Further progress with SA mineral sands for Adelaide Resources

Adelaide Resources has made further progress towards a development decision on....

  Adelaide Resources has made further progress towards a development decision on the Tripitaka zircon deposit on South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula.Latest developments include the approval by the Colona joint venture partners – Iluka Resources and Adelaide Resources – of a $3.5m budget for the pre-feasibility study into the Tripitaka development.Adelaide Resources’ Executive Chairman, Keith Yates said significant advances had already been made with the pre-feasibility study, with around 30 percent of the total budget expended.“It is anticipated the study will be completed in the first quarter of calendar 2008 when, subject to a satisfactory completion of the pre-feasibility study, the joint venture will make a decision in relation to the definitive feasibility stage of the project,” Mr Yates said.Mr Yates said another major drill program had just been completed at Tripitaka.“Processing of drill samples from this program is well advanced, with completion of assaying and commencement of bulk mineral assemblage analysis scheduled for the current quarter,” he said.The joint venture partners have also flown an airborne electromagnetic survey over an area surrounding Tripitaka to define the extent of palaeochannels, which are potential sources of underground water for a mining operation.Mr Yates said this survey had defined promising targets for drill testing, some of which are located near previous mineral exploration drill holes that intersected potential sand aquifers.“The water exploration drilling program to test these targets is scheduled to be undertaken in the current quarter, pending the timely completion of an Aboriginal heritage survey,” he said.