Bryah has landed its maiden Inferred and Indicated resource of 1.84Mt grading 21% manganese at the Bryah Basin JV project in Western Australia with OM Holdings.

The resource, which was defined over six prospects, comes as manganese has been acknowledged as a critical metal due to its essential role in the production of steel with greater strength and flexibility, along with increased use in batteries.

Bryah Resources (ASX:BYH) says the greater part of the resource – 1.08Mt at 22% manganese – is in the higher confidence Indicated category, which means there’s enough information to support mine planning.

“We are very pleased to announce the maiden mineral resource for the Bryah Basin JV Project with OM Manganese,” chief executive officer Ashley Jones said.

“These mineral resources will now underpin mining licence applications in the Brumby Creek and Black Hill locations.

“The Horseshoe South area Mineral Resources are already located on a granted mining lease and this will take us one step closer to where we want to be – producing manganese.”

Jones added that the 15% manganese cut off parameters are high relative to many of the company’s peers and is expected to result in potentially higher yields to make a saleable manganese product.

“Having historical production from the area gives us confidence in progressing towards a production outcome,” he noted.

OM Manganese is a wholly-owned subsidiary of OM Holdings (ASX:OMH) and recently completed all funding requirements to earn a 51% stake in the project.

Manganese mineralisation styles

Manganese mineralisation at the Bryah Basin JV project comes in two flavours.

In the Horseshoe Ranges, mineralisation is contained within in-situ and detrital manganese formation within shale and siltstone with rare thin Banded Iron Formation bands.

This style of mineralisation is preserved within the eastern area of Brumby Creek East, the northern portion of Brumby Creek West and the Horseshoe Extensions.

The other style of manganese deposit is formed by erosion and re-working of manganese material downslope to form detrital deposits in channels

This is found at the southern end of Brumby Creek West, the west side of Brumby Creek East, Area 74, Black Hill Mesa and Horseshoe South Channel.

More growth to come

Bryah notes that the manganese mineralisation forms conductive bodies, and as a result, it is applying geophysical GAIP surveys to generate drill targets that are prospective for buried manganese lenses.

Ongoing exploration using geophysics and drilling is expected to find additional manganese deposits, with an aggressive exploration program planned for 2022.

The JV has also lodged mining licence applications to support future feedstocks for mining projects based on the granted mining lease at Horseshoe Manganese M52/806.

 

 

 

This article was developed in collaboration with Bryah Basin, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.

 

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.