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MMH
MMH
MMH - Miranda - CPR on Majestic exploration project released
MIRANDA MINERAL HOLDINGS LIMITED
(Incorporated in the Republic of South Africa)
(Registration number 1998/001940/06)
Share code: MMH ISIN: ZAE000074019
("Miranda" or "the company" or "the group")
MIRANDA COAL UPDATE: CPR on Majestic exploration project released
1. Introduction and background
The Miranda board is pleased to announce the release of its initial
Competent Person`s Report ("CPR") on the Majestic exploration project in
KwaZulu Natal.
Miranda Coal, a wholly-owned subsidiary of MMH, holds an interest of 65% in
the Majestic project through its subsidiary Majestic Silver Trading 348
(Pty) Ltd ("Majestic"). Majestic is the owner of a coal prospecting right
over seven farms covering 816 hectares in the Dannhauser district of KZN
("the Majestic Project"). The Majestic project is located approximately 8km
south of Sesikhona, which will be Miranda Coal`s first mining project. A
detailed Sesikhona project update for shareholders, incorporating mine plan
and off-take information, is imminent.
The CPR on Majestic was prepared by Mr PC Meyer (Pr.Sci.Nat. 400025/03), a
SAMREC-registered Competent Person and the proprietor of PC Meyer
Consulting CC, an independent geological consultancy. Meyer has more than
20 years experience in the South African coal industry and is an active
member of the GSSA and Fossil Fuel Foundation. He advises a number of coal
companies in South Africa and abroad, acts as an independent contractor to
Miranda and was paid a normal consulting fee for the generation of the CPR.
Meyer purchased 85,020 shares in Miranda in his personal capacity.
The purpose of the CPR was to report on the exploration work done in 2009
and to assess the reliability of the information available for the
exploration area, assess the potential of the coal deposit and give
guidance for future exploration.
2. Project location and overview
The nearest major town to the Majestic project is Newcastle, which hosts
the Mittal Steelworks and was historically known for its coal mining
activity and the Ingagane Power Station. A few smaller towns, namely
Dannhauser, Glencoe and Dundee, are in close proximity to the Majestic
Project. Dannhauser is traditionally a coal mining town which housed most
of the employees of the nearby Durnacol Colliery (closed in early-2000s).
Similarly, both Glencoe and Dundee are known for their coal mining history.
There are existing railway sidings linking the area to the ports of Durban
and Richards Bay. Tarred roads are easily accessible and link the area to
all parts of South Africa.
A number of active coal mines are adjacent or close to the Majestic
Project`s property, most of which are privately owned operations. The
earliest recorded exploration over the project area was carried out by
Natal Navigation Colliery in 1901, with Miranda Coal conducting the most
recent exploration on the property. Miranda`s initial drilling programme
commenced in mid-2009 with 18 cored boreholes. A total of 10 of these holes
intersected coal seams, with the "no-coal holes" intersecting previously
mined areas. The economic seams are the Top and Bottom Seams. The
exploration programme results identified the Bottom Seam as showing the
most potential with good, mineable seam widths and good product yields.
3. Resource classification criteria
The Project Area stretches 4.6 kilometers from West to East and 3.6
kilometers from North to South. Average depth of the Top Seam in the
resource areas ranges from 94.4m to 104.6m below surface and that of the
Bottom Seam from 97.6m to 105.8m below surface. Three resource blocks have
been identified per seam, with the delineation based on the floor elevation
differences caused by underlying dolerite sills transgressing the coal
seams. One of the blocks has bituminous coal only, whilst Block 1 has a
mixture of bituminous and anthracitic coal of uncertain extent. For
purposes of the resource statement, the distribution of anthracitic to
bituminous coal was taken at an equal 50:50 split.
4. Resource Statement
The in situ resource is in the "Inferred" category and amounts to
approximately 5.37 million tons, of which the Top Seam holds approximately
1.93 million tons and the Bottom Seam approximately 3.44 million tons of
coal. The resource summary for the two coal seams are summarised in Tables
1 and 2 below:
Table 1
Seam Area Volume Ave width
(`000 m (`000 (`000 m)
cubed) tons)
Top Seam Block 1 - 460 455 0.99
bituminous
Top Seam Block 1 - 460
anthracite
Top Seam Block 2 998 828 0.83
Top Seam Block 3 224 208 0.93
Top Seam Total
Bottom Seam Block 1 - 460 676 1.47
bituminous
Bottom Seam Block 1 - 460
anthracite
Bottom Seam Block 2 998 1,477 1.48
Bottom Seam Block 3 224 367 1.64
Bottom Seam Total
Top and Bottom Seam
Total
Table 1 (Continued)
Seam Relative Gross in
Density situ tons
("RD") (`000)
Top Seam Block 1 - 1.36 619
bituminous
Top Seam Block 1 - 619
anthracite
Top Seam Block 2 1.48 1,226
Top Seam Block 3 1.43 297
Top Seam Total 2,762
Bottom Seam Block 1 - 1.54 1,041
bituminous
Bottom Seam Block 1 - 1,041
anthracite
Bottom Seam Block 2 1.55 2,289
Bottom Seam Block 3 1.49 546
Bottom Seam Total 4,918
Top and Bottom Seam 7,679
Total
Table 2
Seam Gross in Geological loss
situ tons (`000)
Top Seam Block 1 - 619 30%
bituminous
Top Seam Block 1 - 619 30%
anthracite
Top Seam Block 2 1,226 30%
Top Seam Block 3 297 30%
Top Seam Total 2,762
Bottom Seam Block 1 - 1,041 30%
bituminous
Bottom Seam Block 1 - 1,041 30%
anthracite
Bottom Seam Block 2 2,289 30%
Bottom Seam Block 3 546 30%
Bottom Seam Total 4,918
Top and Bottom Seam Total 7,679
Table 2 (Continued)
Seam In situ tons Ave seam roof depth
(`000) (`000 m)
Top Seam Block 1 - 434 94.4
bituminous
Top Seam Block 1 - 434 94.4
anthracite
Top Seam Block 2 858 90.0
Top Seam Block 3 208 104.6
Top Seam Total 1,933
Bottom Seam Block 1 - 729 97.6
bituminous
Bottom Seam Block 1 - 729 97.6
anthracite
Bottom Seam Block 2 1,602 91.8
Bottom Seam Block 3 382 105.8
Bottom Seam Total 3,442
Top and Bottom Seam Total 5,376
Coal volumes were calculated for each of the resource blocks by multiplying the
average, gridded seam thickness with the resource block area. The volume was
then multiplied by the average raw RD for each block. The following assumptions
and modifying factors were applied to the resources:
* Quality cut-off parameters for resource calculation were not applied as it
is assumed that both anthracite and bituminous coal occur on the property.
* Areas where the seam thickness is below 0.6 m were omitted.
* Due to the nature of the deposit, a geological discount of 30% was applied
to derive the in situ tonnage for each resource block. This discount was
allocated as follows:
- 15% for unknown geological structure,
- 10% for seam thickness variations, and
- 5% for modelling error.
* All tonnages and qualities are quoted air dry.
For both seams, and in all the blocks of those seams, the resource was drilled
to a density sufficient to classify the resources as "Inferred" for the current
SAMREC classification for multiple coal seam deposits.
Full washability analyses of both coal seams were used in the quality evaluation
and all those boreholes contributed to the resource classification.
5. Coal Qualities
Washed qualities were simulated for the different seams and blocks in the
Majestic Project. Table 3 provides the average raw coal qualities and Table
4 summarises the coal qualities for a 10.5% ash product. The low ash
product exhibits qualities that are consistent with coal required by the
metallurgical industry for steel making. The raw coal and the selected seam
qualities of the individual samples were aggregated to calculate the
average coal quality parameters for the total coal seam width and the
selected horizons.
Table 3
Seam In situ Raw Coal Qualities
tons
(`000)
Cal Val Inherent Ash
(MJ/kg) Moisture (%)
(%)
Top Seam Block 434 30.7 1.0 12.6
1 - bituminous
Top Seam Block 434 27.7 2.1 16.6
1 - anthracite
Top Seam Block 858 26.9 2.5 15.5
2
Top Seam Block 208 30.5 1.2 12.6
3
Top Seam Total 1,933
Bottom Seam 729 27.5 1.0 21.4
Block 1 -
bituminous
Bottom Seam 729 19.2 2.3 35.8
Block 1 -
anthracite
Bottom Seam 1,602 23.1 3.1 26.6
Block 2
Bottom Seam 382 27.0 1.3 21.3
Block 3
Bottom Seam 3,442
Total
Top & Bottom 5,376
Seam Total
Table 3 (Continued)
Seam In situ Raw Coal Qualities
tons
(`000)
Volatiles Fixed Sulphur
(%) Carbon (%)
(%)
Top Seam Block 434 16.9 69.5 1.80
1 - bituminous
Top Seam Block 434 6.4 74.9 2.72
1 - anthracite
Top Seam Block 858 6.2 75.8 2.92
2
Top Seam Block 208 14.4 71.8 2.03
3
Top Seam Total 1,933
Bottom Seam 729 16.5 61.1 2.41
Block 1 -
bituminous
Bottom Seam 729 5.4 56.6 2.01
Block 1 -
anthracite
Bottom Seam 1,602 5.4 65.0 1.36
Block 2
Bottom Seam 382 14.7 62.7 1.38
Block 3
Bottom Seam 3,442
Total
Top & Bottom 5,376
Seam Total
Table 4
Seam In situ 10.5% Ash Product Coal Qualities
tons
(`000)
Product Cal Val Inherent
Yield (%) (MJ/kg) Moisture
(%)
Top Seam Block 434 96.6 31.5 1.0
1 - bituminous
Top Seam Block 434 73.2 29.8 2.5
1 - anthracite
Top Seam Block 858 55.3 27.7 2.4
2
Top Seam Block 208 90.7 30.7 1.4
3
Top Seam Total 1,933
Bottom Seam 729 66.9 31.9 0.9
Block 1 -
bituminous
Bottom Seam 729 12.2 28.1 2.3
Block 1 -
anthracite
Bottom Seam 1,602 39.6 28.8 3.3
Block 2
Bottom Seam 382 65.6 31.0 1.5
Block 3
Bottom Seam 3,442
Total
Top & Bottom 5,376
Seam Total
Table 4 (Continued)
Seam In situ 10.5% Ash Product Coal Qualities
tons
(`000)
Ash Volatiles Fixed Sulphur
(%) (%) Carbon (%)
(%)
Top Seam Block 434 10.5 17.3 71.2 1.76
1 - bituminous
Top Seam Block 434 10.5 5.4 81.7 1.77
1 - anthracite
Top Seam Block 858 10.5 5.8 81.3 1.36
2
Top Seam Block 208 10.5 14.3 73.8 1.81
3
Top Seam Total 1,933
Bottom Seam 729 10.5 18.3 70.3 1.61
Block 1 -
bituminous
Bottom Seam 729 10.5 8.9 78.3 1.06
Block 1 -
anthracite
Bottom Seam 1,602 10.5 6.4 79.8 1.17
Block 2
Bottom Seam 382 10.5 14.4 73.6 1.31
Block 3
Bottom Seam 3,442
Total
Top & Bottom 5,376
Seam Total
6. Further exploration
In-fill drilling with analytical data is required on the Majestic Project`s
property to upgrade all the resource blocks to an "Indicated" category.
Further drilling is continuing with the overall aim of extending the
resource area, improving the resource classification and increasing coal
quality information.
Ron Nel, CEO of Miranda Minerals commented, "These results of our initial
drilling conducted on the project area are promising, particularly on the
Bottom Seam with its average seam width of around 1.5m to 1.6m. We intend
to conduct further exploration, aiming to take the resource to "indicated"
status and giving us a better sense of the potential viability of the
Majestic project."
The full version of the CPR can be found on Miranda`s website at
www.mirandaminerals.com.
Centurion
29 March 2010
Sponsor
PricewaterhouseCoopers Corporate Finance (Pty) Ltd
Corporate adviser
Touchstone Capital (Pty) Ltd
Date: 29/03/2010 09:08:02 Produced by the JSE SENS Department.
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