Skip to main content

AI assistant

Sign in to chat with this filing

The assistant answers questions, extracts KPIs, and summarises risk factors directly from the filing text.

SUREFIRE RESOURCES NL Capital/Financing Update 2017

Dec 6, 2017

65857_rns_2017-12-06_1a5397a1-901a-4994-a416-be7156d04107.pdf

Capital/Financing Update

Open in viewer

Opens in your device viewer

7 December 2017

ASX Announcement

==> picture [203 x 74] intentionally omitted <==

________________

Kooline Lead – Silver Project Expansion

Highlights: HOA - Kooline Expansion

  • Surefire consolidates tenement holding to cover whole of the Kooline Lead/Silver field.

  • New Licence covers a 48km uninterrupted strike length containing all main historic lead/silver mines and occurrences.

  • Kooline historic ore production from high-grade massive galena averaged 10-12% lead and 30-45g/t silver.

  • In addition to lead/silver, significant copper and gold assayed in Company’s rock chip samples.

  • Gold intersection 1m @ 3.87g/t reported in historical drill hole at the Bilrose working.

Surefire Resources NL (“SRN” or “Company”) is pleased to announce that the Kooline Lead/Silver Project in the Ashburton Province (“Project”) will expand with the Company signing a binding head of agreement (“HOA”) with Mallee Minerals Pty Ltd (“Mallee Minerals”) in respect of an application for Exploration Licence E08/2956.

The consideration payable to Mallee Minerals under the HOA comprises the payment of $24,574 to reimburse costs and expenses associated with the Tenement incurred by Mallee Minerals to the date of the HOA, and a production royalty of 3% on all minerals produced and sold from the tenement. The acquisition is conditional upon the parties seeking and obtaining all appropriate regulatory or other approvals in relation to the tenement application, a condition which must be satisfied within 12 months of execution of the HOA.

Kooline Project

The Company’s licence tenure will cover a total of 386 km², and more importantly, includes 48km of contiguously striking licences linking a number of clusters of historic artisanal lead workings and mines in the high-grade Kooline Lead Field.

The tenement area will extend from the Big Chief Lead Mine in the south-eastern corner, to the Kooline-Coombes Lead Mine in the projects north west (see Figure 1).

Mallee Minerals is an entity associated with Mr Vladimir Nikolaenko, a director of the Company. The Board (other than Mr Nikolaenko) considers that the HOA is on commercial, arms’ length terms and the acquisition provides SRN with significantly increased exposure to the Kooline Lead Field and additional ground to complement its existing interest in the Project.

AUSTRALIA 45 Ventor Avenue, West Perth WA 6005 | T +61 8 9429 8888 | F +61 8 9429 8800 ABN 48 083 274 024 | ASX SRN | E [email protected] www.surefireresources.com.au

In addition, as previously announced, the Company is well advanced in its plans to test a number of targets identified by induced polarisation (“IP”) anomalies and a Program of Work (“POW”) has been granted from the Department of Mines and Petroleum (“DMP”) in order to commence this drilling.

Location

The Kooline Project is centred 55 kilometres south of the Paulsen’s goldmine and 190 kilometres WNW of Paraburdoo within the Ashburton province of Western Australia . The project area tenements consist of granted Exploration Licences, E08/2372, and E08/2373 and ELA 08/2956 (Figure 1).

Figure 1: Project tenements and location

==> picture [410 x 575] intentionally omitted <==

Kooline Project Background

The Kooline Project is situated in a relatively underexplored region in Western Australia where numerous historic gold, and particularly lead workings are evident. The tenements strike along a moderately defined magnetic and gravity anomaly, indicating the potential presence of moderately deep igneous intrusions. Such intrusions are an important heat source driving the circulation of hydrothermal fluids enriched in various base and precious metals, particularly lead. The lead is deposited in vein filled shears and structures as massive galena (Figure 2) In addition, a number of other base metal anomalies occur within the project area with numerous high-grade copper, lead, silver and gold samples from rock-chipping and RC drilling.

==> picture [452 x 197] intentionally omitted <==

Figure 2: Massive galena from the Bilrose mine Kooline Lead/Silver Field

Historic Mining

The Ashburton River area, particularly around Mount Dawson, was actively mined for alluvial gold in the late 1890’s. This interest in the area faded with the discovery of the Golden Mile in Kalgoorlie. However, despite its remote location the high-grade massive galena deposits of the Kooline lead were attractive targets for historic mining operations. Production commenced there after the Second World with the first lease in the field was pegged over the Beadon mine in October 1947 and mining continued until 1959 when low metal prices forced the mines to close.

Over 40 workings can be found in the area and although most of these operations were small-scale “hand-mined” shallow workings generally no deeper than 15 metres. Three of the mines accounted for over 60% of production, these being the Gift, June Audrey, and Bilrose mines, each with its own battery or crusher and a concentrator. The Gift mine was the most substantial operation reaching a depth of 52m and workings that extended for almost 50m east and west from the shaft.

Output from this time yielded some 2,679 tonnes of lead, and 26,522 ounces of silver with an average grade of 10-12% lead and 30-45g/t silver. A proportion of the mined ore was sufficiently high enough grade for direct shipping.

Previous Exploration Activity

Most of recent exploration activity over of the licence areas at Kooline was undertaken between 2007 and 2010 and included a number of geophysical and geochemical field surveys and some very limited drilling.

In 2008, a series of gradient array IP surveys over the Pharlap June Audrey and Silver King/Rainbow historic mines and identified several conductive zones with considerable strike length. Additional Dipole-Dipole surveys across the June Audrey and Silver King/Rainbow workings identified strongly conductive bodies at depth

Whilst some anomalies were tested by Athena Resources Limited in a 10-hole RC drill programme at that time, many targets remain untested. These untested targets include zones of conductivity evident from IP surveys with coincident moderate to strong auger soil geochemical anomalies. Some of these targets are below the deepest levels of workings, or where mineralisation extends beneath areas of transported colluvium and alluvium.

Also of interest is an anomalous gold intersection from this drill programme where hole AK09RC04 at the Bilrose mine workings (Figure 3) unexpectedly returned a 1m intersection @3,87g/t from 25 metres depth (AHN.ASX September Qtrly 30/10/2009) No follow-up testing was undertaken.

==> picture [449 x 336] intentionally omitted <==

Figure 3: Bilrose Mine area Kooline

The high grade of the mineralisation from the workings at the Kooline Lead/Silver field has been previously supported by rock-chip assays announced by both Surefire and previous workers. These results also include a number of significant copper assay values, Figure 4 shows the Company’s rock chip assay results previously announced on 10th November 2016.

==> picture [365 x 454] intentionally omitted <==

Figure 4: Kooline Rock Chip assays. (November 2016)

A detailed, low-level airborne magnetic, radiometric, and digital terrain survey also undertaken in 2008 has proved to be instrumental is improving the understanding of the structural geological controls on the sulphide mineralisation at Kooline. This data shows the massive galena that was historically mined occurs within shear-hosted hydrothermal veins that appear dilated at intersections with cross cutting faults.

Structural thickening of the host veins is now being targeted by Surefire to test with RC drilling in order to locate and thence define significant mineral resources of sufficient tonnage.

==> picture [453 x 309] intentionally omitted <==

==> picture [453 x 307] intentionally omitted <==

Figure 5 and 6: Kooline Main Lead/Silver Field with +100ppb lead contours and IP survey chargeability overlying airphoto and RTP aeromagnetic image

Changes in the Lead Market

Global lead mine output has continued to decline in recent years (Figure 7). In 2016, there was a sharp decrease in Australian lead mine output mainly as a consequence of the closure of the Century mine in 2015 and a 100,000 tonne cutback in lead output at some Glencore operations. These reductions were partially balanced by a rise in production in China resulting in an overall global decline of 1.3%.

==> picture [437 x 229] intentionally omitted <==

Figure 7: World Mine Lead Production

Although the refined lead market was near balance regarding supply and demand in 2016 the lack of concentrate supply from mining has resulted in a noticeable fall in Warehouse stocks (Figure 8) and subsequent rise in the lead price (Figure 9).

==> picture [406 x 253] intentionally omitted <==

Figure 8: LME Lead Warehouse Stocks (Kitco)

==> picture [416 x 248] intentionally omitted <==

Figure 9: LME Lead Spot Price (Kitco)

With the lack of new mine lead production, the market sentiment for the price of lead continues to be bullish. A key indicator regarding the supply shortage can be found in the substantial fall in the refining processing price by smelters. During 2017 Lead treatment prices have fallen in many instances to below US$20 per tonne from US$80 per tonne average in 2016 (Reuters/Metal Miner).

For further information, contact :

Vladimir Nikolaenko Director 0417 717 417

Competent Persons Statement:

Information in this report relating to exploration results is based on information compiled by Martin Dormer Consultant Geologist. Mr. Martin Dormer, who is a member of the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, 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 Competent Person under the 2012 Edition of the ‘Australasian Code for reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves’. Mr Dormer consents to the inclusion of such information in this report and the context in which it appears.