Element 25 (ASX:E25) has delivered a 142% increase to the measured and indicated resource categories in an updated mineral resource estimate (MRE) for its 100% owned Butcherbird Manganese Project in the Pilbara.
E25 recently completed an extensive infill drilling program at the project, targeting known mineralisation within the currently granted mining lease, where Butcherbird stage one mining and processing operations are located.
Results from the infill drilling have been used to update the MRE for the Yanneri Ridge, Coodamudji, Richies Find, and Mundawindi deposits.
The updated MRE will support re-statement of the Butcherbird ore reserve, pending mine optimisation and scheduling activities which are currently in progress, aiming to extend the current mine life.
Element 25 Managing Director Justin Brown says updated MRE is a very important step in delivery of the planned stage two expansion.
“The increase in measured and indicated inventory is expected to support a significant increase in the mining reserve which will translate to a longer mine life and reserve tail, an important metric in financing the project,” says Brown.
The project lies in the Bangemall Basin, near the eastern boundary of the Savory Basin in central Western Australia. The Bangemall Basin features three main rock units: the Backdoor Formation (shales, mudstone, and minor siltstone); the Calyie Sandstone (quartzite sandstone to the north) and the Ilgarrari Formation (grey/white shales, mudstone, and dolerite sills, containing the target manganiferous shales).
In September 2024, Element 25 commissioned MEC Mining to complete an updated MRE for the Butcherbird Manganese Project, located 130km south of Newman in Western Australia, and 100% owned by Element 25.
The October 2024 mineral resource statement comprises recently prepared estimates for the Coodamudgi and Yanneri Ridge deposits, incorporating recent 2024 drilling information, as well as the previous 2019 MREs for the Richies Find and Mundawindi deposits.
Element 25 says the 2024 MRE tonnage estimates for the four reported MREs is 219Mt versus the 2019 MRE tonnage estimate of 208Mt. The 2024 MRE grade estimate is 10% Mn versus the 2019 estimate of 9.9%.
Write to Adam Orlando at Mining.com.au
Images: Element 25
