Re: NRU - Newera Uranium
Drilling to Commence – Shanagan Project, Mongolia.
HIGHLIGHTS
• Newera Resources Ltd is pleased to advise that its Mongolian subsidiary company, Newera Resources Mongolia LLC, has executed a drilling contract with Mongolian drilling contractor Best Drilling LLC.
• The drilling contract covers an ~ 1,000 metre drilling program that Newera intends to undertake on its Shanagan coal project area 140km south east of Ulaanbaatar.
• Drilling is planned to commence in Mid-August – pending the licence holder gaining all necessary Government approvals prior to the planned commencement date.
HIGHLIGHTS FROM NGS MAPPING
• A team of 3 experienced geologists from Nordic Geological Solutions LLC recently successfully completed high resolution mapping (i.e. 1:10,000 scale) with special focus on the coal-bearing sector of the Shanagan exploration property.
• Mapping confirmed Late Permian coal-bearing strata within a c. 8 km² area in the eastern part of the exploration tenement.
• Significantly, up to 9 laterally continuous black coal seams were identified by the mapping team, extensively exceeding the previous understanding of the number of Late Permian coal seams thought to exist, and as such, adding considerable value to the Shanagan project.
• The seams outcrop, or sub-crop, along the flanks of a NE – SW trending asymmetrical syncline.
• The thickness of the Late Permian coal measures estimated at c. 200m based on the detailed mapping - possibly thicker within synclinal sedimentary depocentre.
• NGS estimates combined coal thickness of c. 20m, with coal / clastic sediment ratio similar to the Late Permian Blackwater Group in the Bowen Basin.
• Sedimentary bedding dips between c. 5 and 40 degrees, with low angle dips along the extensive western flank and steeper dips along the restricted eastern flank.
• Favourable open-cut strip ratio for the vast majority of the deposit expected by NGS.
• Late Permian sandstone strike ridges continue for 100's of metres along strike, indicating somewhat limited post Permian structural deformation, with largest fault displacement of only a few 10’s of meters in places.
• The coking properties of the extensive Late Permian coal-bearing system in Mongolia is well documented (e.g. Erdenetsogt et al., 2009). Given the Late Permian age of the Shanagan coal measures and the synclinal architecture of the deposit, the potential coking coal distribution is predicted to be somewhat complex by NGS.
• NGS recommends a phased JORC-compliant drilling and trenching program to commence as soon as practicable possible. In this context NRU has already secured a drill rig for this initial exploration program.
• The initial drilling program to comprise 5 holes with a combined length of c. 1,000m, as well as trenching along the flanks of the syncline, with the aim of providing a maiden JORC resource during the next quarter. Drilling program to be supervised by 5 experienced NGS geologists.
• Extensive coal quality testing (including coking properties) to be conducted at SGS laboratory in Ulaanbaatar.