DNI Metals Inc. is working aggressively to advance their polymetallic northern Alberta Black Shale metals projects toward production as rapidly as possible.  For sheer size and variety of metals which might be recovered, the company's SBH Property located 120 Km north of the famed mining center of Fort McMurray, Alberta is of considerable interest.

 

The SBH package comprises some 2,720 Sq. Km. (272,000 hectares), all of which is underlain by black shales which host the metallic values.  DNI began assembling the land package in 2007, and then expanded it in 2008 and 2009.  The entire property is underlain by the targeted black shales which are part of the flat-lying layer-cake arrangement of sedimentary formations of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin.

 

The area was intensely explored in the 1990's by third-parties and it was during this process that the metallic potential was also discovered.  However, the metals could not be extracted from the shale with then available processes and the projects were terminated.  This changed in 2005 when extraction of metals from black shale was made possible by relying on bioleaching.  Among the metals discovered contained within the black shale are molybdenum, nickel, uranium, vanadium, zinc, copper, cobalt, silver, gold, lithium, Specialty Metals (EG: Sc, Th) and rare earth elements (REE). 

 

DNI's primary focus is on two flat-lying near-surface black shale formations which are beneath the surface across all of DNI's property and which carry elevated organic carbon in addition to Base Metals, Uranium, Specialty Metals and REE.  These are the "Second White Speckled Shale" and "Shaftesbury Formation".  Both formations outcrop in river valleys across the eastern parts of the Property, but in other areas are covered by up to 150 meters of overburden rocks which also contain recoverable mineralization of value. 

 

A resource study is in progress to make a determination whether the overburden cover rocks represent a third formation to be considered an additional prospective target during future work.

 

DNI's primary target is the Second White Speckled Shale Formation since it is exposed on surface or is under thin overburden cover and is, as such, amenable to mining by open pit.  In all, there are six areas of interest, two of which have been identified as large mineralized zones named "Buckton" and "Asphalt" and four other target areas have been named "Buckton South", "Eaglenest", "McIvor West" and "North Lily". 

 

The Buckton Zone is a mineralized zone of 26 sq. Km with potential to contain 1.4 to 1.5 billion short tons of which 250 million short tons, extending over a 5.7 Sq Km portion of the Zone which has been drill-tested, have been classified as an "Inferred" Resource.  The mineralized portion is approximately 21 meters thick, is partly exposed and is open in three directions.  The Asphalt Zone is a mineralized zone of 4.5 sq. Km with potential to contain 125-151 million short tons in an 11 meters thick zone which is also open in three directions.

 

Considerable attention has been devoted by DNI to determining the most advantageous method of recovering metals from black shale and one technique which has returned very favourable results is "bioleaching", a metals extracting process now in operation at the Talvivaara Mine in Finland.  The Talvivaara mining operations extract multi-metals from mineralized black shale relying on heap leaching using naturally occurring bacteria that feed on minerals to release metals there from.

 

During the 2012-13 period, DNI plans to complete a resource study on the Buckton Cover Rocks which is presently in progress; prepare a revised Resource Study for the Buckton Zone; perform a scoping study for the Buckton Resource; and conduct a second drill program in order to expand and upgrade the Buckton Inferred resource as well as conducting in-fill drilling at a new zone named the "Buckton South Zone".  Mobilization for the 2012 drilling program has started.

 

Further information can be obtained from the company's website by visiting www.dnimetals.com

 

An in-depth study will be prepared following a property visit now planned for early August 2012.