Mineral Resource
Rox has recently announced a raised JORC compliant Indicated and Inferred mineral resource estimate for the Myrtle zinc-lead deposit, located approximately 20km south of the McArthur River zinc-lead mine in the Northern Territory, of:
- 43.6 Million Tonnes grading 4.09% Zn, 0.95% Pb (5.03% combined Zn+Pb)
The resource is estimated at a 3% Zn+Pb cut-off.
The mineral resource contains significant quantities of metal:
- 1.78 million tonnes of insitu zinc,
- 0.41 million tonnes of insitu lead,
- 2.19 million tonnes of combined insitu zinc and lead.
At a higher cut-off grade of 5% Zn+Pb the resource includes a higher grade core, with a grade of 7% Zn+Pb:
- 15.3 Million Tonnes grading 5.45% Zn, 1.40% Pb (6.84% combined Zn+Pb).
|
Cut-off
Zn+Pb%
|
Category
|
Tonnes
(Mt)
|
Zn %
|
Pb %
|
Zn+Pb %
|
Zn
kt
|
Pb
kt
|
Zn+Pb
kt
|
|
3
|
Indicated
|
5.8
|
3.56
|
0.90
|
4.45
|
205
|
52
|
257
|
|
3
|
Inferred
|
37.8
|
4.17
|
0.95
|
5.12
|
1,575
|
361
|
1,936
|
|
TOTAL
|
|
43.6
|
4.09
|
0.95
|
5.03
|
1,780
|
412
|
2,193
|
|
Previous
|
|
36.8
|
4.19
|
1.01
|
5.20
|
1,541
|
372
|
1,912
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
5
|
Indicated
|
1.2
|
5.38
|
1.42
|
6.80
|
64
|
17
|
81
|
|
5
|
Inferred
|
14.1
|
5.45
|
1.39
|
6.85
|
768
|
196
|
965
|
|
TOTAL
|
|
15.3
|
5.45
|
1.40
|
6.84
|
833
|
213
|
1,046
|
|
Previous
|
|
15.1
|
5.49
|
1.46
|
6.95
|
831
|
221
|
1,051
|
A higher grade continuous core of 8.2 Million Tonnes grading 6.4% Zn, 1.9% Pb (8.3% combined Zn + Pb) is present at a cut-off grade of 6% Zn + Pb.
Silver grades are low (about 1 g/t) and have not been included in the mineral resource estimate.
The mineral resource was estimated using the cross sectional polygonal method, the most appropriate estimation technique at this stage of the project.
Drilling to date, which is wide spaced but over an extensive area, has shown that the Myrtle deposit has the potential to be very large.
The Myrtle prospect is shaping into what could become a very significant zinc deposit, just 20km south of the world class McArthur River zinc-lead deposit. On a regional scale, the Myrtle prospect is one of a number of known base-metal occurrences on the Reward tenement, with a number of other prospects such as Barney Creek Sub-Basin, Buffalo Lagoon and Berjaya having similar potential to Myrtle.
Tenement and Legal Information
The Reward EL 10316 was granted to North Mining Limited on 22 July 2002 and transferred to Rox Resources Limited (100%) on 8 January 2009. It is current to 21 July 2012 and is renewable after that date. North is entitled to a 2% Net Smelter Royalty payable upon any production from EL10316.
Rox was also awarded a new Exploration Licence EL27541 (Myrtle Extended) immediately north of EL10316 on 24 March 2010.
In September 2010 Rox announced it had acquired two additional exploration licences immediately adjacent to its existing tenements at Myrtle giving it a total tenement area of 669 km2 (see Figure 1).
In October 2010 Rox announced that it had agreed the terms of a potential joint venture with Teck Australia Limited, the wholly-owned Australian subsidiary of Canadian mining giant Teck Resources Limited. The key commercial terms of the agreement are:
· Teck can farm-in to the tenements to earn a 51% interest by spending $5 million over 4 years.
· Teck can earn a further 19% interest (for 70% total) by spending an additional $10 million ($15 million total) over an additional 4 years.
· A minimum of $1 million to be spent by 21 July 2012, including a minimum of 2,000 metres of diamond drilling before Teck can withdraw.
· Teck will subscribe $500,000 for a placement of 10 million shares in Rox at a price of $0.05 per share.
Teck will be manager of the proposed joint venture while it holds a majority interest, or is sole contributor during the farm-in option periods. The agreement will cover Rox’s current tenements, EL10316 and EL27541, and also the tenements recently acquired by Rox from Legend International Holdings (Figure 1).
The agreement is subject to satisfactory due diligence enquiries by Teck and the satisfaction of a number of regulatory conditions. The companies will now move to finalise formal documentation as soon as possible.
A Native Title Agreement, dated 29 October 2002, was entered into between North, Local Aboriginal Groups, and the Northern Land Council, and was fully assigned to Rox on 19 May 2008. It provides a process for work program approvals.
Figure 1: Proposed Joint Venture Tenements (green and pink) and 25km Area of Influence