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STREAMPLAY STUDIO LIMITED — Interim / Quarterly Report 2007
Jan 30, 2008
65841_rns_2008-01-30_11aafd7b-5bac-40ac-9156-1ed8ccfec4c6.pdf
Interim / Quarterly Report
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SECOND QUARTER ACTIVITIES REPORT
Period: October - December 2007
HIGHLIGHTS
� ABU DABBAB
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10 year tantalum sale contract concluded with German major HC Starck GmbH for 600,000 pounds tantalum pentoxide per year
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Project tantalum & tin sales over initial 10-year period in excess of US$530 million
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Resource to Reserve upgrade drilling nearing completion
� WADI ALLAQI EXPLORATION – COPPER-NICKEL
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Drill intersected copper and nickel mineralisation; significantly including
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5m at 5.25% Cu & 1.42% Ni in ASRC004
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16m at 2.25% Cu & 0.64% Ni in ASRC009
� CORPORATE
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Fox-Davies Capital (London) appointed as Co-Broker
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Seymour Pierce Ltd (London) appointed as Nominated Advisor and Co-Broker
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Gippsland commences trading on Frankfurt stock exchange (Deutsche Börse)
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Exercise of all listed Options held by Directors
ABU DABBAB
Ten year tantalum offtake agreement
During the quarter the company announced that its 50% owned subsidiary Tantalum Egypt JSC had secured a 10 year contract ("Offtake Agreement") with the German major HC Starck GmbH ("HC Starck") for the supply of six million pounds of tantalum pentoxide ("Ta2O5") from its 40 million tonne Abu Dabbab project in Egypt.
The milestone Offtake Agreement covers the delivery of a minimum of 600,000 pounds of Ta2O5 per annum – almost the entire expected initial annual production of 650,000 pounds of Ta2O5 from the project. As is traditional for the tantalum industry, the Ta2O5 Offtake Agreement prices are confidential, however based upon present Ta2O5 spot prices the Abu Dabbab project is expected to generate Ta2O5 revenue in excess of US$280 million over the initial 10-year period of operations.
In addition to Ta2O5, the Abu Dabbab project is scheduled to produce approximately 1,530 tonnes of tin metal per annum which will be sold on the open market or via the London Metal Exchange. Based upon the present LME tin price the Abu Dabbab project is expected to generate tin revenue in excess of US$250 million over the initial 10 years of its estimated 20 year mine life.
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The Directors have ensured that the Offtake Agreement forms a solid foundation from which the Abu Dabbab project can diversify and expand significantly creating a focal point for world Ta2O5 production.
Importantly, the Ta2O5 Offtake Agreement contains price escalation clauses which largely protect Gippsland shareholders from production cost escalations, significantly reducing market risk. Additionally, the Abu Dabbab tantalum and tin extraction process is based upon industrystandard gravity separation techniques which affords considerable protection against technical risk.
The Offtake Agreement signed on 12 November 2007 replaces the smaller Ta2O5 offtake agreement between Gippsland and HC Starck referred to in the Company's announcement dated 13 January 2005 for the supply of 480,000 pounds of Ta2O5 per annum for a period of 5 years.
The Offtake Agreement is subject to a number of standard conditions precedent, including the placement of orders for SAG (Semi Autogenous Grinding) and Ball Mills by 30 April 2008, Execution of an Engineering, Procurement, Construction Management and Commissioning Services (EPCM) contract by 31 July 2008 and commencement of site works construction by 31 January 2009.
Project Finance
Discussions with German and English project finance banks have been ongoing during the negotiation of this expanded Offtake Agreement. Detailed negotiations are in progress with a major German bank over the terms and conditions for securing the senior debt portion of the project finance facility.
The Company is well placed to finalise project finance arrangements early in 2008. The capital cost for the project, including financing during construction is presently estimated to be US$125 million which is expected to be funded on an attractive 80% debt and 20% equity basis.
Feasibility Study Up-date
An addendum to the Feasibility Study Update was received during October 2007 documenting additional work that had been conducted since publishing the previous document in April 2007. The items reported in this Addendum include:
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Relocation of the process plant site to the vicinity of the mine to reduce ore haulage costs.
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• Capital and operating cost changes pertaining to the items above.
The overall Capex of the project is presently being reviewed and is expected to be available during February 2008.
Site Access
A dirt access road to the north side of the deposit was extended around the deposit utilising in part an existing but unusable track from the Soviet exploration period. The Soviet track was cleared, refurbished and continued around to the adits on the south side of the deposit where it joins up with the original dirt access road. All dirt roads were graded to facilitate the supply of plant and equipment.
Resource - Reserve Up-grade Drilling
A programme of eight reverse circulation (RC) drill holes totalling 1,438m was completed during October and November as part of an in-fill drilling programme to increase the drilling density of the
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more widely spaced Soviet drill holes. This will allow the inferred resources to be upgraded to the higher indicated category and hence be converted to a reserve category under the JORC Code.
The coordinates of the completed holes are listed in Table 1.
Table 1 Collar coordinates of completed RC holes
| Hole RL North (Local) East (Local) E-UTM |
N-UTM Az Dip Depth |
|---|---|
| ADRC001 410.8 1018.834 1360.258 655431 ADRC002 410.8 1015.703 1360.222 655431 ADRC003 400.5 1072.081 1269.023 655343 ADRC004 400.5 1069.993 1268.999 655343 ADRC005 354.6 965.805 1072.605 655156 ADRC006 354.6 969.907 1078.915 655162 ADRC007 426.1 825.61 1191.014 655271 ADRC008 426.1 825.61 1191.014 655271 |
2804132 188 -75 180 2804129 188 -65 180 2804182 200 -75 180 2804180 200 -60 180 2804078 65 -65 178 2804082 30 -60 180 2803945 30 -75 180 2803945 23 -60 180 |
| Total 1438 |
The RC drill holes will be extended by diamond drilling to depths below the previous planned pit shell allowing a bigger pit to be designed resulting in a larger reserve component. The diamond drilling programme comprises seven holes varying in length from 20m to 120m.
The diamond holes to be drilled are listed in table 2.
Table 2 Details of proposed diamond holes
| Hole RL North (Local) East (Local) E-UTM ADDH001 410.8 1018.834 1360.258 655431 ADDH002 410.8 1015.703 1360.222 655431 ADDH003 400.5 1072.081 1269.023 655343 ADDH004 400.5 1069.993 1268.999 655343 ADDH006 354.6 969.907 1078.915 655162 ADDH007 426.1 825.61 1191.014 655271 ADDH008 426.1 825.61 1191.014 655271 |
N-UTM Az Dip Length (m) Final depth (m) |
|---|---|
| 2804132 188 -75 60 240 2804129 188 -65 70 250 2804182 200 -75 70 250 2804180 200 -60 70 250 2804082 30 -60 20 200 2803945 30 -75 90 270 2803945 20 -60 120 300 |
|
| Total 500 1760 |
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Abu Dabbab Resource Upgrade Drilling
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Satellite Survey
The 3D satellite cover for the entire area from Abu Dabbab to the Red Sea Coast was acquired in late December 2007 by the Middle East ground station with first pass images available in early February 2008.
Ikonos satellite imagery has been ordered to cover a 125km[2] belt from the Abu Dabbab mine leases to the Red Sea coast. The Ikonos satellite will be specifically manoeuvred to the location as dual scanners have to be used to obtain the stereo data necessary for the generation of the 3D contours. Topographic contours to an accuracy of 2m can be generated from the stereoscopically acquired data which will be used for the mine and plant construction.
WADI ALLAQI
– Abu Swayel Copper / Nickel
During the quarter a programme of thirteen holes totalling 776m of RC drilling was completed at the Abu Swayel copper-nickel prospect. The drilling tested ancient workings and a transient electromagnetic (TEM) conductor which was delineated by a TEM survey completed during August.
The most significant results (Table 1) were obtained from holes ASRC004, 6 and 9 which were drilled below the ancient workings. Hole ASRC0011 which was drilled along strike from the ancient workings intersected 18m at 0.96% Cu and 0.57% Ni including 4m at 2.73% Cu and 1.33% Ni.
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| Table | 3 | Abu Swayel RC drilling-best | Abu Swayel RC drilling-best | results | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hole | From (m) | To (m) | Interval (m) | Cu (%) | Ni (%) | |
| ASRC004 | 24 | 42 | 18 | 1.55 | 0.54 | |
| including | 37 | 42 | 5 | 5.25 | 1.42 | |
| ASRC005 | 35 | 40 | 5 | 0.68 | 0.23 | |
| ASRC006 | 40 | 48 | 8 | 0.99 | 0.32 | |
| ASRC008 | 52 | 56 | 4 | 0.76 | 0.27 | |
| ASRC009 | 20 | 36 | 16 | 2.25 | 0.64 | |
| including | 21 | 28 | 7 | 4.41 | 1.17 | |
| ASRC011 | 24 | 42 | 18 | 0.96 | 0.57 | |
| including | 31 | 35 | 4 | 2.73 | 1.33 | |
| including | 39 | 42 | 3 | 1.16 | 0.94 | |
| ASRC012 | 11 | 36 | 25 | low | 0.16 | |
| ASRC013 | 8 | 20 | 12 | 0.24 | 0.19 |
The results are consistent with some earlier sampling from a shaft and crosscut and some diamond drilling completed during the early 1960s. These results included 10m at 1.87% Cu and 1.53% Ni in a shaft and 8m at 4.11% Cu and 1.77% Ni from a crosscut off the shaft at the 22m level.
The two holes drilled to test the TEM conductor contained minor sulphides (pyrite) in the drill cuttings and returned anomalous results (Table 2) but did not adequately explain the conductor.
| Table | 4 Abu | Swayel-anomalous results from | Swayel-anomalous results from | TEM conductor | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hole | From | (m) | To (m) | Interval (m) | Cu (ppm) | Ni (ppm) |
| ASRC003 | 56 | 60 | 4 | 926 | 311 | |
| ASRC010 | 24 | 72 | 48 | 215 | 528 | |
| including | 74 | 72 | 8 | 446 | 1387 |
Two drill holes (ASRC011 & 012) drilled close to the TEM conductor intersected mineralisation down plunge from the ancient workings and confirmed the easterly dip of the mineralisation in the ancient workings located to the southeast. The easterly dip is contrary to the interpreted dip of the relatively low amplitude conductor which was modelled as having a westerly dip.
| Table | 5 | Abu Swayel drill | hole locations | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hole | E-WGS84 | N-WGS84 | Depth (m) | Azimuth (mag) Dip | ||
| ASRC001 | 565653.000 | 2519068.000 | 60.00 | 220.0 | -60.0 | |
| ASRC002 | 565604.000 | 2519135.000 | 74.00 | 220.0 | -60.0 | |
| ASRC003 | 565408.000 | 2519182.000 | 84.00 | 040.0 | -60.0 | |
| ASRC004 | 565548.000 | 2519130.000 | 54.00 | 220.0 | -60.0 | |
| ASRC005 | 565578.000 | 2519111.000 | 51.00 | 220.0 | -60.0 | |
| ASRC006 | 565511.000 | 2519148.000 | 51.00 | 220.0 | -60.0 | |
| ASRC007 | 565530.000 | 2519171.000 | 60.00 | 220.0 | -60.0 | |
| ASRC008 | 565575.000 | 2519168.000 | 72.00 | 220.0 | -60.0 | |
| ASRC009 | 565525.000 | 2519122.000 | 57.00 | 200.0 | -60.0 | |
| ASRC010 | 565488.000 | 2519153.000 | 81.00 | 360.0 | -60.0 | |
| ASRC011 | 565487.000 | 2519159.000 | 45.00 | 220.0 | -60.0 | |
| ASRC012 | 565475.000 | 2519147.000 | 36.00 | 220.0 | -60.0 | |
| ASRC013 | 565608.000 | 2519064.000 | 51.00 | 200.0 | -60.0 |
The results are most encouraging and a programme of geological mapping, rock-chip sampling and ground magnetics will be completed to search for along-strike repetitions of the Abu Swayel Cu-Ni mineralisation.
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Seiga Prospect
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At the Seiga prospect a total of eight RC holes (CRC136 – 143) totalling 495m were completed. A short diamond tail was drilled on the end of CRC143. Six of the holes tested rock-chip geochemical anomalies. One hole was abandoned at 12m due to drill rig mechanical problems, with the last hole testing the depth extension of the main zone of mineralisation.
Six holes testing the rock-chip geochemical anomalies intersected zones of mineralisation with the best result in hole CRC138 which intersected 32m at 2.18g/t Au from 20m depth including 8m at 5.35g/t Au.
Hole CRC143 was drilled to test the depth potential of the main zone of mineralisation where previous work has defined a resource of 93,000oz. A pre-collar was RC drilled to 120m depth where the drilling method was changed to diamond to a programmed depth of 150m. The hole was terminated at 169m short of the target mineralised zone due to mechanical problems with the drilling rig.
CORPORATE
Appointment of London-based Co-Brokers
During the quarter Gippsland appointed Fox-Davies Capital Ltd and Seymour Pierce Ltd as CoBrokers to the Company.
Working independently, these broking houses will provide the Company with sound emerging market expertise, a research-driven platform and a high profile amongst institutional investors. The appointment of Fox-Davies and Seymour Pierce will expand the Company's presence in the United Kingdom, Continental Europe and North America to the maximum benefit of Gippsland shareholders.
The Directors see that these appointments are a logical progression in the Company's evolution, as it continues to progress its 40 million tonne Abu Dabbab tantalum project towards production as the Company becomes a critical link in the global tantalum supply chain.
Frankfurt stock exchange (Deutsche Börse)
Gippsland continued its expansion into European capital markets, with the Company's shares now trading on a regular basis on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (Deutsche-Börse) under the code "GIP".
Gippsland's move onto the major German securities exchange follows the Company's recent success in securing a 10-year tantalum offtake agreement with the German major HC Starck GmbH, which considerably increased German investor interest in the Company. A EURO based trading platform in Frankfurt will provide better exposure and involvement with the wider European investor base.
The Company will hold a number of investment seminars in Frankfurt and other German financial centres during the first half of 2008. German investor participation will be assisted by a German language website presently being prepared by the Company.
Exercise of listed Options
During the quarter Gippsland completed the issue and allotment of 33,674,180 shares pursuant to the conversion of listed options having an exercise price of A$0.09 which expired on 31 December 2007.
All of the Gippsland Directors holding listed options exercised 100% of their entitlements prior to or on 31 December 2007 as follows:
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RJ Telford 6,558,322 JM Chisholm 2,260,000 JD Kenny 2,250,000
The Directors were pleased to note that 77% of the outstanding listed options were converted raising approximately A$3 million (approximately UK£1.35 million or €1.81 million) for the company.
RJ (Jack) Telford Executive Chairman Gippsland Limited www.gippslandltd.com
For further information please contact:
Jack Telford Gippsland Limited T: +61 (0)8 9340 6000 E: [email protected]
David Newton, Director Corporate Finance Seymour Pierce Limited T: +44 (0)20 7107 8000 E: [email protected]
Richard Hail, Head of Corporate Finance Fox-Davies Capital T: +44 (0)20 7936 5200 E: [email protected]
Jane Stacey / Portman Warrick Hazeldine Investor Relations Investor Relations T: +44 (0)20 7429 6606 / 6607 T: +61 (0)8 9485 1254 M: +44 792 292 3306 M: +61 (0)417 944 616 E: [email protected] [email protected] E: [email protected]
Note:
In accordance with Listing Rule 5.6 of the Australian Stock Exchange Limited and Part 2 of the AIM Guidance Notes for Mining, Oil and Gas Companies, the geological information in this report that relates to Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves is based on data compiled by Dr John Chisholm, a Fellow of The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. Dr Chisholm who is an Executive Director of Gippsland Limited with over 25 years experience in the mineral industry including the evaluation of exploration data, mineral resources and ore reserves, has consented to the issue of the information in this report in the form and context in which it appears.
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