Reward Minerals announces its December quarter results

Reward Minerals Ltd (ASX: RWD) has released its quarterly results for the period ended 31 December 2018. The company continued the infill drilling program during the quarter that was conducted in the previous quarter at its flagship Lake Disappointment (LD) Potash Project.

The company told that the objective of ongoing infill drilling at LD Project is to enable a resource update and conversion.  The initially conceived program which focused on the shallow section of LD’s resource was reportedly paused for a review and reassessment at the end of September with only 66% of the work having been completed. However, the concerns had arisen over excessive downtime due to the amphibious machines becoming bogged or occasionally succumbing to mechanical failure. Therefore, the company decided to use its AM315 amphibious excavator for the second phase of the program, equipped with a 200mm diameter flighted auger drill assembly to establish bores at a total of 52 sampling sites on a 4km grid. 

As per the company’s information, the new program was started on 30 October 2018 after the AM315 had been equipped with the auger and the program ran until the site was closed down on 20 December for the Christmas – New Year period. The main area of the lake targeted as a priority was reportedly the southern extremity which had not been reached by the Geoprobe program. It was within the primary development envelope of the LD Project which hosts the main body of infiltration trenches that will supply brine to the evaporation ponds.

In November the company commissioned the Survey Group to survey the lake to generate a more detailed digital terrain model (DTM) of the playa’s natural surface. Reward intends to use this information to create an improved understanding of surface water flows over the lake and the subsequent engineering and environmental controls that will be required for infrastructure that will be established on the playa surface for the Project.

The report read that the long-term evaporation, seepage and crystallisation trials continued throughout the quarter with careful monitoring of the two similarly-sized ponds. The company recorded the measured daily evaporation rates in SP1 and SP2 for the 28 days 16 November 2018 to 14 December 2018 at 7.9mm and 9.6mm respectively.

However, the total solids mass in SP1 and SP2 will reportedly be harvested during the next quarter, weighed and analysed to obtain an estimate of the total potassium recovery for the Stage 1 cycle.

Reward told that the brine from SP1 and SP2 was drained and transferred to a third swimming pool, SP3, between 14-20 December 2018 for Stage 2 potassium crystallisation. The company expects that this cycle will be completed by mid-January 2019 at which time the residual brine will be drained and transferred to the magnesium chloride End Brine storage pond.

The company incurred the expenditure of $1.8 million for the quarter ended December 2018. As at the end of the period, the net cash of Reward stood at $3.2 million.

RWD traded flat on 8 February 2019. The stock price last traded at $0.120 with a market capitalization of $19.51 million. RWD has fallen by 51.38% over the past 12 months.

Disclaimer

This website is a service of Kalkine Media Pty. Ltd. A.C.N. 629 651 672. The website has been prepared for informational purposes only and is not intended to be used as a complete source of information on any particular company. Kalkine Media does not in any way endorse or recommend individuals, products or services that may be discussed on this site. Our publications are NOT a solicitation or recommendation to buy, sell or hold. We are neither licensed nor qualified to provide investment advice.