Mount Burgess (ASX: MTB) looks forward to infill drilling at Nxuu polymetallic deposit

 Highlights

• An Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) has been submitted to the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) for approval to conduct drilling at the Nxuu Deposit.
• The drilling campaign is expected to lead to an upgrade of the current Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) for the Nxuu Deposit.
• Mount Burgess plans to start production at the Nxuu Deposit due to its low cost, shallow, low-risk and other favourable characteristics.

Mount Burgess Limited (ASX: MTB) is gearing up for an infill drilling campaign at its Nxuu polymetallic deposit in Botswana. In its quarterly report ended 31 March 2024, the company shared the progress made to commence drilling at the Nxuu Deposit.  

The Nxuu Deposit is a shallow basin-shaped deposit characterised by mineralisation occurring within a completely oxidised and weathered quartz wacke.  

MTB advances EIA for drilling at Nxuu  

An environmental consultant to Mount Burgess Botswana Pty Ltd (MBB) has submitted an EIA to the DEA in Botswana. This EIA is a crucial step towards conducting a drilling program at the polymetallic Zn/Pb/Ag/V₂O₅/Ga/Ge Nxuu Deposit. The proposed drilling program aims to cover approximately 2,600m of vertical HQ diamond core infill drilling.

Upon approval, the company plans to engage a contractor to execute the drilling program. The company anticipates that the proposed drilling campaign will lead to an upgrade of the current 2012 JORC Code MRE for the Nxuu Deposit. This upgraded estimate is expected to include a higher proportion of measured and indicated resources.

Following the completion of the drilling campaign and the subsequent revised MRE, there are plans to advance to a pre-feasibility study, followed by a definitive feasibility study.

Pathways to recover minerals from Nxuu

During the reported period, the company remained committed to determining the potential metallurgical pathways for gallium and germanium recovery on site.

Multiple composite samples underwent screening, after which the size fractions underwent heavy liquid separation. The findings suggested that heavy liquid separation (HLS) could effectively decrease the mass and enhance the feed for processing in a plant. By eliminating the light minerals before processing the base metal minerals, a distinct ancillary process for recovering Ga/Ge becomes feasible.

Mineralogical determination of gravity samples will be employed to determine the host minerals of Ga/Ge. Additional metallurgical testing will be necessary to ascertain the potential for on-site recovery of gallium and germanium from the host minerals.

Previous test work for recovering zinc, lead, and vanadium pentoxide suggested:

Data source: company update

MTB shares traded at AU$0.002 apiece on 1 May 2024.