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Marula Mining Expands Portfolio with New Lithium, Tungsten, and Tantalum Project

The NCLT Project also includes the Spodumene Kop II Pegmatite, located 6km from Blesberg, which was previously mined to shallow depths of just 5 m for its spodumene ore, tantalite and beryl and where historical non-JORC compliant resources have been identified down to initial depths of 30 m.

Also located on the license area is the Groendoorn Pegmatite Field which includes approx. 30 small pegmatites, of which half are well zoned and mineralised with the other half weakly zoned. These pegmatites have been observed to contain spodumene, tantalite, beryl, feldspar and mica, and where small-scale mining was undertaken up to the 1960s.

The acquisition of the NCLT Project is considered strategically important, as it comprises a large and highly prospective licence area that adjoins Blesberg and includes a number of battery minerals development opportunities, including a portfolio of tungsten assets with the potential to commence open pit operations at the Isis and Koubank Tungsten Mines, and develop the pegmatites at Spodumene Kop II and Groendoorn which have good potential for tantalite and industrial minerals such as feldspar.

All the key projects are brownfields sites, with good access and infrastructure and which were historically mined previously. However, none of these deposits have been re-assessed for over 40 years, during which time both tungsten and pegmatite and battery mineral markets have undergone fundamental changes with greatly increased demand prices for quality products.

Following technical and financial due diligence work by Marula Mining has confirmed the potential high-grade nature of the tungsten and tantalum mineralisation at the NCLT Project, Marula Mining believes there is the opportunity to advance plans to recommence mining of tungsten at Kalbeen and Isis and complete new exploration and mine development of the nearby Koubank, Kalbeen West and Armbank tungsten deposits as well as tantalum and spodumene exploration and mine development at Spodumene Kop II and at the Groendoorn Pegmatites.

Under the commercial terms of the Agreement, Marula Mining will now make a cash payment of approx. £125,000 to the existing NCLT shareholders, and on or before 31 July 2024 and 30 September 2024 make two further payments each of £625,000 payable at the company’s election in cash or through the issue of new ordinary shares in Marula Mining at the 30-day VWAP price. Marula Mining is proposing to meet these cash payments from advances due from AUO Commercial LLC under its existing funding arrangements, and from expected future cash flows from operations.

Jason Brewer, Marula Mining CEO said:

“The NCLT Project comprises a highly prospective and extensive licence area for several minerals, most especially a strong portfolio of tungsten assets including the potentially shallow open castable Kaalbeen, Koubank and Isis operation. Similarly, the pegmatites at Spodumene Kop II and Groendoorn have good potential for tantalite, spodumene and industrial minerals.

“All these key projects are located close to our existing Blesberg mining and processing operations, and are brownfields sites, with great infrastructure and a good mining and exploration history.

“Over the past decade both the tungsten and pegmatite mineral markets have undergone fundamental changes which have greatly increased the demand and pricing for quality high-grade products.

“Tungsten has quickly become one of the most critical of critical minerals worldwide and initially we will focus on Kaalbeen and Isis as the best known and amongst the most prospective deposits in the Northern Cape. Isis has the dual prospectivity as a well-known location for high grade tantalite associated with the many surrounding pegmatites. Additionally, our focus on the extension of the Kaalbeen – Koubank line of several tungsten deposits is a further priority and has the potential to lead to an accelerated production timetable.

“Scheelite tungsten mineralisation is a heavy mineral and processing can be undertaken by both low cost, straight-forward gravity methods to produce saleable concentrates and also by using the existing XRF TOMRA and RADOS Ore Sorters at our Blesberg mining and processing operations which is a major advantage for us.

“Of the pegmatites, Spodumene Kop II has been the subject of a previous mining and exploration, and it is a zoned body containing both lithium and tantalum in the central areas and volumes of industrial feldspar in the wall zones. The other pegmatites, including Groendoorn, form part of what we believe is major upside potential for us in our now significantly increased footprint in the Northern Cape.

“This acquisition not only expands Marula’s portfolio and geographic footprint in South Africa, but also provides an opportunity to build on infrastructure at Blesberg and position ourselves as a fast emerging and growth focused company in the South African mining landscape.

“Moving forward, I am looking forward to providing further updates on the NCLT Projects and our broader mining and processing activities in South Africa, as we continue to pursue opportunities for mineral production, cashflow generation and value creation.”

Kaalbeen Tungsten Mine

• was one of the most significant regional producer of tungsten concentrates in the Northern Cape
• it is located approximately 12 km from Blesberg and accessed from the main N7 Highway
• it is a tungsten vein deposit, with scheelite tungsten mineralisation grading 2-3% tungsten oxide that was mined by both open pit and underground methods
• production of 10 to 12 tpa of tungsten concentrate with grades of 74% were achieved during the 1970s
• initial investigations by NCLT has shown that the tungsten veins extend beyond the areas of historic mining areas and that operations ceased in the 1970s not because of depletion of resources, but rather due to the poor prices for tungsten
• there are at least 4 other main tungsten deposits within a short distance of the Kalbeen Tungsten Mine with similar geological setting and scheelite mineralisation in quartz veins, and these include the larger Kaalbeen West and Armbank deposits

Isis Tungsten Mine

• located around 10km directly west of Blesberg
• it was mined by shallow open pits and trenches, with several tailings stockpiles still present in the mining area
• tungsten scheelite mineralisation was previously mined between 1943 and 1953 at reported grades of 2.46% WO₃, however, reported concentrates were only in the region of 100 t suggesting poor process efficiency, the majority confined to the southern portion of a 3 km wide zone intersected by a number of pegmatites which contain tantalite
• the Isis Tungsten Mine is considered to have the potential for shallow, open pit mining in addition to the retreatment of the existing tailings dumps and potentially large scale mining in select areas depending on the density of veins and grades

Koubank Tungsten Deposit

• located 6km from Blesberg and immediately to the south of Spodumene Kop II
• previous exploration has been undertaken for tungsten including drilling along trenches and occasional larger quarries, or cross-cuttings to the quartz veins and pegmatitic dykes which are the primary hosts of the tungsten mineralisation
• trenches, pits and quarries extend for over 1 km² and a small recovery plant was previously operational on site and results are understood to show a sizeable but irregularly mineralised, low-grade, surface tungsten deposit
• in a similar style to Kaalbeen, Koubank has several satellite tungsten deposits, mainly to the north of the main deposit and in these veins scheelite occurs with secondary copper minerals and molybdenite
• Koubank III is the largest of these satellite deposits and where ultramafic rocks have been identified. Individual veins are around 0.6 m wide, up to 80 m long and continuing to at least 30 m in depth
• collectively the Koubank Tungsten Deposit are potentially sizeable, starting from surface and open ended at depth

Kaalbeen West Tungsten Deposit

• is an unmined deposit located 2.3 km northwest of the main Kaalbeen Mine and contains several sets of tungsten-bearing veins reported to be up to 7 m in thickness extending over an area of 1 km² suggesting a potentially significant tonnage of mineralisation

Spodumene Kop II Pegmatite

• the main Spodumene Pegmatite lies 6km northeast of Blesberg and is a large dyke-shaped body around 250 m in length and over 15 m wide in places
• geologically it is a three zone, albite intrusive with a large wall zone of coarse albite and accessory spodumene. It has an intermediate zone of quartz, albite and spodumene with accessory beryl and tantalite. The core is small and contains abundant quartz and spodumene
• historically mining was undertaken in a continuous 45 m long pit at the eastern section of the orebody – in the core zone – for its spodumene content (as well as beryl and tantalite) down to a maximum depth of 5 m
• historical non-JORC compliant resources was estimated by the Geological Survey of South Africa (Schutte, 1972) of 350,000 tonnes down to 30 m depth
• Marula Mining will complete a program of detailed mapping and sampling of the exposed body and excavations, and initial observations suggest that tantalite maybe present in several zones
• Marula Mining anticipates carrying out subsequent drilling to investigate the pegmatite at depth

Groendoorn Pegmatite Field

• Groendoorn is a complete, pegmatite field located approx. 25 km west of Blesberg
• the pegmatite field covers an area of 2.5 km x 2 km and comprises around 30 pegmatites, all are mineralised to variable extents
• historical work by the Geological Survey of South Africa investigated and mapped these small pegmatites for beryl, spodumene, amblygonite and tantalite and microlite
• Marula Mining will now proceed with its initial work programs which will focus on further review and sampling work on the three primary tungsten projects for a potential accelerated start-up of operations

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