Ivanhoe Mines awarded 80 square kilometres of new exploration rights on South Africa’s Bushveld Complex
October 27, 2022
Ivanhoe Mines awarded 80 square kilometres of new exploration
rights on South Africa’s Bushveld Complex
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New exploration territory covers the largest known gravity
anomaly on the Bushveld, to be known as the ‘Mokopane Feeder’
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Exploration rights are adjacent to the tier-one Platreef palladium,
rhodium, nickel, platinum, copper and gold discovery
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Ivanhoe to commence exploration activities on the highly-
prospective area
MOKOPANE, SOUTH AFRICA – Ivanhoe Mines’ (TSX: IVN; OTCQX: IVPAF) Executive
Co-Chair Robert Friedland and President Marna Cloete announce today that the
company has been granted three new highly prospective exploration rights adjacent to
the company’s Platreef palladium, rhodium, nickel, platinum, copper, and gold
development project in Limpopo Province, South Africa.
Ivanhoe Mines has received notification from the South Africa Department of Minerals
and Energy (DMRE) that it has obtained three new significant exploration rights,
covering a total surface area of 80 square kilometres. Ivanhoe Mines owns 100% of the
exploration rights.
The exploration rights overlap a significant geophysical gravity anomaly, known as the
“Mokopane Feeder”, the centre of which is located approximately 10 kilometres from
Platreef’s Shaft 1 (see Figure 1).
The new rights form a continuous block situated on the southwest border of the
existing Platreef Projects’ mining rights, called Turfspruit and Macalacaskop that cover
in total 78 square kilometres. The Platreef Project contains approximately 58.8 million
ounces of precious metals (3PE+Au) as well as 6.2 billion pounds of copper and nickel
in indicated resources, and 94.3 million ounces as well as 11.9 billion pounds of copper
and nickel in inferred resources, at a cut-off grade of 1.0 g/t 3PE+Au.
Ivanhoe Mines’ Executive Co-Chairman, Robert Friedland commented:
“The Bushveld Complex sits among the most unique and valuable mineral endowments
on our planet. These exploration rights are postulated to be geologically significant by
our leading geoscientists. The new exploration rights are located at the intersection of a
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highly significant gravity geophysical anomaly and major regional geological
structures. Therefore, the ‘Mokopane Feeder’ may be related to the actual source of the
giant mineralizing system feeding the entire Northern Limb of the Bushveld Complex.
Our team has worked tirelessly to secure this important area, which could be of vital
significance to the world's future supply of nickel, copper and platinum-group metals.
We see increasing prospects of supply disruption in these particular metals due to the
potential international sanctions on Russia.
Ivanhoe Mines has been and always will be built upon world-scale discovery. We
continue to actively assess opportunities to add exploration projects to our portfolio to
leverage our industry leading geological team.”
Figure 1. Location of newly acquired exploration permits adjacent to Ivanplat’s
existing permits and the Platreef palladium, rhodium, nickel, platinum, copper
and gold project.
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New exploration ground covers the “Mokopane Feeder”, a regionally
significant gravity anomaly on South Africa’s Bushveld Complex
The Bushveld Complex is the largest-known, layered igneous complex in the world and
is host to the largest known reserves of platinum-group metals, chromium and
vanadium, as well as gold and base metals, including nickel and copper. In the opinion
of the geological team at Ivanhoe Mines, the “Mokopane Feeder” anomaly is the most
significant gravity feature in the entire Bushveld Complex (See Figure 2 and Figure 4).
The three new exploration rights (Blinkwater 244KR, Moordrift 289KR and Lisbon
288KR), together with the southern sections of Ivanplats’ Turfspruit and Macalacaskop
mining permits, cover this spectacular geophysical gravity anomaly that was previously
identified from a widely spaced regional ground gravity survey.
Figure 2. Regional gravity survey showing the location of the “Mokopane Feeder”
anomaly.
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The mafic-ultramafic phase, called the Rustenburg Layered Suite, is a well-defined
stratigraphy that extends across the entire Bushveld Complex. Within the Rustenburg
Layered Suite, rock density typically increases towards the base of the stratigraphy.
This is due to the increase in abundance of mafic minerals that contain higher iron and
magnesium content. The Rustenburg Layered Suite can be vertically subdivided into an
Upper Zone, a Main Zone, a Critical Zone and a Lower Zone. The upper portion of the
Critical Zone hosts the majority of the economic mineralization, and hosts Ivanplats’
world-scale Flatreef platinum-group metals deposit.
Figure 3. The location of the three new exploration rights overlaid with surface
regional geology of the Upper Zone of the Rustenburg Layered Suite and the
Lebowa Granites.
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Academic studies1 based on historical data hypothesize that the anomaly represents a
primary feeder zone to the Rustenburg Layered Suite of the Northern Limb of the
Bushveld Complex. A significant thickening of the Rustenburg Layered Suite, in
particular of the more-dense Lower Zone units, is necessary to explain the anomaly.
Feeder zones, or conduits, are generally considered more prospective in ultramafic
magmatic systems, due to the increased volume of magma flow through the conduit.
These zones typically allow increased interaction between the magma and host rock,
which can contribute additional sulphur and base metals into the melt. Although the
inferred “Mokopane Feeder” zone itself is modelled to be deep, the proximity of the new
permits to the feeder provide significant potential for mineralization higher up in the
Rustenburg Layered Suite above the feeder zone.
The proximity of the proposed feeder to the regional-scale crustal faults (the Ysterberg-
Planknek and the Zebediela faults, as shown in Figure 3), as well as the anomalously
thick zones of platinum-group metals mineralization at the Flatreef Deposit, leads
Ivanhoe to believe there is significant potential for mineralization to be associated with
this feature.
Geophysics and exploration program to commence
To better understand the conceptual “Mokopane Feeder” target, Ivanhoe Mines will
commence a detailed high-resolution, airborne-magnetic and gradiometer-gravity
survey over the project area. The surveys will be conducted by Xcalibur Airborne
Geophysics (PTY) Ltd. of Pretoria, South Africa, and are expected to be completed in
early 2023. Modelling of this new geophysical data is intended to determine the
potential thicknesses of the Rustenburg Layered Suite units and generate follow-up
targets for drilling later in the year.
Ivanplats first conducted a gradiometer gravity survey over a portion of the Turfspruit
license in 2012. Gradiometer surveys produce much higher resolution data than
conventional gravity surveys. Three-dimensional constrained inversion modelling of
this data proved to be invaluable in understanding the geometry of the primary host
units within the Platreef Project area, and aided in the construction of a detailed
structural and stratigraphic model of the area that contributed to the initial discovery of
the Flatreef deposit.
The data will be combined with historical geophysical data to accurately model the
gravity anomaly in terms of size and depth below surface. Surface mapping and
modelling of previous geophysical data suggests the top of the Rustenburg Layered
Suite on the exploration rights could be approximately 900 metres below surface.
1. (Cole, Webb, & Finn, Gravity models of the Bushveld Complex - Have we come full circle?,
2014), (Cole, Three dimensional geometry of the Bushveld Complex derived from potential
field modelling, 2018) & (Finn., Bedrosian, Cole, Khoza, & Webb, 2015)
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Figure 4. Regional geophysical gravity survey, showing the signatures of the
Western Limb, Eastern Limb and the southern section of the Northern Limb of
the Bushveld Complex.
Image sourced from thesis titled ‘Three-dimensional geometry of the Bushveld Complex
derived from potential field odelling’, submitted by Janine Cole in 2018 to the Faculty of
Science at University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.
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About Platreef
The Platreef Project is owned by Ivanplats (Pty) Ltd (Ivanplats), which is 64%-owned by
Ivanhoe Mines. A 26% interest is held by Ivanplats' historically-disadvantaged, broad-
based, black economic empowerment (B-BBEE) partners, which include 20 local host
communities with approximately 150,000 people, project employees and local
entrepreneurs. A Japanese consortium of ITOCHU Corporation, Japan Oil, Gas and
Metals National Corporation, and Japan Gas Corporation, owns a 10% interest in
Ivanplats, which it acquired in two tranches for a total investment of $290 million.
Aerial view of the Platreef project showcasing latest construction activities, with
Shaft 1 on the right and Shaft 2 hitch-to-collar construction in the center.
The Platreef Project hosts a thick, underground deposit, known as the Flatreef Deposit,
that consists of platinum-group metals, nickel, copper and gold mineralization. It is
located on the Northern Limb of the Bushveld Igneous Complex in Limpopo Province –
approximately 280 kilometres northeast of Johannesburg and eight kilometres from the
town of Mokopane.
On the Northern Limb, platinum-group metals mineralization is primarily hosted within
the Platreef, a mineralized sequence that is traced more than 30 kilometres along strike.
Ivanhoe's Platreef Project, within the Platreef's southern sector, is comprised of two
contiguous properties: Turfspruit and Macalacaskop. Turfspruit, the northernmost
property, is contiguous with, and along strike from, Anglo Platinum's Mogalakwena
group of mining operations and properties. The Flatreef Deposit, which is amenable to
highly-mechanized, underground mining methods, lies entirely on the Turfspruit and
Macalacaskop properties that form part of the company's mining right.
First concentrate production from Phase 1 is planned for Q3 2024, with the Phase 2
expansion expected following the commissioning of Shaft 2 in 2027. Phase 1 average
annual production is expected to be 113,000 ounces (oz.) of palladium, rhodium,
platinum, and gold (3PE+Au), plus 5 million pounds of nickel and 3 million pounds of
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copper. The average annual production of the Phase 2 expansion is expected to
increase to 591,000 oz. of 3PE+Au, plus 26 million pounds of nickel and 16 million
pounds of copper. The Platreef Project is projected to become one of the world’s largest
and lowest-cost producers of palladium, platinum, rhodium, nickel, copper and gold
Figure 4. World’s largest precious metal deposits under development ranked by
contained metal in Measured and Indicated Resources.
Source: company filings, S&P Global Market Intelligence. Notes: Chart ranks the largest undeveloped
primary palladium, platinum, gold, silver and rhodium projects from the S&P Global Market Intelligence
database based on measured and indicated palladium equivalent resource. Palladium equivalent
calculation includes palladium, platinum, gold, silver and rhodium ounces and has been calculated
using spot price metal price assumptions (February 23, 2022) of US$1,095/oz. platinum, US$2,480/oz.
palladium, US$18,750/oz. rhodium, US$1,909/oz. gold and US$24.55/oz. silver. Measured and
Indicated resources for Platreef correspond to palladium, platinum, gold and rhodium ounces at a 1 g/t
cut-off grade.
The Mineral Resources were estimated and finalized April 22, 2016. On 28 January 2022, updated
criteria for assessing reasonable prospects of eventual extraction were reviewed to ensure the estimate
remained current. The updated effective date is 28 January 2022. The Qualified Person for the estimate
is Mr. Timothy Kuhl, RM SME.
Qualified persons
In March 2022, Ivanhoe Mines filed a new National Instrument 43-101 (NI 43-101) technical report
covering the Platreef 2022 Feasibility Study. The updated NI 43-101 technical report includes an
independent feasibility study for the initial two phases of development for the Platreef Mine to a
steady state production rate of 5.2 million tonnes of ore per annum.
The Platreef 2022 Feasibility Study Technical Report was independently prepared by
OreWin Pty Ltd. of Adelaide, Australia; Mine Technical Services of Reno, USA; SRK
–
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40
60
80
100
120
140
160
PdEq Contained M&I
Resources (Moz)
Measured & Indicated Resource
Inferred Resource