The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy executed a 30-year mining right on 29 January 2020 in favour of Pamish Investments, over five farms situated in the District of Mogalakwena, Limpopo, which make up the Mokopane Project.
Bushveld Minerals owns 64% of Pamish, and the remaining 36% is held by Izingwe Capital (Pty) Limited, a 51% black economic empowered company.
The Bushveld Minerals entered into a sale of shares agreement with Southern Point Resources (SPR) on 14 December 2023 to sell its interest in the Mokopane for US$3.7 million. The transaction is subject to certain regulatory approvals.
31 May, 2024 - The Competition Commission of South Africa approved the sale subsequent. The following conditions precedent remain outstanding: SPR Fund I (SPRF) having conducted a satisfactory confirmatory legal due diligence; Consent of the Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy to the change of control of Mokopane in respect of each mining and prospecting licence.
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Summary:
The Project Area is situated within the Northern Limb of the Bushveld Complex (BC) and covers the upper portion of the Main Zone (MZ) and the entire Upper Zone (UZ) of the Rustenburg Layered Suite (RLS). The UZ is approximately 1,250 m thick and dips gently (15° to 25°) to the west. The UZ is characterised by the presence of vanadiferous titano-magnetite (VTM) layers hosted predominantly by VTM-enriched gabbro, gabbronorite, leuconorite, anorthosite and olivine diorite. The VTM layers include disseminated, semi-massive and massive VTM intervals of variable thicknesses and variable proportions of oxide (Ti-magnetite) and silicate minerals (feldspar, pyroxene and olivine).
The RLS is the World’s largest and economically most important layered complex and is known for the remarkable geological and geochemical continuity of the magmatic stratigraphy. In common with other layered intrusions, such as the Great Dyke in Zimbabwe (Wilson, 1997), Molopo Farms Complex in Botswana (Reichhardt, 1994) and the Stillwater Complex in the USA (Irvine et al., 1983), the intrusive ultramafic to mafic magma has undergone a differentiation process which has resulted in the formation of magnesium-, chromium-, nickel- and precious metal-rich units in the lower portion of the RLS with iron-, titanium-, vanadium- and phosphorus-rich layers in the upper portion.
The UZ consists of numerous cyclic units of alternating and well-layered rocks and is subdivided
into three subzones:
* Subzone A is dominated by gabbroic rocks,
* Subzone B is dominated by the presence of modal olivine in the rocks; and
* Subzone C is dominated by the presence of modal apatite in the rocks.
The rocks of the RLS show remarkable continuity and individual layers can generally be traced along strike for tens of kilometres.
Since 2010, exploration by BML focussed on the Main Magnetite Layer (MML) and the stratigraphically higher semi-massive to massive Ti-magnetite layers N, O, P and Q. The P and Q VTM layers together with their enclosing gabbroic host rocks, which can contain considerable quantities of disseminated VTM, have been collectively termed the P-Q Zone.
The Project is based on the three mineralised layers associated with the MML which is part of the UZ of the BC. These are the MML, the MML Hanging Wall (MML HW) and the AB Zone located in the footwall of the MML.
The MML mineralised zone occurs near the base of the UZ and consists of an upper VTM-rich interval (MAG3) which is separated from a lower VTM-rich interval (MAG4) by a VTM-poorer leucogabbronorite “parting”. The MML was intersected during the 2010 to 2013 exploration programme in 13 vertical drillholes, and has an average true thickness of 9.8 m, including the VTMpoor parting, and dips between 18° and 24° to the west. The MAG3 ranges between 2.59 m and 7.65 m and averages 4.09 m in true thickness. The MAG4 ranges between 2.48 m and 6.30 m and averages 3.59 m in true thickness. The parting ranges from 0.93 m to 4.06 m and averages 2.16 m
in true thickness.
The MML HW comprises fourteen continuous layers defined by geological logging and VTM content, consisting of alternating layers of relatively high-grade semi-massive to massive VTM, lower-grade gabbronorite and barren anorthosite. These fourteen layers of the MML HW package are conformable with the MML and have a combined average true thickness of approximately 72 m.
The AB Zone represents the stratigraphically lowest accumulation of abundant VTM and occurs approximately 100 m below the MML near the base of the UZ of the RLS. The AB Zone consists of a relatively higher-grade upper and lower layer of strongly disseminated VTM, separated by a lower grade parting. The layers of the AB Zone have an average dip of 21° to the west with a combined average true thickness of approximately 9.3 m.