Nendo Bauxite
Location: Santa Cruz Island, Temotu, Solomon Islands
Resource: Bauxite
Acquired: 2015
The Project is a granted Prospecting Licence located on the island of Nendo in the Temotu Province of the eastern Solomon Islands. Bauxite deposits were identified in residual soils on up-lifted limestone reef platforms by Australian exploration companies in the 1960s and in the British and Solomon Island geological surveys up to and including the early 1980s.
In 2016 a comprehensive auger drilling and pit sampling program identified the presence of widespread high-quality bauxite over a large area on the western end of Nendo Island. Findings identified areas of mineralisation are significantly larger than historically defined.
Nendo potentially presents large areas of high-grade bauxite amenable to direct shipping and low-cost development.
There is strong public support for progressing the Nendo Bauxite Project. Project representatives are extensively engaged with the local community, ensuring all stakeholders are fully aware of current and future activities.
FIELD RESULTS INITIAL EXPLORATION
In May 2016, fieldwork commenced. Exploration entailed the sampling of hand-dug pits and hand-auger holes to test the residual soil profile in areas that are historically identified as being favourable for bauxite deposits.
Project representatives worked closely with the locals to identify areas of high-quality bauxite which are amenable to low-cost development. The main target area presently defined by this work is approximately 12 km x 2 km and remains open to the east, within a similar terrain.
Results indicate that the tenor of Al2O3 content is consistent, with little variation throughout the soil profile. More importantly, the results show that mineralisation has low impurities and low reactive silica content.
Average results to date from all samples include:
- 21% Al2O3 and 1.7% rxSiO2 (for Laboratory results +40% Al2O3 & <5% rxSiO2)
- 35% Al2O3 and 4.22% totSiO2 (for Field XRF results +40% Al2O3 & <7% totSiO2)
- The deposit exhibits an average depth of +3 m, with some areas being +6 m deep.