MRG Metals (MRQ.AX) has completed an aircore drill program on the Viaria and Zulene targets which are part of the Corridor South exploration license in Mozambique. The aircore drill program was designed to check up on the potential occurrence of heavy mineral sands on the licenses and all 7 aircore holes confirmed the existence of medium to high grade heavy minerals.
The holes were very widely spaced (700 to 2,200 meters apart from each other) and although aircore drilling is a very rudimentary method to check the area for mineralization, it did the trick. All holes are obviously very shallow (with an average depth of just under 30 meters per hole) and the two holes al Viaria contained on average 30 meters at 3.15% THM and 30 meters containing 4.14% THM starting at surface.
At the Zulene target, five holes were drilled and all holes hit mineralization. Three of the holes even had an average grade exceeding 3% THM from surface to bottom with one individual assay of 3 meters grading 7.18% THM. Unfortunately no breakdown has been released (to figure out which elements are actually contained in the THM values), but with a market capitalization of just over A$12M, MRG’s risk/reward ratio is starting to look quite interesting, especially as one of the areas, Koko Massava, already has an existing resource of 1.4 billion tonnes at an average heavy mineral content of 5.2%, including 700 million tonnes at an average grade exceeding 6%. Additionally, exploration targets containing up to 900 million tonnes outside of the resource could expand Koko Massava to in excess of 2 billion tonnes. The slime level (established at 17% on average) should be manageable.
Disclosure: The author has no position in MRG Metals. Please read our disclaimer.
