| Thu 12 Apr 2007, 10:34 | | TAW - Tawana - Aquila Resources Announcement regar |
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TAW
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TAW - Tawana - Aquila Resources Announcement regarding Iron Ore Tenements in SA
Tawana Resources NL
(Incorporated in Australia)
(Registration number ACN 085 166 721)
Share code on the JSE Limited: TAW & ISIN: AU000000TAW7
Share code on the Australian Stock Exchange Limited: TAW & ISIN: AU000000TAW7
("Tawana" or "the Company")
Aquila Resources Announcement regarding Iron Ore Tenements in South Africa
The attached announcement has been released by Aquila Resources Limited (ASX
code: AQA) regarding the acquisition of iron ore tenements in South Africa.
Aquila Resources Limited ("Aquila") holds interests in iron ore and coal assets
in the Bowen Basin region of Queensland, the Pilbara region of Western Australia
and in Southern Africa.
Tawana holds a 26% shareholding in Aquila`s black economic empowerment partner,
Rakana Consolidated Mining (Pty) Limited. Tawana`s association with Aquila and
Rakana marks a diversification into minerals other than diamonds.
Contact:
Wolf Marx
Tel: +61 (0)3 98635222
Mob: +61 (0)428 398446
Email: wolf.marx@tawana.com.au
All press releases and announcements may be inspected on the Company`s web site,
namely: www.tawana.com.au
Aquila Acquires Strategic Iron Ore Tenements in South Africa
Aquila Resources Limited ("Aquila" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that
it has been granted a suite of iron ore exploration tenements, comprising the
Northern Cape and Thabazimbi Projects, strategically positioned adjacent to
existing iron ore mines and associated infrastructure.
Aquila and Rakana Consolidated Mining (Proprietary) Limited ("Rakana") have
formed the Thabazimbi Joint Venture to develop iron ore projects in South
Africa. A total of seven prospecting rights, covering some 3,400sq km have been
granted in the Limpopo and Northern Cape Provinces over highly prospective iron
ore settings.
Rakana, holding a 26% interest in the tenements, is a mineral prospecting
company that is owned and operated in accordance with the Broad-Based Socio-
Economic Empowerment Charter of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Act in South
Africa.
The principal high-grade hematite iron ore deposits in South Africa occur within
the banded iron formations of the Palaeoproterozoic Transvaal Supergroup in the
Northern Cape and Limpopo Provinces of South Africa.
The Company`s exploration tenements in these provinces are situated in close
proximity to existing iron ore mines and established road and rail
infrastructure within a relatively open access regime.
Work currently in progress
Recruitment of experienced iron ore geologists to manage the projects;
Literature research, compilation of previous exploration data and acquisition of
geological information on each of the licence areas;
Geological mapping and geochemical sampling of targets in areas of outcrop;
High resolution airborne geophysical surveys over prospective ground to aid in
identifying occurrences of mineralisation; and
Ground geophysical surveys to test identified anomalies and to define drill
targets under cover.
The Company intends to apply its financial capacity, technical expertise and
mining capability in order to rapidly advance these exciting exploration
projects and to ultimately develop mining activities in South Africa.
Limpopo Province (Thabazimbi)
The Company has secured the dominant property holding in the Thabazimbi iron ore
field, which lies along the northern rim of the Bushveld Complex. The area is
located 180km north of Pretoria and is well serviced by infrastructure. The iron
ore deposits at Thabazimbi occur within the Penge Iron Formation of the
Transvaal Supergroup. It crops out in three easterly trending belts reflecting
thrust-related duplication of units by a series of low angle east-west thrust
faults. The rock units strike east-west and dip steeply south towards the
Bushveld Complex. The high-grade hematite ore occurs as discontinuous strata
bound bodies, on average 18-25m thick, within the basal portions of the iron
formation.
Two of the Company`s tenement holdings cover strike extensions of the Penge Iron
Formation, immediately east and west, from the Thabazimbi mining operations of
Kumba Iron Ore Limited ("Kumba"). The third tenement covers the segment of Penge
Iron Formation that extends north of the Thabazimbi Mine. Iron ore targets, some
of which coincide with outcropping hematite mineralisation, have been identified
on the tenements from remote sensing studies and field investigations.
Northern Cape Province
The Transvaal Supergroup in the Northern Cape Province comprises a basal
carbonate sequence (Campbellrand Subgroup) overlain by banded iron formations of
the Asbestos Hills Subgroup. The iron formations can be traced for some 400km
from Prieska in the south northwards to the Botswana border. The producing iron
ore mines are concentrated on the Maremane dome, where iron ore and manganese
mineralisation in the Transvaal and Olifantshoek Supergroups occurs along an
arcuate belt for 60km. The Sishen iron ore mine (Kumba) is situated at the
northern extremity of the dome, the Beeshoek iron ore mine (African Rainbow
Minerals Limited) lies at the southern end. The Sishen South Project (Kumba) is
situated at an extension to the southwest, off a separate domal structure.
The ore deposits consist of supergene-enriched iron formation of the Asbestos
Hills Subgroup (Manganore Iron Formation) overlying a ferruginous chert breccia
(Wolhaarkop Breccia), which is developed on dolomites of the Campbellrand
Subgroup. The enriched iron formation is truncated by an erosion surface upon
which conglomerate ores and sedimentary units of the Gamagara Subgroup
(Olifantshoek Supergroup) have been deposited. The Blackridge thrust marks the
boundary between two contrasting structural domains along the western margin of
the Maremane dome.
The tenement holdings in the Northern Cape were acquired after field validation
of a number of targets selected from remote sensing studies and interpretation
of geological and geophysical data. Two of the holdings lie to the north of
Sishen and follow the strike trend of the thrust belt and the Olifantshoek
unconformity. Here despite the cover of calcrete and Kalahari sand, anomalous
iron signatures have been identified. Both tenements also cover prospective
manganese mineralisation.
The two largest tenements cover strike extensions of the Asbestos Hills Iron
Formation along the Blackridge thrust southwards from Kumba`s Sishen South
Project. The tenements incorporate historic iron ore and manganese mines as well
as newly identified anomalies in prospective settings.
The grant of these tenements is the culmination of nearly two years of
exploration by the Company using a number of the exploration techniques that it
has used so successfully in the Pilbara. Aquila is optimistic that the South
African projects, coupled with its Pilbara iron ore projects, will see it
established as a significant international iron ore producer in the medium term.
Tony Poli
Executive Chairman
For further information regarding this announcement, please contact Tony Poli.
TELEPHONE: (08) 9423 0111
FACSIMILE: (08) 9423 0133
EMAIL ADDRESS: MAIL@AQUILARESOURCES.COM.AU
VISIT US AT: WWW.AQUILARESOURCES.COM.AU
The information in this announcement, insofar as it relates to Mineral
Exploration activities, is based on information compiled by Geoffrey F Pigott
who is a member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists, and who has more
than five years experience in the field of activity being reported on. Mr
Pigott is a full-time employee of the Company. Mr Pigott has sufficient
experience which is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit
under consideration and to the activity which he is undertaking to qualify as a
Competent Person as defined in the 2004 Edition of the `Australasian Code of
Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves`. Mr
Pigott consents to the inclusion in the report of the matters based on their
information in the form and context in which it appears.
12 April 2007
South African Sponsor to Tawana
PricewaterhouseCoopers Corporate Finance (Pty) Ltd
Date: 12/04/2007 10:34:48 Produced by the JSE SENS Department.
