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From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Tue Aug 16 2011 - 07:45:05 EDT
NGEx targets Eritrean potash as drills turn
Not as well known, but increasingly prospective, Eritrea's side of the
potash-rich Danakil basin is seeing more action as NGEx joins the push to
find more potash.
Author: Kip Keen
Posted: Tuesday , 16 Aug 2011
HALIFAX, NS -
Vancouver-based NGEx Resources (TSX: NGQ) announced the start of a drill
program on its Bada potash project on the Eritrean side of the Danakil
basin, joining another active and successful junior exploring the northern
extension of a basin best known for potash deposits to the south in
Ethiopia.
In Ethiopia potash deposits are comparatively well defined with the likes of
Allana Potash (TSX-V: AAA) and Sainik Coal advancing projects in the
Danakil. Allana, for example, is chomping at the heels of a billion-tonne
resource while Sainik is looking to pilot-test a potash plant at its Musley
project.
Lesser explored, however, is the Danakil basin to the north, across a border
that has seen peace for more than a decade since horrible clashes between
Ethiopian and Eritrean armies came to end.
But NGEx will not be forging ahead into terra incognita. No doubt proven
potash to the south speaks volumes for the northern extension of the Danakil
basin. But, perhaps, more important is the fact that another junior,
Perth-based South Boulder Mines (ASX: STB), has turned up growing - and
shallow - potash beds on its Colluli project also in Eritrea's Danakil and
about 30 kilometres southeast of NGEx's Bada project.
As
<http://www.mineweb.com/mineweb/view/mineweb/en/page103118?oid=114534&sn=Det
ail> previously reported on Mineweb, South Boulder said last year it had
been targeting a potash resource in the 500-million-tonne range. In early
January it got there with an initial resource estimate of 548 million tonnes
@ 18.58 percent KCl based on three drillholes.
Then it drilled up to about 12 kilometres to the northwest of Colluli and
continued to intersect sylvinite, a known-potash bearing mineral. Since the
discovery of sylvinite to the northwest, assays of which have yet to be
released as exploration continues, South Boulder has said it is targeting a
1.25- to 1.75-billion-tonne resource estimate in the 18- to 20-percent KCl
range.
Interestingly, NGEx initially outlined in March a three-hole, 1,000-metre
drill program, suggesting it was aiming to test depths up to about the
300-metre range. However, perhaps having taken note of South Boulder's
success in shallow sylvinite at Colluli, especially to the northwest, NGEx
has now said it will drill six to eight shallow holes into the margin of the
basin testing up to 100 metres in depth.
Whether South Boulder's success had an effect on NGEx's change of plans
could not be confirmed; as of presstime NGEx had not responded to a request
for comment.
Investors can expect drill results from Bada in October, NGEx said.
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