Agata Limestone

The Agata Limestone Project (ALP) is held by Agata Mining Ventures Inc. (or “Agata” in which TVIRD has a 60% interest). The project is covered by Mineral Production Sharing Agreement (MPSA) No. 134-99-XIII which was granted to Minimax Mineral Exploration Corp. (Minimax).

The approved MPSA appointed MRL Nickel Philippines Inc. (MRL) as Operator to conduct mineral exploration within the 4,995-ha contract area, pursuant to the June 27, 1997 Deed of Assignment .

Parties Minimax, MRL and TVIRD entered into a Joint Venture Agreement in September 25, 2012 for the development of the Agata Property. The JV Parties formed Joint Venture Companies to develop and operate the Agata tenement, among which the appointed mining company is Agata Mining Ventures Inc.

The ALP site is located in a 4,995-hectare MPSA area in the adjacent municipalities of Tubay, Jabonga and Santiago, all in Agusan del Norte province. It is accessible by land (approximately 1.5-hours driving time) from the provincial capital of Butuan.

The project mine site is located at a very short trucking distance from Agata’s private port, which is strategically located within proximity to main markets in Asia and bears the opportunity for shipping all year round.

The whole MPSA is largely underlain by the Cretaceous basement rocks of the Humandum Serpentinite and the Concepcion Greenschist. The former, believed to be a dismembered part of the Dinagat Ophiolite, is found in thrust contact with the latter and other metamorphic rocks. Humandum Serpentinite rocks include peridotite, pyroxenite, dunite, serpentinite and minor distribution of gabbro. On the other hand, Concepcion Greenschist is an interbedded metasedimentary and metavolcanic sequence. Within the metasedimentary succession are calcareous layers where the recrystallized limestone deposit of Payong -payong is located.

The Payong-payong limestone forms a sub-horizontal continuous bed, striking NE and dipping gently at NW direction. The limestone exhibits characteristics which suggest that it has been subjected to low grade metamorphism. The mapped units are massive and recrystallized textures are apparent.

The mineralized units comprise intercalating layers of metamorphic rocks and lenses of recrystallized limestone with assay results ranging from 80% to 100% CaCO₃. The limestone is relatively clean with minimal to negligible impurities of iron and other base metals. A high -purity limestone was revealed during drilling of the deposit exhibiting about 40 to 50 m thick, white to gray, metamorphosed limestone.

The exploration for limestone in Agata was first initiated by MRL in 2011, when the company was scouting for raw materials to be utilized in the proposed nickel processing plant. Gridline-based mapping has been undertaken which was then followed by drilling of five (5) drillholes. Given the encouraging results of the initial drilling, Agata decided to pursue the Project by drilling more holes within the 32-ha perimeter of the Payong-payong area. The Company drilled a total of 17 drill holes at 100-m spacing. Results had confirmed the presence of a high-purity recrystallized limestone deposit covering an area of 600 m by 650 m.

The exploration drilling program for the Project involves Quality Assurance and Quality Control (QA/QC) protocols to monitor laboratory performance in terms of analytical accuracy, precision and bias. Core samples were analyzed at the Agata Mine Laboratory using XRF method. Each batch of sample dispatch includes coarse blanks and coarse duplicate inserted randomly.

A preliminary economic assessment indicates a capital requirement of an estimated USD 6-8 million for a  two (2) million ton per annum mining and processing facility for direct shipping of limestone products to the steel and power industries. Due to the project’s proximity to the causeway where materials will be shipped, potential operations will benefit from having low transport and handling costs.

A limestone quarrying and processing plant will be established to economically develop, extract and utilize the limestone deposit. Mining will be simultaneously operated with the processing. Conventional method of quarrying will be carried out to deliver limestone for further crushing and screening. The processing method to be employed for producing limestone lumps is simply by crushing and screening. A crushing and screening module having a capacity of 700 t/h will be installed to make an annual crushed limestone production of about two (2) million tons.

From the crushing plant, crushed limestone will be transported to the screening facility located at the existing nickel laterite pier yards. The material will pass through primary and secondary vibrating screens and will be segregated into different stockpiles. Products will be transported to the port via a 1.5 km covered conveyor belt or directly loaded to feeder vessels using hauling dump trucks then transferred to cargo ships using their crane grabs.

There are four kinds of products to be produced by the Project: (1) crushed medium limestone lumps, (2) crushed medium-small limestone lumps, (3) crushed small limestone lumps and (4) limestone fines.

The estimated Mineral Resource for Agata Limestone Project using a cut-off grade of 45% CaO stands at around 35.6 million tons at 54.5% CaO (97% CaCO₃).

The Mineral Resource estimate for the Project has been classified as Indicated Resource given that the drill spacing is at 100 m by 100 m. No Measured Resources have been defined.

The Ore Reserve is classified as Probable Ore Reserve. It is estimated at 30.08 million tons at 54.32% CaO (97% CaCO₃) using a cut off grade of 90% CaCO₃.The categorization indicates the bulk of the reserve falling under the high-grade classification.

A Mine Plan and Design was already done for a 2 million metric tons per year production. This would mean a Life of Mine (LOM) of fifteen (15) years. The proximity of the loading port (see map) from the limestone deposit and crushing plant would mean low hauling costs and year-round operations. The port loading stations are located some 800 meters from the pier head and can accommodate vessels as large as 100,000 tons capacities.