GCIGreenRoc Mining to fast track TBS Project with new appointments
BioApp Greenland, a Danish/Greenlandic-based contractor and environmental expert, will conduct an EIA while NIRAS, a multi-disciplinary engineering consultancy, will undertake the SIA.
BioApp Greenland, which has extensive operational experience in Greenland, will conduct the EIA, an environmental decision support tool to the authorities who issue licences for mining development projects, in compliance with the requirements of the Greenlandic authorities.
The EIA will provide information on the possible impacts of mining development projects on the environment and propose actions to mitigate impacts as far as practicable, it explained.
GreenRoc said NIRAS has extensive expertise and operational experience in Greenland and is familiar with the requirements of Greenlandic laws, frameworks and guidelines for the SIA.
The objective of the SIA is to ensure that a mining development maximises its benefits and minimises its potential negative impacts on society and local communities, it told investors.
A JORC resource capable of supporting a mining operation and the formal approval of an EIA and an SIA, are the necessary precursors to an application for a Mining Licence in Greenland.
The Thule Black Sands project currently benefits from a maiden Mineral Resource of 19Mt with an in-situ ilmenite grade of 8.9% and awaits the assessment by mineral sands experts IHC Mining of the 249-hole follow-up drilling programme undertaken in the summer of 2021.
The company highlighted to investors that these three undertakings will form the ‘key building blocks’ in regard to fast tracking the ilmenite project into the mine development process.
CEO, Kirk Adams, said: "The appointment of Denmark's BioApp and NIRAS groups marks a key development in the permitting application for our Thule Black Sands Ilmenite Project. With extensive knowledge and experience of Greenland's environmental and social landscapes and operating requirements, BioApp and NIRAS are ideally placed to manage the EIA and SIA work, which will in turn form a key part of our Mining Licence application for TBS."
He said the appointments are evidence of Greenroc’s confidence in the significant potential of the project and of its clear aim to fast track the project's development “as swiftly as possible.”
Following a surface drilling campaign in 2018, the maiden mineral resource for Thule Black Sands is 19Mt@ 43.6% Total Heavy Minerals ("THM"), with an in-situ ilmenite grade of 8.9%.
Since then, ilmenite prices have gained value with prices having more than doubled in the two years, driven in part by curtailed production from Rio Tinto's Richards Bay HMS mine, a growing demand induced by world population growth, and a supply squeeze on ilmenite.
In its recent FY21 results, GreenRoc highlighted that it believes the high ilmenite grades of the TBS project create “an ideal platform” for driving the project towards development.
“Having already defined a sizable resource of 19Mt @ 43.6% THM, we are on track to expand this further and to build resource confidence through the results of our 2021 drill programme. We are confident that these results will firmly establish TBS as a major new ilmenite source, at a time when global demand continues to outstrip supply,” Adams highlighted to investors.
The results of GreenRoc Mining’s 2021 drill programme are expected in the coming weeks.
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