TIDMSRES
RNS Number : 8639W
Sunrise Resources Plc
24 April 2019
24 April 2019
SUNRISE RESOURCES PLC
("Sunrise" or "the Company")
PROJECT UPDATES
Sunrise Resources plc (ticker symbol 'SRES'), the AIM-traded
company focusing on the development of its CS Pozzolan-Perlite
Project in Nevada, USA, is pleased to provide the following project
updates:
CS POZZOLAN-PERLITE PROJECT
-- Latest testwork shows promise for production of premium-value
super-coarse horticultural grades of perlite.
-- Positive results from concrete trials by second large
cement/ready-mix company using Company's natural pozzolan.
-- Additional programme of bulk sampling completed:
Ø 7-ton perlite sample submitted for crushing and screening to
confirm mobile plant design.
Ø 18-ton pozzolan sample sent to custom milling facility to
provide information on grinding characteristics and to provide
larger ground samples for additional customer trials.
Ø 100-ton sample of perlite extracted for further processing and
customer testing.
-- Permitting:
Ø Plan of Operation and Reclamation Permit Application for
production of pozzolan and perlite to be submitted this month.
Ø Emissions Inventory nearing completion for the Federal
Environmental Assessment and State Air Quality Permit
application.
Ø Latest estimates suggest completion of permitting will be
delayed slightly to 4(th) quarter of this year following procedural
changes by the Regulator.
Ø Suitable water source identified and Water Rights and
development Rights of Way applications submitted.
-- Market opportunities for natural pozzolan increasing as fly
ash shortages continue. Closure of the Navajo Generating Station
will take 500,000 tons/year of fly ash from the western US
market.
NEWPERL PERLITE PROJECT (Nevada)
-- Positive perlite expansion testwork completed on samples
collected from NewPerl and Jackson Wash.
-- Notice level permit application submitted for drilling and bulk sampling.
COUNTY LINE DIATOMITE PROJECT (Nevada)
-- Approach from potential diatomite customer - Samples
collected and submitted for manufacturing tests.
Commenting today Sunrise Executive Chairman Patrick Cheetham
said: "I am pleased to provide this detailed update on our progress
with permitting and market development testwork as we continue to
prove the value of our natural pozzolan and perlite with future
customers. Gaining market acceptance is a long process for
industrial minerals such as perlite and pozzolan but I am pleased
with our progress and market developments mean both products are
increasingly in demand. I am also pleased to be reporting positive
developments on our NewPerl Perlite and new interest in our County
Line Diatomite Project.
DETAILED INFORMATION
CS PROJECT - PERLITE
Testwork for production of premium grade, super-coarse
horticultural perlite.
The Company has recently completed testwork aimed at the
production and expansion of super-coarse horticultural grades of
perlite from the Company's CS Pozzolan-Perlite Project.
These very coarse grades of raw perlite are only available in
restricted tonnages and command a premium price.
This testwork has produced a coarse expanded perlite with
acceptable yields indicating promising potential for the production
of these premium grades of horticultural perlite.
Bulk Sampling
In order to provide potential customers with additional samples
for testwork the Company has recently completed a second round of
bulk sampling at the CS Project. One hundred tons of perlite has
been extracted and will be sized and graded to customers'
requirements.
The bulk sample mining exercise has confirmed that the perlite
targeted for first production can be mined mechanically by
excavator or by ripping using a bulldozer, i.e. without the need
for more costly drilling and blasting.
Seven tons of the perlite bulk sample have been submitted to a
process equipment supplier who has arranged trial crushing and
screening through production scale mobile processing equipment to
simulate the low capital cost processing option that is being
planned for first production of perlite.
This work will provide additional information on the crushing
and screening characteristics of the perlite and allow for
refinement of the mobile process plant design and provide
information on yields of horticultural grade perlite.
The screen sizes for this work have been selected to produce a
super-coarse raw perlite and it is anticipated that sufficient
material will be produced during this crushing and screening to
provide samples for expansion testing in a commercial furnace.
CS PROJECT - NATURAL POZZOLAN
Further Concrete Tests
In the announcement of 21 February 2019, the Company advised the
successful completion of the first concrete tests by a large cement
and ready-mix company using the Company's natural pozzolan.
The Company has now completed a programme of testwork with a
second major producer of cement and ready-mix concrete using the
Company's natural pozzolan. The results are consistent with the
results of the previously announced tests and compare favourably
with concrete made using coal power station fly ash, currently the
most commonly used form of supplementary cementitious material
(SCM).
Commercial Scale Grinding
In order to meet customer demand for additional testwork samples
of ground pozzolan the Company has arranged for 18 tons of the
material remaining from the September 2018 bulk sample to be
submitted to a commercial custom grinding facility.
The sample has been delivered and will be ground in the next few
days. The grinding of this sample is expected to provide further
information on grinding times and energy requirements for
production of a finished natural pozzolan product.
This ground product will be supplied to a number of separate
customers for evaluation.
Permitting
The Company continues to advance its permitting work for
development of the CS Project.
The Company has completed an advanced draft of the Emissions
Inventory for the project which is required for the Environmental
Assessment by the main regulator, the Federal US Bureau of Land
Management (BLM). An emissions inventory is also needed for the Air
Quality Permit application which is submitted to the Nevada
Division of Environmental Protection (NDEP). The BLM's inventory
quantifies the maximum level of air pollutants from mining and
mineral processing equipment as well as fugitive dust sources.
The Company expects to submit its draft Plan of Operations and
Reclamation Permit as a joint application to the BLM and NDEP
around the end of this month. The Plan of Operations is a key
document and together with the completed baseline studies forms the
basis for the preparation of various environmental reports to
assess the Project's effects on current land use and the area's
natural resources (air, water, animals etc.). All of these
documents feed into the BLM's Environmental Assessment (EA) Process
which is a requirement of the National Environmental Policy Act
(NEPA). The EA Process together with the public commentary period
and final regulatory approvals, is the final process in the
permitting process with the BLM.
The Reclamation Permit application is evaluated by the Nevada
Bureau of Mining Regulation and Reclamation, a part of the Nevada
Division of Environmental Protection.
The Company is still expecting a relatively straightforward EA
Process based on its environmental studies and mine and mineral
processing plans. However, changes to the reporting procedural
requirements under NEPA have resulted in a small shift in the
projected timetable for completion of permitting which is now
expected to occur later in the fourth quarter of this year.
Various additional minor permits are required, for example for
the storage of LPG, any hazardous materials and explosives (if and
when required) but the process of obtaining these permits is
relatively short and can be accommodated within this overall
timeframe.
Following the completion of permitting the project the Company
is required to submit a reclamation bond before mining can start.
The Company's Plan of Operations will be phased to minimise the
amount of the initial bond.
Water Supply
Water will be required by the CS Project, primarily for dust
suppression in and around the Company's proposed mining and mineral
processing operations.
A disused well has been identified close to the proposed
operations and has been pump tested and found sufficient to supply
the Company's needs. An application has been submitted for water
rights to be used in conjunction with the well and the Project.
Water rights in the basin in which the well and the Project are
located exceed the annual recharge capacity of the basin so new
rights can be hard to obtain. In the event that the Company's water
rights application is not granted, the Company has a back-up plan
to lease water rights from an existing holder for use in
conjunction with the same well.
An application for a Right of Way for the well and access over
BLM administered land has been completed and will be submitted
alongside the Company's Plan of Operations and Reclamation Permit
application.
Drone Survey
A drone photogrammetric survey has been commissioned to provide
ultra-high-resolution ground imagery and a digital terrain model to
control future mining operations.
General Market Update - Natural Pozzolan.
The market opportunity for natural pozzolan is strongly linked
to the reduction in the supply of the coal-fired power station fly
ash, the residue from burning coal which has long been used as a
cement replacement product (a supplementary cementitious material
or SCM) in the production of concrete.
Fly ash and natural pozzolan SCMs both improve the long-term
strength and resistance of concrete compared to concrete made using
only Portland Cement. These performance characteristics have
resulted in many State transport infrastructure regulators
mandating the use of SCMs in concrete used in public works.
The shortage of fly ash in the USA is the direct result of the
continuing closure of coal-fired power stations throughout the USA
due to a lack of economic competitiveness with natural gas-fired
power generation and a drive to greener power generation.
These macro-economic factors create a permissive environment for
natural pozzolan and have recently been highlighted by two separate
reports.
A report issued in March this year by Energy Innovation LLC(1)
(The Coal Cost Crossover: Economic Viability Of Existing Coal
Compared To New Local Wind And Solar Resources). reported that
"America has officially entered the "coal cost crossover" - where
existing coal is increasingly more expensive than cleaner
alternatives. Today, local wind and solar could replace
approximately 74 percent of the U.S. coal fleet at an immediate
savings to customers. By 2025, this number grows to 86
percent."
A report recently commissioned by the Sierra Club(2) and
submitted to the California Legislature highlights the potential
for SCMs such as natural pozzolan to replace cement in cement and
concrete mixes and reduce the carbon outputs of the California
Cement Industry.
"In addition, the CO(2) emissions intensity (tCO(2) /t cement)
of California's cement industry was the second highest among
countries/regions studied, and 57 percent higher than that of
China's cement industry."
In the Company's target markets, California and Nevada, the
supply of fly ash is most acute owing to its distance from the
sources of supply. This will get worse with the closure of the
Navajo Generating Station, the largest US coal-fired power station
west of the Mississippi. After unsuccessful efforts to keep this
running, it will now close at the end of this year and consequently
some 500,000 tons per year of fly ash will be taken off the market.
Currently approximately 1 million tons per annum of SCMs are used
in California.
NEWPERL
Perlite Testing
Further to the Company's announcement of 3 January 2019 the
Company has now completed expansion testwork at In.mat-Lab in
Greece on reconnaissance samples of perlite from the Jackson Wash
and NewPerl claim areas.
This testwork has confirmed that large areas of perlite at both
localities are suitable for the production of horticultural grade
perlite. Three selected samples were submitted for production of
super-coarse grades of perlite with promising results.
The Company has submitted a Notice level permit application to
the BLM for a small drilling and bulk sampling programme on the
Knoll Prospect of the NewPerl Project Area.
COUNTY LINE DIATOMITE DEPOSIT
Following an enquiry from a diatomite consumer looking for a new
source of diatomite, a small sampling programme was carried out
this month and samples sent to the consumer for testing.
--- End --
References:
1. The Coal Cost Crossover: Economic Viability Of Existing Coal
Compared To New Local Wind And Solar Resources. Eric Gimon And Mike
O'boyle, Energy Innovation & Christopher T.M. Clack And Sarah
Mckee, Vibrant Clean Energy. March 2019.
https://energyinnovation.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Coal-Cost-Crossover_Energy-Innovation_VCE_FINAL.pdf
2. Hasanbeigi, A. and Springer, C. 2019. California's Cement
Industry: Failing the Climate Challenge. Global Efficiency
Intelligence. San Francisco, CA.
https://www.globalefficiencyintel.com/new-blog/2019/californias-cement-climate-challenge
This announcement contains inside information for the purposes
of Article 7 of EU Regulation 596/2014.
Further information:
Sunrise Resources plc Tel: +44 (0)1625 838 884
Patrick Cheetham, Executive
Chairman
Tel: +44 (0)207 628 3396
Beaumont Cornish Limited
Nominated Adviser
James Biddle/Roland Cornish
Tel: +44 (0)203 700 0093
SVS Securities Plc
Broker
Tom Curran/Ben Tadd
Note:
1. The information in this release has been compiled and
reviewed by Mr. Patrick Cheetham (MIMMM, MAusIMM) who is a
qualified person for the purposes of the AIM Note for Mining and
Oil & Gas Companies. Mr. Cheetham is a Member of the Institute
of Materials, Minerals & Mining and a member of the
Australasian Institute of Mining & Metallurgy.
2. The news release may contain certain statements and
expressions of belief, expectation or opinion which are
forward-looking statements, and which relate, inter alia, to the
Company's proposed strategy, plans and objectives or to the
expectations or intentions of the Company's directors. Such
forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks,
uncertainties and other important factors beyond the control of the
Company that could cause the actual performance or achievements of
the Company to be materially different from such forward-looking
statements. Accordingly, you should not rely on any forward-looking
statements and save as required by the AIM Rules for Companies or
by law, the Company does not accept any obligation to disseminate
any updates or revisions to such forward-looking statements.
Shares in the Company trade on AIM. EPIC: "SRES". Website:
www.sunriseresourcesplc.com
This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the
London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct
Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United
Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution
of this information may apply. For further information, please
contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.
END
UPDSEDFWDFUSESL
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April 24, 2019 02:00 ET (06:00 GMT)
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