Excellent news from AUR's Nkout iron ore project t-- A 33 hole drilling programme has been completed at Nkout totalling over4,200m
-- Excellent Davis Tube Recovery ("DTR") results from Nkout with an averageFe (total) concentrate grade of 70% using a grind size of P90 of less than 100u
-- No deleterious materials present with the final concentrate low in silica,phosphorous and alumina
-- Mass recovery of 42%
-- Oxidised cap material grading between 40-62% Fe (total) with metallurgicaltestwork underway
-- An additional target at the adjacent Ngoa was drilled, 10 shallow holesfor 550m completed
-- Maiden resource statement is anticipatedby early February 2011
Luis da Silva, Chief Executive of African Aura, commented:
"This is a major step forward in establishing Nkout as a significant regionaliron ore project. The progress made in less than twelve months is significantand this will culminate with a maiden resource statement in the coming weeks.After demonstrating the underlying value in the company with the delivery of thegold PEA which supports the current marketcapitalisation of the Company, Nkout will further demonstrate theunder-valuation of African Aura and making the rationale for the proposeddemerger more compelling."
The Company recently completed a 4,200m core drill programme on the Nkout property in southernCameroon. The drilling has confirmed the occurrence of an east-west trending andconcordant magnetite bearing banded iron formation ("BIF") that was discoveredafter the completion of regional grab sampling and aerial and ground magneticsurveys within the Djoum license area that is 100% owned by African Aura.
Drilling has focused on the Nkout Centre target that makes up approximately3km of a regional magnetic anomaly that extends for some 18km within the Djoumlicense area.
The drill programme that has been completed was designed to target themagnetite BIF and overlying oxidized cap material with 11 inclined drillholesintercepting on average a 200m thick BIF unit and 22 vertical drillholestargeting the weathered BIF and intercepting up to 60m in thickness. All assayshave now been received for the exploration programme and SRK Consulting (UK)Limited ("SRK") are currently in the process of undertaking the inauguralMineral Resource Estimation ("MRE") for the Nkout Centre project. The results ofthe MRE are expected to be announced in early February 2011.
The magnetite BIF averages approximately 40% Fe (total) with SRK selecting 86representative samples for DTR testwork. The Davis Tube results are highlyencouraging and show that when using a grind size of P90 of less than 100u, thata very high grade concentrate averaging 70% Fe, 0.17% Al2O3, 2.2% SIO2 and 0.01%P is attained at a mass recovery of 42.2%. The Davis Tube results also show that87% of the Fe within the BIF relates to a magnetite mineral phase.
The oxidized cap material shows elevated Fe grade that ranges from 40% Fe(total) to 61.8% Fe (total) and is a result of the natural enrichment of the BIFafter Silica dissolution, this being a typical weathering profile of Fe depositsin Central and West Africa. SRK has selected a composite sample of the keymineralization domain within theoxidized cap that is currently undergoing testwork at the SGS laboratory inTruro UK, to test the amenability to upgrade through standard gravity circuitsinto a saleable concentrate. The results of the testwork are expected toavailable for integration into the results of MRE.