition.
Steve Nicol, Ormonde's Managing Director, commented:
"Following receipt of the initial $25 million equity contribution towards the end of June, Q3 has been a very busy period for Ormonde as the Barruecopardo Tungsten Project moved into its development stage. Several key milestone steps were achieved by the onsite team, culminating in the receipt from the Barruecopardo Town Council of the Building Permit, which is required to be in place ahead of commencing construction on site.
Activities on the ground continue to gather pace as the Project moves towards a commissioning date prior to the end of 2016, and I look forward to updating shareholders on progress in the interim on a regular basis."
Detail
Council Building Permit and Extraordinary Use of Rustic Lands
These important permissions are required prior to any building activities commencing at the Barruecopardo site and were issued by the Barruecopardo Council to the local Project company, Saloro SLU ("Saloro"), immediately upon receipt of the necessary approval having been granted by the Salamanca Provincial Urban Planning Commission.
Exercise of Land Option to Purchase Agreements
Prior to receipt of the financing package, Saloro had Option to Purchase Agreements over approximately 75% of the land blocks required to commence the Project, with a further 10% of land blocks covered by long term rental agreements with the Barruecopardo Council. 15% of the land blocks required were not the subject of Option to Purchase or long term rental agreements and are therefore now under compulsory acquisition. Of the 75% of land blocks that were under an Option to Purchase, some 88% of these have now been exercised and purchased, with the remainder planned to be purchased in the coming quarter.
Drilling campaign commenced
Clear potential exists to increase resources and mine life at Barruecopardo, with drilling to date having been focussed near surface above a depth of c.250 metres, however potentially economic tungsten mineralisation has been recognised in many of the deeper holes.
A six hole, 2,300 metre diamond drilling campaign has commenced at Barruecopardo, designed with the aim of further investigating an expanded zone of mineralisation identified in drilling completed in 2012 below the base of the northern end of the currently planned open pit. The drilling will also test for similar extensions of the mineralisation at depth beneath the main central part of the open pit.
Other Progress
The first of two environmental bonds has been placed with the Regional Government as required by the terms of the Mining Concession. No work could commence at the site until this first bond was put in place, with the second required prior to the commencement of certain environmental works at the site.
The electrical connection contract signed with the electricity supply company, Iberdrola, covers improvements to the Barruecopardo substation prior to the connection of power to the Project being possible. These works are contracted to occur within the next 10 months, making this an important contract to have placed.
Fairport continue to advance the Project Detailed Engineering since commencement in June 2015, with site layouts and process flow diagrams having been recently finalized. The finalizing of process flow diagrams is an important pre-requisite to being in a position to issue final tenders for equipment supply.
Compulsory acquisition for the 10% of remaining land blocks required for the commencement of the Project started in March 2015. This process continues to advance satisfactorily in parallel with other construction readiness activities.
Enquiries to:
Ormonde Mining plc
Steve Nicol, Managing Director Tel: +353 (0)1 8253570
Capital M Consultants
Simon Rothschild Mob: +44 (0)7703 167065
Murray Consultants
Mark Brennock Tel: +353 (0)1 4980300 Mob: +353 (0)87 2335923
Davy Corporate Finance (Nomad / ESM Adviser, Joint Broker and Financial Adviser)
Eugenée Mulhern / Roland French Tel: +353 (0)1 6796363
SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP (Joint Broker)
Ewan Leggat Tel: +44 (0)20 3 470 0470
Sampling, Assaying and Quality Control Measures
All core has been routinely logged by an experienced geologist. Relevant core intervals were split in half by diamond saw, with half being sent for assay and the other half being retained in the core boxes for reference. Sampling is carried out over one metre intervals.
Sample preparation and analyses were performed at ALS Chemex (Spain). Assays are reported using the fusion XRF method. Reference samples (blanks, duplicates and certified standards) are routinely included in each sample batch as quality control measures. In addition check assays are performed on selected mineralised samples.
Mark Holdstock PhD PGeo EurGeol, a qualified person as defined in the Guidance Note for Mining, Oil and Gas Companies, June 2009, of the London Stock Exchange, has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this announcement.
About Ormonde
Ormonde Mining plc is admitted to trading on the AIM market in London and the ESM market in Dublin and is a mineral development and exploration company focused on Spain (Ticker: ORM). Ormonde holds an interest (30%) in the Barruecopardo Tungsten Project, which it is currently developing as a low cost tungsten mining operation to become a major, European supplier of tungsten, with commissioning targeted for late 2016. Ormonde also has other exploration projects for gold and copper.
For more information please visit www.ormondemining.com or follow Ormonde on Twitter https://twitter.com/ormondemining or Linkedin http://www.linkedin.com/company/ormondemining-plc
A glossary explaining technical terms contained in this announcement can be found at www.ormondemining.com/en/investors/technical_glossary.