Meridian Mining reported on developments in its manganese and tin licences, in the state of Rondônia, NW Brazil.
- The landbank for the Espigão do Oeste Manganese Project has been enhanced following the recent DNPM approval of final reports and the grant of new exploration tenure.
- Final reports have been presented and approvals published for licences 886303/2009 and 886170/2010. The approval of the final reports in a important step in the process of converting these licences to mining leases ("Lavras").
- A new licence has been approved for exploration, less than two kilometres from the Company's plant (886252/2016). This licence hosts manganese occurrences along extensions of prospective structures identified in the Company's HeliTEM survey. The total area of the manganese licences now covers 131,589 ha.
- In the Ariquemes tin district, thirteen exploration licences have been approved, covering 96,173 ha.
- The new licences are registered 100% to Meridian and provide a strategic exploration foothold in addition to the joint-venture area at Bom Futuro with project partners CooperSanta.
- Additional licence applications have been registered and await approval. These licences target intrusive complexes and structures associated with the Ariquemes tin province, identified through the Company's assessment of the regional geophysical data.
"These new licences add significant strategic value to our position in Rondônia", said Anthony Julien, President and CEO of Meridian. "The new manganese tenure enhances our land position as we increase our production capacity, following the upgrades to our Jaburi Plant. Our investment in the Ariquemes district reflects similarly our confidence in the Bom Futuro project and regional exploration opportunities through the district. Rondônia is one of the least explored states in Brazil, and our strategy is to take these properties through the cycle of exploration to development to grow our business".
Meridian has gradually expanded production from colluvial and vein sources at the Company's operations at Espigão do Oeste, building to 51,580t of premium manganese oxide for the steel and fertilizer industry in 2017.