Anooraq drills at South Block

Having raised $728,000 in a private placement of 1.4 million shares priced at 52 apiece, Anooraq Resources (ARQ-V) is preparing to drill its South Block project, on the northern limb of the Bushveld igneous complex in South Africa.

The company stands to earn an 80% stake in the 1,033-sq.-km South Block project from Anglo American Platinum (AAPTY-Q). Anooraq currently holds a half-interest in the five properties and can maintain this by spending $3.6 million on exploration over five years. The additional 30% can be earned by bringing a property to commercial production.

Plans at South Block, about 230 km north of Johannesburg, call for 15 core holes totalling 3,500 metres. The drilling will test a prominent magnetic high outlining a shallow, gently dipping pyroxenite horizon about 100 metres thick. Geochemical surveys indicate that platinum group metal and base metal values correlate well with the pyroxenite. Apparently, the South Block has not been drilled previously.

Anooraq’s property covers a 5.4-km-long portion of the pyroxenite horizon, including the entire downdip extension.

The same horizon appears to host Australian-based Pan Palladium’s northern and southern deposits, which lie on-strike immediately east on the Volspruit farm. There, the combined inferred resource is pegged at 59.1 million tonnes grading 1.3 grams combined platinum-palladium-gold, plus 0.14% nickel and 0.04% copper.