May/June 2013 - The ASIA Miner

Central Asia
Maiden 255 million tonne Uzgen Basin resource
Celsius Coal owns 80% of the Uzgen Basin project which includes Kargasha, Kokkia and Min Teke deposits. It
also owns 90% of the Alai Range projects, comprising Sary Mogol and Bel Alma.
A MAIDEN JORC-compliant resource of 255
million tonnes of coal has been established at
Celsius Coal’s Uzgen Basin project in the Kyrgyz
Republic. The resource includes 230 million
inferred tonnes at the Kargasha deposit and 25
million inferred tonnes at the Kokkia deposit.
The resource, completed by Australian
technical consulting firm G&S Resources,
is based on results from Celsius’ 2012 drilling,
Soviet-era drilling and information from
180 adits within the project areas. Clear
potential remains to further increase the resource
inventory and to convert inferred resources
to indicated and measured through
infill and extensional drilling at Kargasha, initial
drilling at Kokkia and compiling a resource
estimate at Min Teke.
Metallurgical test work has confirmed coal
of coking quality with moderate sulphur, low
phosphorous and an average FSI of between
7 and 7.5 with good consistency across
seams. This work has indicated a potential
high yield of greater than 60% into less than
10% ash product coal.
Celsius’ managing director Grant Thomas
says, “At 255 million tonnes, this very large
maiden coal resource with high yield and
good coking characteristics, positions Celsius
to become a significant coking coal producer.
We also have great exploration potential
and the funding in place to execute an aggressive
work program which will happen
during this Kyrgyz summer.”
Meantime, Celsius has received the first
tranche of a $10 million strategic funding arrangement
with the Singapore-based Blumont
Group which will pay for its 2013
exploration and development program. The
$5 million payment was received in return for
more than 227 million Celsius shares.
Grant Thomas says this tranche is the
first step in a long and fruitful strategic alliance.
“The funding provides the comfort
required to continue with our accelerated
physical exploration program and enables
us to focus on further proving up our existing
projects in Kyrgyz Republic. However,
we are also excited for the opportunity
to review other potential projects in Central
Asia with Blumont, which we hope will
build on our current portfolio.”
Chanach sampling identifies new copper zones
SAMPLING by White Cliff Minerals along
trenches and bulldozer cuttings at the Chanach
Copper-Gold Project in the Kyrgyz Republic
has identified several new zones of
copper mineralization. Drilling during the last
field season has also confirmed the orientation
and tenor of the mineralized system.
The copper trenching results are particularly
encouraging with assay values up to
4.12% copper. The best overall results were
obtained from the top of the skarn contact
with 8 metres @ 1.72% copper within 33
metres averaging 0.85% copper and 24
metres @ 0.48% copper. The mineralization
occurs as supergene copper oxides and
secondary copper sulphides. There is significant
potential for this zone to extend along
strike to the north and south.
These results are 100 metres above and
offset from an intersection of 33 metres averaging
0.66% copper that also occurs along
16 | ASIA Miner | May/June 2013
the thermally metamorphosed skarn contact.
The 2012 drilling program consisted of
five holes for a total of 623 metres and was
designed to extend the existing mineralized
zone to the east as well as test the
skarn contact and a magnetic high adjacent
to the skarn contact. It succeeded in
extending the main existing mineralized
zone 100 metres to the east with one hole
intersecting 26 metres @ 0.3% copper within
an alteration halo of 88 metres @
0.17% copper. A second hole drilled on
the same section, 100 metres to the north
and 50 metres higher in elevation, intersected
5 metres @ 0.4% copper within 25 metres
@ 0.17% copper in the upper parts of
the mineralized system.
Based on drilling results to date the mineralisation
is interpreted to form a moderate
grade (0.3 to 0.5% copper) supergene blanket
of mineralization above a series of deeper,
steeply dipping, higher grade (0.5 to
2.3% copper) shear zones. There appears
to be three mineralized zones about 500
metres long, up to 100 metres wide at surface
and narrowing to 3-10 metres wide at
depth. Mineralization is open to the north,
south at depth and along strike to the east.
Drilling also identified 12 metres @
0.36% copper across the thermally metamorphosed
contact between the granodiorite
and the overlying limestone. Drilling
at the magnetic high did not identify any
mineralization.
The Chanach project is in the northwest
region of the Kyrgyz Republic and covers
83sqkm. White Cliff and joint venture partner
T2 Gold own 90% of the project on an
equal basis. The partners are planning an
exploration program for the 2013 field season
and seeking a funding partner to advance
the project more rapidly.