Announcement yesterday from MLX...
Metals X moves into Phosphate
METALS X LIMITED advises that it has entered into a Heads of Agreement
with entities controlled by Dr Howard Carr and Scott Bishop to establish a
75% owned subsidiary company which will acquire a 90% interest in the
Agaton Phosphate Project.
Metals X will hold a 75% interest in the new subsidiary company and the
vendors, All Classic Enterprises Pty Ltd and Bishop Exploration Pty Ltd will
hold a 25% shareholding and 2.5 million options convertible at 10cps any
time before 30 June 2011 in full compensation for the transfer of a 90%
interest in the mining titles which are the subject of the Agaton Phosphate
Project. The titles are currently at the stage of exploration licence applications. In addition the vendors will retain a 10% interest in the project
free carried to the completion of a Bankable Feasibility Study.
Agaton Phosphate Project
The Agaton Phosphate Project (“Agaton”) is located between the town of
Moora and the Cooljaroo Mineral Sands areas approximately 120km north of
Perth.
Unlike other major rock phosphate projects in Australia like Phosphate Hill
(Incitec Pivot) and Wonarah (Minemakers), Agaton is a phosphate sands project, with phosphate occurring as nodules and precepitates within sandrich
sedimentation of the Dandaragan Trough. The phosphate mineralisation is considered to have formed by precipitation during the mixing of cold phosphate rich waters with warm continental shelf waters, as has occurred in
the giant phosphate deposits of Florida.
At numerous times over the past century the phosphate sands at Agaton
have been investigated with a brief history as outlined below:
1911: Western Australian Government Surveyors report outcropping
Phosphatic horizons near Poison Hill within the Agaton project area.
1948: Western Australian Government Geologist (Matheson) conducts field investigations and authors a book entitled “the Dandaragan
Phosphate Deposits”. The Phosphatic Poison Hill and Mole Cap Greensand horizons are mapped sub-outcropping in a northerly direction over several kilometers to the north-east of the township of Dandaragan, within Agaton project area.
1960s: Harvard University Palaeontologists uncover and identify Cretaceous Mossasaur and shark teeth fossil remains within the phosphatic
horizons east of Dandaragan. These fossils are abundant within the Cretaceous Florida phosphate deposits and demonstrate that the
Dandaragan Trough also experienced cold phosphate-rich waters mixing with warm continental shelf waters and direct precipitation of phosphate minerals; conditions critical for the formation of giant Phosphate deposits.
1970s: Western Australian Public Works Department complete a series of deep drilling programmes across the Perth Basin, around 100 holes of up to 3000m depth are completed. The Gnangara, Jandakot, Yarragadee, and other important aquifers are identified and evaluated as potential metropolitan water sources. Drill cuttings are provided to BHP for evaluation of potential economic hydrocarbon and mineral occurrences.
1977: BHP correlates continuous stratigraphy (the phosphatic Poison Hill and Molecap Greensands and the Gin Gin Chalk) between more than 50 PWD drillholes between Perth and North Dandaragan and produces an interpretive sub-surface map of the Cretaceous Dandaragan Trough. Phosphatic drill cuttings are assayed with intersections of up to 20.8% P2O5, > 5cm phosphatic pellets and phosphatic fossils are recovered and the NewCo area is identified as that with the greatest potential to host economic phosphate mineralisation with the Perth Basin. Company geologists conclude that “the area could contain a resource of up to 600 MT of rock phosphate ore” (BHP 1977).
1981-86: The Wesfarmers (CSBP)/Australian Fertilisers Limited JV secures tenements across the Dandaragan Trough centred on Agaton, and completes reconnaissance drilling of the Poison Hill and Mole Cap greensands for Phosphate mineralisation. Despite drilling and sample recovery problems, the Poison Hill and Molecap Greensands displayed significant phosphate mineralisation in every drill intersection (76 drill holes, 590 assays, average 2.03% P2O5 & 5m thick).
Importantly, the north south trending Dambadgee Fault is drill intersected towards the east of the Dandaragan Trough and identified as an important structural control on higher grade mineralisation. The Poison Hill Greensand within an area 6.4km along fault-strike, and 2.9km west of the fault (the Dambadgee Fault Domain “DFD”) is identified as a contiguous higher grade,
shallower zone of mineralisation. (14 drill holes, average 2.2% P2O5 & 23m thick, including a subhorizon averaging 5.99% P2O5 & 5m thick from 17m).
Petrographic descriptions and preliminary metallurgical tests were completed by Amdel on drill cuttings of the Poison Hill Greensands selected from 4 different holes. Sizing studies show that pellet fragments of greater than 2mm grade 14% P2O5 and constitute 5 weight % of the sample. Grinding of the pellets followed by flotation produced a concentrate of up to 23% P2O5 and
recoveries of around 50%. The sub-1mm fraction was not flotation tested and gravity concentration studies were not attempted.
2007: The vendors apply for 4 Exploration Licences covering some 825km² centred on the Agaton area and covering all of the available strike length of the Dambadgee Fault, all of the previous Wesfarmers/ AFL tenements and all of the historic surface occurrences of Phosphate of the
Dandaragan Trough.
Since acquisition, the vendors have completed significant studies on the historic work including the establishment of a digital database, the acquisition and integration of gravity, aeromagnetic, high resolution topography, deep seismic cross-sections, regional geology/ structure and aerial photography with previous exploration results.
It has been confirmed that:
• there is significant thickness and lateral continuity of the Poison Hill Greensands across the tenement area, including the higher grade DFD mineralisation.
• substantial tonnages of phosphatic sands exist and have significant potential to be upgraded using
conventional mineral sand concentrator technology to a high grade P2O5 feedstock.
• the mineralisation is considerably shallower within topographic lows and a sizeable proportion of DFD mineralisation is between 17 and 25m below surface.
• the structural architecture of the surrounding Perth Basin and the general structural architecture of the Dandaragan Trough, including abundant graben / trough structures in underlying sediments show positive implications for Cretaceous pellet trap sites.
Metals X believes the Agaton Phosphate Project holds excellent potential to evolve into a long-term producer of phosphate feedstock through sand mining processes and although at an early stage with title still pending, Metals X intends to put its muscle and expertise behind additional exploration, valuation and commercial assessment of the project.
Metals X Managing Director, Peter Cook said “we are excited by this venture and we have for some time been looking at establishing an industrial minerals arm as part of our diversification. This exciting project, in an industrial commodity that is facing significant demand and supply-side shortfall is a great way o start”.
