Sable Mining Africa Regulatory News (SBLM)

Sable Mining Africa Ltd/ Index: AIM / Epic: SBLM / Sector: Natural Resources

7 February 2011

Sable Mining Africa Limited ('Sable Mining' or 'the Company')

Positive Results from First Phase Drilling at Lubu Coal Field in Zimbabwe

Sable Mining Africa Ltd, the AIM listed resource company, is pleased to announce a positive update on the Lubu Coal Concession ('Lubu'), which covers 19,236 hectares of the highly prospective Karro Mid-Zambezi coal basin in the established Hwange (Wankie) mining district in north-western Zimbabwe. The results confirm the potential of Lubu and importantly demonstrate the presence of a coking coal fraction in the Main Seam as well as in three other seams. 

A 30 borehole first phase drilling programme commenced on 4 October 2010 with three drill rigs and was completed on 15 December 2010. A total of 3,838m has been drilled in this phase and 197 samples have been submitted to the ALS Laboratory Group in Witbank, South Africa, for testing.

Modelling of the Main Seam has confirmed an upward revision of the inferred resource. In the 1980s, Messina Transvaal Development Services Ltd modelled an inferred resource of 360 million tonnes and that has now been increased to an initial figure of approximately 360 million tonnes of Main Seam coal only. The average thickness of this seam in these samples is 15.71m. No JORC or SAMREC compliant resource estimates currently exist for Lubu.

The initial 91 analytical sample results from the first five boreholes have been received back from the laboratory. These results have been encouraging as they confirm that coking coal is present, not only in the Main Seam, but also in the overlying 1A, 1B and 1C seams. Swelling Indices of up to 8 have been reported in these samples. Using a lower swelling index cut-off of 3 to define coking coal, 83% of the samples taken contain a coking coal fraction. The percentage yield for this coking fraction averages 21% in these samples.

Set out below is a summary of the sample results for the coking coal components intersected in the first five boreholes.

Coking Coal Sample Fractions:

The 1A/B/C seams are being interpreted for consistency across the project area. 

Phase 2 of the drilling programme will begin shortly. This will both in-fill the Phase 1 drill holes, in order to publish a JORC compliant resource on Lubu, and start the drilling of Area 2, which is south of the current drill location.

The Company's on-site exploration team, led by Johan Erasmus (a competent person in terms of the SAMREC reporting code), has also identified two new areas within the Special Grant that present a good opportunity for additional shallow coal and thus an increase in the Company's resource tonnes.

Sable Mining CEO Andrew Groves said, "These are encouraging results and underpin the prospectivity of Lubu. The raised inferred resource of 360 million tonnes is based only on the Main Seam, so we expect a substantial upgrade of this figure when we receive the complete analysis from the drill holes. The coking coal fraction across multiple seams is significant and adds further value to the project. We now look forward to Phase 2 of the drilling programme, the results of which are intended to lead to the publication of a JORC resource and further value accredited to Lubu."

The information in this announcement that relates to Mineral Exploration results and Mineral Resources, together with any related assessments and interpretations, have been reviewed by Johan Erasmus, a qualified geologist and consultant to the Company. Johan Erasmus 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 qualified person as defined by the AIM Note for Mining and Oil & Gas Companies.

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