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Today, on 8th May 2019, Azure Minerals Limited (ASX:AZS) updated the market about the Mineral Resource estimate for its fully-owned Oposura zinc-lead-silver project located in Sonora, Mexico.
The updated Mineral Resource is based upon the Phase 2 program of 58 diamond drill holes, which is a total of 4,567 meters, along with the Phase 1 program of 173 holes, totalling 11,109 meters. The Mineral Resource was estimated and considered as Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resources as per the guidelines of the JORC Code by CSA Global Pty Ltd.
Mineral Resources have been reported at a cut-off grade of 1.5% zinc equivalent. This is considered as a reasonable standard for various mining options being assessed in the mining study for the Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS), which is expected to be reported in the third quarter of 2019.
Significantly, 85% of the contained metal within the Mineral Resource is currently classified under the Indicated Mineral Resource category, providing confidence in the continuity of grade and widths of the mineralisation.
The group reported an increased tonnage of the Indicated Resources, which is a representation of approximately five years of production based on the Scoping Study throughput rate of 500,000 tpa, further supporting and enhancing the results of the Scoping Study, which delivered an EBITDA of $237 million, an NPV of $112 million, an IRR of 76% and a payback period of 16 months.
The upgraded Mineral Resource also exhibits significant potential for further expansion upside with the mineralisation remaining open in the multiple directions. The drill results in the Central Zone demonstrated the potential to increase the project mine life further.
The Oposura project area is located approximately 150 kilometres from the Capital of the State of Sonora, Hermosillo and is accessed from Hermosillo via a two-lane bitumen highway. The adjacent bulk commodity export facility is located at the Port of Guaymas. A power supply option study undertaken in 2018 exhibited that the power for the project could be obtained from either 230kV or 32kV high voltage transmission lines within the 10 kilometres range of the project.
Azureâs Managing Director, Mr Tony Rovira stated that the company is progressing well with regards to the development and production strategy for Oposura. Further, he also highlighted that the drilling activity has increased the East Zone resource tonnage and the amount of total contained zinc, lead, and silver within the deposit.
In another update, the group confirmed the porphyry copper mineralisation at Cerro Alacrán with broad zones of visible chalcopyrite intersected.
On the price-performance front, the stock of Azure Minerals Limited was trading at $0.098, down 2% during the dayâs trade with a market capitalisation of ~$11.1 million (AEST 3:26 PM, 8th May 2019). The stock has yielded a negative YTD return of 30.0% with returns of -44.74%, -32.26% and 5.0% over the past six months, three months and one-month period, respectively. Its 52-week high price stands at $0.275, with a 52-week low price at $0.092, and an average trading volume of 61,729.
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