Shares in Noventa Ltd (LON:NVTA) enjoyed another boost today, rising 5.2% to 7.5p, after the mining group revealed that it had discovered what could be a significant additional deposit of tantalum bearing ore on its existing Marropino licence area in Mozambique. The news follows reports earlier this week that the company was set to complete the earlier than expected shipment to Asia of tantalum concentrate to one of its two major customers.

The latest discovery is an area of soft rock measuring approximately one kilometre square, two kilometres to the south east of the Marropino Mine. Indications from initial sampling have been encouraging and independent assays are now under way. If the discovery is confirmed, it is expected that this could provide up to twelve months of feedstock for the Marropino plant at the full anticipated production level of in excess of 500,000lbs of tantalum pentoxide per annum.

The discovery is part of "Project Ligonha", a project that was first announced in June 2010 to complete the preliminary geological evaluation of Noventa's current mining concessions and to provide improved mapping of Noventa's exploration license areas in Zambezia Province of Mozambique. This is a three month project, being undertaken in conjunction with students from the University of Glasgow and Universidade Eduardo Mondlane in Maputo. At Marropino, the focus has been on the assessment of the other known pegmatite occurrences and colluvial/eluvial deposits to the south and east of the pit, which could provide additional feed for the Marropino plant. This project also covers the mining concessions at Mutala and Morrua, and the nine other nearby sites for which the company has exploration licences.

Eric Kohn, Noventa’s executive chairman, said: “This discovery is very encouraging. Once we have independently evaluated the results from the preliminary sampling, a further sampling programme will be planned to accurately define the shape, potential tonnages and grades of the discovery. This has the potential to form a significant addition to the existing mineral resource, extending the life of Marropino".

Operations at Marropino were placed on care and maintenance at the end of May 2009, shortly before a new management team took over the business and set out plans to restore the flagship mine to profitable production. In June this year, it published a three year strategic plan requiring $23m of new capital to upgrade the plant…

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