Macarthur Minerals Expands Lithium Projects
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - Feb. 17, 2016) -
THIS NEWS RELEASE IS NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES
Macarthur Minerals Ltd. (TSX VENTURE:MMS) (the "Company" or "Macarthur Minerals") is pleased to announce that it has made applications for a further exploration licence in Western Australia to advance potential lithium projects.
The Company has applied for four exploration licenses covering a total area of 383 square kilometres comprised of the following projects:
- Pilgangoora Projects, in the Pilbara region of Western Australia
- Edah Hill Project, in the Mid-West of Western Australia.
Pilgangoora Projects
As announced on February 15, 2016, the Company has made applications for three exploration licences (E45/4693, E45/4694 and E45/4702 - see Figure 1) covering an area of 269 square kilometres across three project areas in the world-class Pilgangoora district, in the Pilbara region of Western Australia that are considered prospective for lithium.
Peer activity in the vicinity of the applications includes Australian Securities Exchange listed companies, Pilbara Minerals Ltd. and Altura Mining Ltd., which have lithium projects in the region. The region is emerging as a world-class lithium district.
Edah Hill Project
The Company has made application for an exploration licence (see Figure 2) covering an area of 114 square kilometres at Edah Hill in the Mid-West of Western Australia. The Edah Hill project lies 50 kilometres east-northeast of Yalgoo in the Murchison province of Western Australia and approximately 250 kilometres from Geraldton Port.
Lithium Market
The global lithium market is growing rapidly due to developments in the technology and energy sectors, especially in the use of lithium-ion batteries for portable electronic devices, hybrid electric motor vehicles and storage battery industries.
Industry experts comment that overall lithium demand may more than double from present levels through to 2025, while incumbent producers of lithium are limited in their ability to bring on additional supply to satisfy growing demand. Industry experts further comment that lithium has been one of the few commodities to enjoy recent price appreciation, and that they expect this pattern to continue over the next 10 years.1 The price of 99%-pure lithium carbonate imported to China more than doubled in the last 2 months to the end of December 2015, to US$13,000 a tonne.2
1 John Hykawy and Tom Chudnovsky, 'Industry Report//Lithium', Stormcrow Capital Ltd, May 29, 2015. http://static1.squarespace.com/static/535e7e2de4b088f0b623c597/t/55689238e4b09f7c8dacebf1/1432916536166/Stormcrow- Lithium+Industry+Report-May2015-Final.pdf
2 'An increasingly precious metal', The Economist Newspaper Limited (online), Jan 16, 2016. http://www.economist.com/news/business/21688386-amid-surge-demand-rechargeable-batteries-companies-are-scrambling- supplies
Global Industrial Mineral (including lithium) Exploration and Mining Experts Appointed
Complementary to the Company's in-house mining and exploration expertise, the Company has appointed Dr Andrew Scogings and Mr Graham Jeffress from CSA Global Pty Ltd ("CSA Global"), who are Western Australia based consultants with substantial experience in the field of industrial minerals exploration, including lithium and graphite. Further details of the expertise of Dr Scogings and Mr Jeffress are contained below.
CSA Global will be initially undertaking technical evaluation of exploration targets for the Company's lithium projects as well as supporting their development over the coming months. The Company will continue to assess and identify further opportunities for potential lithium projects.
Historical Exploration
Pilgangoora district
The broader Pilgangoora district has been the subject of extensive historical exploration for a range of minerals and is known to host many granitic pegmatites such as those discovered for the Pilbara Minerals Ltd. and Altura Mining Ltd. lithium projects. The largest concentrations of lithium- containing minerals, such as spodumene, are found in pegmatites. Due to its greater abundance, spodumene is considered the most important lithium-bearing mineral in pegmatites.
The licence areas under application have most recently been explored by Australian Securities Exchange listed Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. for iron, base metals and gold. Previous soil sampling in the application areas has identified pathfinder elements, such as lithium, rubidium, and caesium, typically associated with lithium-bearing pegmatites.
Edah district
The Edah district lies in the Archean granite-greenstone terrane of the Murchison Province of the Yilgarn Craton. The Edah Hill project is within an extensive area of granitic rocks between the Yalgoo Greenstone Belt (20 kilometres to the west), the Dalgaranga Greenstone Belt (20 kilometres to the north) and the Mount Magnet Greenstone Belt (50 kilometres to the east). The surrounding Murchison region contains occurrences of pegmatites with tantalum, beryl and traces of other rare metals (tin, tungsten, lithium). The most notable deposit is the high-grade Dalgaranga tantalite mine about 50 kilometres to the north.
Previous mapping of the application area and surrounding tenure reports numerous pegmatite dykes.
Follow-up exploration work on the Pilgangoora Projects and the Edah Hill Project will focus on identifying, mapping and sampling the pegmatites to confirm the presence of lithium-bearing minerals.
ABOUT CSA GLOBAL PTY LTD AND DR ANDREW SCOGINGS AND MR GRAHAM JEFFRESS
CSA Global is a leading geological, mining and management consulting company whose staff includes geologists, mining engineers, project managers, data management professionals, and technical personnel. CSA Global has been operating from Perth, Western Australia since 1986. It is an independent company, with origins dating back to 1984 as part of the CSA Group founded in Ireland. CSA Global now has offices in the UK, Indonesia, Johannesburg, Vancouver, Darwin, and Brisbane. CSA has a high level of expertise in most mineral commodities gained from over twenty years' experience within the exploration and mining industry at an international level. It has experience in all stages of the mining cycle from project generation to production. For further information regarding CSA Global, please refer to the company website at www.csaglobal.com.
Dr Andrew Scogings MSc, PhD, MAIG, MAusIMM, has more than 30 years of experience in industrial minerals exploration, geology, mining, product development, and marketing. During his time with CSA, he has undertaken project management and technical advice for a diverse range of industrial minerals exploration and mining projects including lithium, graphite, chromite, potash, mineral sands, silica, and REE in Australia, Africa, Greenland, Indonesia and Norway. Andrew is a regular contributor to Industrial Minerals Magazine (UK), SME Mining Engineering (USA) and Geobulletin (RSA) having published several papers on the requirements of JORC 2012 Clause 49, highlighting the need to report industrial minerals resources according to market specifications. Andrew was lead author for Industrial Minerals Research's recently published 'Natural Graphite Report- Strategic outlook to 2020'. He is a member of the AIG and AusIMM and is a Registered Professional Geoscientist (RP Geo.) specializing in industrial minerals.
Mr Graham Jeffress BSc (Hons), FAIF, RPGeo, FAusIMM, FSEG, is a geologist with over 25 years' experience in exploration and management in Australia, PNG and Indonesia. Graham has worked in exploration (ranging from grassroots reconnaissance through to brownfields, near-mine and resource definition), project evaluation and mining in a variety of geological terrains, commodities and mineralisation styles within Australia and internationally. He is competent in multidisciplinary exploration, and proficient at undertaking prospect evaluation and all phases of exploration - sampling, mapping, prospecting and drilling through to resource definition; as well as project management including planning, budgeting, logistics, safety, people management, landowner liaison and project presentation. Additionally, Graham has completed numerous Independent Geologist Reports, Competent Person Reports, and Independent Valuation Reports. Graham was a Federal Councillor of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists for 11 years and joined the Joint Ore Reserves Committee in 2014.
QUALIFIED PERSONS
Dr Scogings, a member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists and Registered Professional Geoscientist (Industrial Minerals), is a full-time employee of CSA Global Pty Ltd and is a Qualified Person as defined in National Instrument 43-101. Dr Scogings has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this news release.
To view Figure 1 - shows Macarthur's exploration licence applications location relative to Pilbara Minerals' and Altura Mining's lithium projects in the Pilgangoora district of Western Australia, please visit the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/maca_fig1.jpg
To view Figure 2 - shows Macarthur's Edah Hill exploration licence application in the Edah district of Western Australia, please visit the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/maca_fig2.jpg
ABOUT MACARTHUR MINERALS LIMITED (TSX VENTURE:MMS)
Macarthur Minerals Ltd. is an exploration and development company that is focused on identifying counter cyclical investments that complement Macarthur's capabilities.
On behalf of the Board of Directors,
MACARTHUR MINERALS LIMITED
Cameron McCall, Chairman
NEITHER TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE.
Caution Regarding Forward Looking Statements
Certain of the statements made and information contained in this press release may constitute forward -looking information and forward-looking statements (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including whether the Transaction will be completed. The forward-looking statements in this press release reflect the current expectations, assumptions or beliefs of the Company based upon information currently available to the Company. With respect to forward-looking statements contained in this press release, assumptions have been made regarding, among other things, the timely receipt of required approvals, the reliability of information, including historical mineral resource or mineral reserve estimates, prepared and/or published by third parties that are referenced in this press release or was otherwise relied upon by the Company in preparing this press release. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct as actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include fluctuations in exchange rates and certain commodity prices, uncertainties related to mineral title in the project, unforeseen technology changes that results in a reduction in iron ore demand or substitution by other metals or materials, the discovery of new large low cost deposits of iron ore, uncertainty in successfully returning the project into full operation, and the general level of global economic activity. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements due to the inherent uncertainty thereof. Such statements relate to future events and expectations and, as such, involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release and except as may otherwise be required pursuant to applicable laws, the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Contact
David Taplin
Managing Director
dtaplin@macarthurminerals.com
+61 407470044
www.macarthurminerals.com