LONDON (ResourceInvestor.com) -- London Alternative Market listed precious metal explorer Jubilee Platinum (JLP) expects to commence drilling at its nickel, copper, gold and platinum group Londokomanana concession in Madagascar "by mid April of this year", according to Chief Executive Colin Bird.
Mr Bird anticipates a 2,500m, 6-10 hole drilling programme for Londokomanana that is likely to require expenditure of approximately £350,000 in addition to the sum of approximately £400,000 that has been spent on prior exploration.
Though a large amount of infill drilling will be required after this initial drilling programme is concluded, its commencement is still a significant step forward in the development of the Londokomanana concession.
The drilling programme will be based upon the highly encouraging results of recent geophysical work, consisting of Induced Polarisation and gravity surveying across large areas of the concession, as well as trenching and sampling conducted last year.
As well as the confirmation of known prospects, two new metallic sulphide structures have been identified by the geophysical operations; the results of which Mr Bird says confirm his perception of Londokomanana as ‘a world class nickel, copper, and platinum discovery’.
Drilling targets have been selected for the concession, and will focus on the occurrences of the best geophysical surveying results. Commencement is being delayed only by the unpredictable and often tempestuous seasonal weather of Madagascar.
Jubilee expects to have the capability to develop the Londokomanana concession itself, but Mr Bird does not rule out cooperation with a major ‘if the terms are right’. The company is understandably keen not to release value too early from the project.
At Jubilee’s Ambodilafa gold, copper, nickel and platinum group concession in Madagascar, a joint venture is likely ‘by necessity of the sheer size of the project’, and Mr Bird says that ‘corporate interest has been phenomenal’ in the area. A deal this year is a significant possibility.
As soon as access is practicable to the Ambodilafa concession the company intends to shoot some geophysical surveying in the area, to offer further clarification of previous sampling indications of a sizable primary gold source.
If a deal with a major regarding the Ambodilafa concession were to be concluded then airborne geophysical surveying could be immediately undertaken and overall development of the project accelerated.
Despite the recent political upheavals in Madagascar, most notably the near secession of a significant portion of it in 2001 due to ructions over a general election, Mr Bird says that he is now ‘very comfortable’ operating in the country.
Jubilee’s significant and promising presence in Madagascar indeed provides many investors with a greater degree of security in their holdings, derived from diversification away from an increasingly onerous political situation in South Africa. That said, the company has ‘worked hard’ on its empowerment arrangements in South Africa and its position there is generally regarded as solid in this respect.
Madagascar is regarded by the World Bank and other observers as one of the world’s most prospective regions for economic minerals, and the institution has made available $42m of funding to assist with the realisation of this potential. Mr Bird says that Jubilee is likely to benefit at a low cost from exploration data gathered under the auspices of the World Bank once it is available.
Earlier this month there was a slight disappointment for Jubilee as it was ascertained that the critical zone of South Africa’s Bushveld Complex is not present beneath the company’s Vlaklaagte and Zwartdoorns properties.
Mr Bird sees this fact as relatively insignificant, on the basis that Jubilee’s recently acquired 35% stake in the Tjate project ‘dwarfs’ the company’s other concerns in South Africa. The company is investing 14m rand ($2m) this year into the estimated 66moz resource Tjate platinum and gold project.
At Jubilee’s Dullstroom property, also in South Africa, a first drill hole completed earlier this month intersected platinum group metals and indicated that the hole was drilled within the Bushveld Complex and proximate to the Upper Critical Zone that contains the UG2 and Merensky platinum reefs.
For Dullstroom, Mr Bird envisages eventually a small scale production operation requiring little initial investment, with an output of perhaps 50-75,000oz per annum platinum over 5-6 years and possibly without even the necessity for its own processing plant. Such an operation would nonetheless prove very helpful to a company at Jubilee’s stage of development.
Although Dullstroom is in the near term to be subordinated in exploration priority by Jubilee to Tjate and the Madagascan projects, there are still nine un-drilled prospects identified on the concession, and some of these will be explored further by the company after August this year.
