RNS Number:2610U
Oriel Resources PLC
17 November 2005
17 November 2005
Oriel Resources plc ("Oriel Resources" "Oriel" or the Company")
Oriel Resources is pleased to present its revised, AusIMM JORC 1999 compliant
resource statement for the Shevchenko nickel project
Highlights
Oriel is pleased to announce an update on the measured & indicated resource on
Oriel's 90% owned Shevchenko nickel project, which complies with the
Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, JORC 1999 ("JORC")
classification.
Key data are:
* At a cut-off of 0.60% Ni, a Measured & Indicated resource of 107.4 million
tonnes at 0.84% Ni for 902,043 tonnes of contained nickel
* At a cut-off of 0.70% Ni, a Measured & Indicated resource of 76.4 million
tonnes at 0.91% Ni for 697,051 tonnes of contained nickel
* Oriel has completed over 18,000 metres of confirmation and infill drilling
This has been modeled using Datamine by Adam Wheeler and approved by Dr. Phil
Newall, both of UK-based Wardell Armstrong International ("WAI"). Dr. Newall is
a qualified competent person in accordance with definitions set out in National
Instrument 43-101 and is a chartered engineer (CEng) and Fellow of the Institute
of Materials, Minerals and Mining (FIMMM).
The September 2004 Preliminary Assessment Study completed by Oriel on the
Shevchenko nickel project was based on a mine life of 15 years. The revised
indicated mine life on this latest resource estimate is now well in excess of 25
years, which was a primary goal of the Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS). The
DFS is being managed by Bateman Metals (South Africa) in conjunction with Mintek
(South Africa), Polysius, a member of the Thyssen-Krupp Group (Germany), and
Wardell Armstrong International (UK).
Commenting, Dr Sergey V Kurzin said:
"Oriel is pleased with the results of the resource drilling programme and the
subsequent modeling has broadly confirmed the Soviet era resource tonnage and
grade.
"We are confident that further resources will be delineated when the complete
results of the Yuzhniy drilling program are modeled and additionally when we
drill the Kundybai deposit. We expect to have a production life at Shevchenko
well in excess of 25 years.
"In addition, Oriel, through its Kazakh subsidiary Muzbel LLP - Shevchenko
license holder, is actively pursuing interests in a number of satellite nickel
deposits in the Shevchenko project region and has submitted applications for a
number of licenses on nickel properties to the Government of the Republic of
Kazakhstan".
For further information, please contact:
Dr Sergey V Kurzin, Executive Chairman, Oriel Resources plc
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7514 0590
Nick Clarke, Managing Director, Oriel Resources plc
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7514 0590
Jonathon Brill/Billy Clegg, Financial Dynamics
Direct: + 44 (0) 20 7831 3113
Vanguard Shareholder Solutions
Tel: 1-800 866-788-9288
Oriel Resources is pleased to present its revised, AusIMM JORC 1999 compliant
resource statement for the Shevchenko nickel project
Oriel is pleased to announce an update on the measured & indicated resource on
Oriel's 90% owned Shevchenko nickel project, which complies with the
Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, JORC 1999 ("JORC")
classification.
Key data are:
* At a cut-off of 0.60% Ni, a Measured & Indicated resource of 107.4 million
tonnes at 0.84% Ni for 902,043 tonnes of contained nickel
* At a cut-off of 0.70% Ni, a Measured & Indicated resource of 76.4 million
tonnes at 0.91% Ni for 697,051 tonnes of contained nickel Oriel has
completed over 18,000 metres of confirmation and infill drilling
* Oriel has completed over 18,000 metres of confirmation and infill drilling
This has been modeled using Datamine by Adam Wheeler and approved by Dr. Phil
Newall, both of UK-based Wardell Armstrong International ("WAI"). Dr. Newall is
a qualified competent person in accordance with definitions set out in National
Instrument 43-101 and is a chartered engineer (CEng) and Fellow of the Institute
of Materials, Minerals and Mining (FIMMM).
The September 2004 Preliminary Assessment Study completed by Oriel on the
Shevchenko nickel project was based on a mine life of 15 years. The revised
indicated mine life on this latest resource estimate is now well in excess of 25
years, which was a primary goal of the Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS). The
DFS is being managed by Bateman Metals (South Africa) in conjunction with Mintek
(South Africa), Polysius, a member of the Thyssen-Krupp Group (Germany), and
Wardell Armstrong International (UK).
This JORC compliant resource has been defined as a result of Datamine(R) block
modeling of eight of the nine ore deposits forming the Shevchenko Project,
namely Shevchenko, Blizhny, Grigoriev, Tarasov, Jubilee and Yuzhniy-1, 2 and 3.
The remaining ore deposit is Kundybai. The block model has been based on an
18-month Oriel drilling campaign comprising in excess of 18,000 metres of
confirmation and infill drilling. Confidence gained as a result of this campaign
has enabled Oriel to utilize the results from in excess of 144,000 metres of
Soviet drilling across some 7,000 drillholes and combine these with the Oriel
data into the block model.
A summary of the WAI Measured & Indicated resource statement is provided in the
following table which illustrates the resource by ore deposit defined at a range
of cut-off grades from 0.50% to 0.80% nickel.
Cut-off Grade Ni % 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8
Shevchenko
WAI Resource, Kt 23,661 21,003 16,678 12,317
Grade Ni % 0.87 0.91 0.96 1.00
Contained Ni Metal, t 205,851 191,127 160,109 123,170
Blizhny
WAI Resource, Kt 11,693 10,815 8,954 7,049
Grade Ni % 0.92 0.95 1.01 1.07
Contained Ni Metal, t 107,576 102,743 90,435 75,424
Grigoriev
WAI Resource, Kt 4,043 3,489 2,573 1,694
Grade Ni % 0.8 0.84 0.9 0.97
Contained Ni Metal, t 32,344 29,308 23,157 16,432
Tarasov
WAI Resource, Kt 30,265 25,345 19,374 14,251
Grade Ni % 0.81 0.86 0.93 0.98
Contained Ni Metal, t 245,147 217,967 180,178 139,660
Jubilee
WAI resource, Kt 42,430 28,008 16,804 8,347
Grade Ni % 0.69 0.76 0.83 0.91
Contained Ni Metal, t 292,767 212,861 139,473 75,958
Yuzhniy-1, 2, 3
WAI Resource, Kt 24,812 18,739 12,058 6,979
Grade Ni % 0.73 0.79 0.86 0.92
Contained Ni Metal, t 181,128 148,038 103,699 64,207
TOTAL
WAI Resource, Kt 136,904 107,399 76,441 50,637
Grade Ni % 0.78 0.84 0.91 0.98
Contained Ni Metal, t 1,064,811 902,043 697,051 494,850
The resource is grade sensitive and depending on the cut-off grade used, the
resource may be significantly higher. By dropping the cut-off grade to 0.5%
nickel, the Measured & Indicated resource is increased to 136.9 million tonnes
at 0.78% Ni, for 1,064,811t of contained nickel. Open-pit optimization will
define the optimum pit shells and Proven & Probable reserves based on this
resource statement and by application of operating costs and plant recovery
parameters. This optimization using NPV Scheduler is progressing with a plan to
produce a reserve statement sufficient to sustain a project life in excess of 25
years.
The Soviet era B+C1+C2 resource for the nine ore deposits of the Shevchenko
Project totaled 79.3 Mt at 0.92% Ni. The combined Ni-Co cut-off grade used in
the Soviet resource calculation is poorly defined and was is estimated as
equivalent to a 0.70% nickel cut-off. The revised resource statement for the
eight ore deposits as presented here of 76.4 Mt at 0.92% Ni, giving 705,693t
contained nickel compares favourably with the Soviet era total of 63.2 Mt at
0.94% Ni for a metal content of 594,296t contained nickel, giving a 20% increase
in overall tonnage and 19% increase contained metal for a 2% reduction in
overall grade. The quoted Soviet B+C1+C2 category resources are not JORC
compliant nor are they NI 43-101 compliant and should not be relied upon.
The Soviet era resource, for the remaining ore deposit Kundybai for which Oriel
holds the licence are a Soviet C2 resource of 16 Mt at 0.82% nickel, and for
which a drilling program is planned. Soviet C2 category resources are not JORC
compliant nor are they NI 43-101 compliant and should not be relied upon. With
these resources and with the potential from further known satellite deposits,
Oriel is confident that both the ore resource and contained metal resource will
be further increased.
Ends
Note: Certain information contained in this press release is forward-looking and
is subject to unknown risks or uncertainties. The actual results, performance or
achievements of the Company may differ materially from the results, performance
or achievements of the Corporation expressed or implied by such forward-looking
statements.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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