By: Creamer media

The company has been conducting exploration at its 100%-owned Badinikro permit, which covers an area of 112 km2 of the 1 015 km2 Issia project.

Since announcing the start of exploration activities in May, the team has already completed the pitting programme on the first mineral resources estimate (MRE) target area covering 2.5 km2 (MRE target 1) where 365 holes have now been completed over a 100 m by 100 m grid spacing, for a cumulated total depth of 1 592 m, chairperson Didier Murcia informs.

Systematic sampling of these holes is ongoing, with over 250 kg of representative soil samples to be collected for each metre.

Thereafter, key to the company’s activities will be the delivery of a 5 t an hour demo wash plant, including a scrubber, jig and shaking table which has already been shipped to Côte d'Ivoire, he highlights.

“We anticipate the plant assembly and commissioning will be in place during September. We have also commenced a differential global positioning system topographic survey (DGPS) which will be used to enhance the accuracy of GPS positioning to support mineral resource modelling.”

Once the wash plant is operational, the soil samples will be washed to produce a heavy mineral concentrate (HMC) sample for each metre. These HMC samples will be assayed for tantalum pentoxide grade estimation per metre, which will feed into the maiden resource model. The processing of these HMC samples will follow during September and October, Murcia outlines.

On the back of the successful completion of the pitting programme within the MRE target 1 area, the company has decided to extend the programme to the previously delineated second target zone for resource estimation (MRE target 2), covering 1.3 km2.

Completion of this grid is planned for August and is expected to both increase the first resource estimate and further enhance the economics of a near term production plan at Issia.

“We are very pleased with progress at Issia since the start of our first tantalum resource definition programme. The indications, although preliminary, are encouraging and we have been able to deliver the MRE target 1 work on time, to budget and within a few months following our admission to trading on AIM. As a result, we look forward to announcing our first assay results as they become available in the very near term,” Murcia highlights.

“Achieving the mineral resource estimate milestone will pave the way for technical and economic studies, and the subsequent application for a mining licence during 2026, to progress our early cash flow plans, a notable differentiator for a junior mining company. We expect to be able to announce our first MRE estimate, incorporating the results of the MRE target 2 programme, early in the new year,” he adds.

Meanwhile, as noted in the company’s admission document dated April 3, an earn-in joint venture (JV) agreement with Transland Resources in relation to a battery-grade manganese project has been on standby while the company prioritised its tantalum/niobium projects.

In light of the recent progress at Issia, the company has agreed with Transland that the Sakassou project exploration licence (PR279) covered under the JV will not be renewed.

All payment commitments to Transland have been met and the intangible assets held by Switch Metals to the value of £62 000 relating to intellectual property rights will be retained.