Mining Indaba

South Boulder Mines Managing Director and CEO Lorry Huges is going to present on Wednesday, 8th February at 11:30am at  the 18th Annual Investing in African Mining Indaba Convnetion in Cape Town.

The Mining conference will take place at the Cape Town International Convention Centre from the 6th-9th of February 2012. With some 6500 professionals, representing more than 1000 international companies and about 45 African and non-African government delegations from all the major mining countries of the world, Mining Indaba is the sector’s largest gathering of influential decision-makers, financiers, investors (institutional, hedge funds, sovereign funds, merchant banks, stock exchanges, and commodities exchanges), stakeholders, mining professionals and governments.

Mining Indaba’s delegations represent 100 countries across four continents. From chief executive officer of the world’s largest mining company to chief investment officers of renownded international banks, you will find an elite gathering of professionals all interested in one common deonominator – fuelling investments in the African mininv value chain.

South Boulder Mines Ltd recently announced the appointment of Mr Flavio Garofalo in the new role of Chief Financial Officer, effective from February 2012.

Mr Garofalo is an experienced finance and corporate executive who has over 20 years experience in the mining industry and was previously Chief Financial Officer and Finance Director for Kagara Ltd.

Mr Lorry Hughes CEO and MD of South Boulder said that “The appointment of Mr Garofalo reflects the growth of South Boulder as it continues the transition into a significant potash producer from the Colluli Potash Project in Eritrea. Mr Garofalo has successfully undertaken the transition of a number of listed companies from developer to producer and has strong financial links and experience from within the Asia region.”

In addition Mr Garofalo will make significant strategic contributions to South Boulder’s development of the Duketon nickel and gold projects and the planned in specie distribution of the assets to shareholders.

For more information visit: Mining Indaba

South Boulder Mines Ltd (ASX; STB)  announces that Dr Chris  Gilchrist has agreed to join the Board’ as a non-executive Director with  immediate effect.

Dr Gilchrist is an internationally renowned mining executive with over 30  years experience gained at senior management and director level within a variety of operating mining companies. Dr Gilchrist has significant  experience in potash and has successfully built large mining operations in  Africa. Since December 2010 he has been managing the Colluli Definitive  Feasibility Study (DFS) and travelling to Eritrea extensively. The DFS is due  to be complete in 2013 with production scheduled for 2016 or sooner.

Dr Gilchrist is currently a director of the consulting firm Gilchrist Mining  Ltd, based in Ireland, and has previously served on the boards of Kenmare  Resources plc and Cleveland Potash Limited.

CEO and Managing Director Lorry Hughes commented on the appointment.

 “Chris joining the Board of South Boulder is a very positive development for the Colluli Project and fits well with our expansion plans. His  experience is highly regarded in the potash industry and invaluable as

South Boulder transitions from developer to potash producer.  His expertise covers all facets of the mining life cycle including feasibility,  mineral processing, capital raising, contract negotiation, project  management, ramp-up and operations. Dr Gilchrist is based in Europe  which gives us a permanent presence in the key financial centre for African  mining projects.

This is a great endorsement for the Company and the Colluli Potash Project  in South Boulder being able to secure such a high calibre Director. ”

Ends

South Boulder Mines Ltd (ASX; STB) is very pleased to report that together with JV partner Independence Group NL (ASX; IGO) further highly significant Ni-Cu-PGE assays have been returned from the Rosie Prospect including a very high grade Palladium interval.

Diamond hole TBDD100W1 intersected downhole intervals of;

• 6.53m @ 2.87% Ni, 0.57% Cu, 0.08% Co and 6.00g/t 6PGE’s from 588.47m including;
• 3.77m @ 4.17% Ni, 0.67% Cu, 0.12% Co and 9.51g/t 6PGE’s from 589.23m including;
• A “massive sulphide” intercept of 0.81m @ 9.76% Ni, 1.15% Cu, 0.17% Co and 7.77g/t 6PGE’s from 589.23m including;
• 0.40m @ 2.26% Ni, 0.61% Cu, 0.29% Co and 45.93g/t 6PGE’s from 590.84m includes 44.8g/t Pd.

Further, diamond hole TBDD107 (results awaited) intersected a total downhole intercept of ~2.0m of massive and brecciated sulphides from ~509.5m (Figure 2). Preliminary geological logging has indicated there is ~1.5m of low MgO ultramafic rock between the 1.5m and 0.5m massive sulphide zones. The massive sulphides are within a larger zone with a combined downhole thickness of ~10m containing mostly disseminated, blebby, massive, breccia and stringer sulphides.

The position of the TBDD107 intercept is located ~50m above hole TBDD087 which intersected 4.55m @ 4.05% Ni, 0.70% Cu and 4.50 g/t 6PGE’s from 575.31m downhole (Figure 1). Hole TBDD087 contained 1.05m of massive sulphides with the assay grading 8.9% Nickel.

Diamond hole TBDD100W2 intersected a downhole interval of;

• 4.01m @ 1.32% Ni, 0.25% Cu, 0.09% Co and 4.73g/t 6PGE’s from 646.21m.

The results further confirm the overall continuity of significant mineralisation at Rosie.

The diamond drilling is part of a major resource definition program designed to test the continuity of mineralisation on a nominal 80m x 80m and 80m x 40m pattern. The drill out is currently utilising two rigs, will drill ~20 holes and is expected to take ~3 months to complete.

In addition a ~7,000m air-core program has commenced and is designed to test the interpreted western ultramafic contact. The program will also test interpreted extensions to the ultramafic unit that hosts the Rosie mineralisation (Figure 3).

Details on updated drill hole designs and further exploration results will be released as they come to hand.

For more information visit : South Boulder Mines

Shabait, Massawa, 30 March 2011- Different study papers focusing on the development of the variety of energy sources were presented today at the symposium of the Ministry of Mining and Energy underway in Massawa under the theme, “Eritrea: 20 Years of Dignity”.

In a paper presented by the head of the hydrocarbon department, Mr. Teklehaimanot Debretsion, the history of fuel exploration in Eritrea was extensively discussed. The study paper also explained that the Ministry had in the past 20 years prepared technical data of international standard and that it had signed three different exploration agreements whose geological and geographical information have been carefully documented. Mr. Teklehaimanot also pointed out that a number of important tasks remain before effective work can be achieved in the department.

The head of renewable energy, Mr. Nebi Gebremedhin on his part indicated that a department for the development of renewable sources of energy has been established and studies are being made as regards their usage and potential. Using renewable sources of energy can play an important role in the nation building endeavors, he added.

Stating that a number of tasks have been accomplished in exploiting renewable sources of energy, Mr. Nebi said that wind turbines in Assab cover 20% of the city’s electricity consumption and that additional turbines with a capacity of up to 30 Kilowatts have been installed in Edi, Berasole, Beilul, Rahaita, Gahro and Dekemhare.

Moreover, Mr. Nebi explained that around 3,000 solar panels have been installed in different parts of the country producing more than 12,000 Kilowatt power and that 65% of remote areas in the country have become beneficiaries of power generated in such manner. More than 80,000 smokeless ovens, which reduce wood consumption by 50%, have also been distributed around the country, he added.

In the study paper presented by the head of geothermal energy, Mr. Ermias Yohannes, it was pointed out that exploration activities were carried out in collaboration with different companies in a bid to introduce such services and that priority is being given to producing the relevant skilled man power so that the existing potentials can be exploited based on internal capacity.

In a statement he made at the opening of the symposium, the Minister of Mining and Energy, Mr. Ahmed Haji Ali stated that extensive efforts are being made to ensure efficient supply of electricity in all parts of the country.

Emphasizing that the success of development endeavors are determined by the investments in the energy sector, the Minister said that the activities to ensure equal distribution of resources in all parts of the country will be further strengthened. The experience gained so far in mining and studies made in land structure are limited and hence more investment is required to promote the role of mining in the country’s economy, he added.

South Boulder Mines Ltd (ASX;STB) reports that significant preliminary potash assays have been returned from drilling conducted within the current compliant Mineral Resource estimate area in Eritrea.

The results continue to confirm previous visual field estimates of mineralisation and provide encouragement that an economic open pit mine can be developed. Extensive mineralisation has been defined to date as detailed in the ASX release dated 19 January 2011.

In addition significant potash mineralisation has been intersected in new diamond drilling to the southeast of the current resource. Drilling is continuing as part of a 5000m exploration program designed to define and extend known resources. The result will be incorporated into the current engineering scoping and feasibility studies.

For more information visit: Release

SYDNEY (Dow Jones) — The Australian share market retreated from a five-day high Tuesday to close mixed despite a rise in offshore markets. Falls in financial and energy stocks offset gains in materials and consumer staples.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 closed down 5.3 points, or 0.1% at 4826.4. Trading volume was solid, after Monday’s technical glitch crimped activity.

According to Dow Jones Newswires technical analysis, the index has support from a weekly uptrend line at 4820.0 and minor resistance at 4880.0. The near-term target remains 5070.0, based on a bullish triangle pattern.

Overnight, the S&P 500 rose 0.6% on stronger-than-expected U.S. personal income and manufacturing data, as well as a stabilization in crude oil prices after Saudi Arabia and Kuwait said they could make up for any lost production in Libya.

In Asia, the Nikkei 225 was up 1.2% and the Shanghai Composite was up 0.8%. However, traders said geopolitical tensions in North Africa and the Middle East remained a constraining factor for the Australian equities market.

“The market is in limbo because there’s a fair bit of uncertainty on the geopolitical front,” said IG Markets Strategist Ben Potter. “While there wasn’t anything new in from the Middle East and North Africa overnight, you are not seeing money flow out of save-haven assets like oil and gold, so you are not seeing risk bets back on in a big way.”

In the financial sector, major banks fell 0.1%-1.1% and QBE Insurance fell 0.9% to A$17.98. Among materials, BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto rose 0.6% to A$46.37 and 0.5% to A$85.31, respectively, while Equinox Minerals fell 6.1% to A$5.84 after it made a US$4.9 billion hostile bid for Lundin Mining.

In mid-caps, Lynas Corp surged 8.2% to A$2.11 on an upbeat investor presentation. At the smaller end, CuDeco jumped 7.7% to A$3.49 after announcing that it had entered into a contract with China’s Sinosteel to supply the three-million-metric-ton-per-annum mineral processing plant for the Rocklands Group Copper Project near Cloncurry in Queensland state.

South Boulder Mines surged 9.3% to A$6.00 as its investor roadshow moved to Toronto, where the Potash prospect is presenting at the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada.

Origin Energy fell 57 cents to A$16.13 after going ex-dividend 25 cents. Elsewhere in the sector, Santos fell 1.5% to A$14.13, although Nymex April crude oil futures were up 47 cents at US$97.44 in Asian trading.

Among consumer staples, Woolworths and Wesfarmers rose 0.6%-0.8%. February retail trade rose 0.4%, slightly above expectations, while Australia’s February manufacturing PMI rose above the 50.0 threshold for expansion of activity for the first time in the past six months. The data had no impact on the market.

The Reserve Bank of Australia left interest rates steady at 4.75%, as expected.

JPMorgan strategists said the Australian share market had demonstrated a “glass-half full” approach to companies facing cyclical challenges in the recent earnings period.

“It makes sense that investors are becoming more willing to look through cyclical challenges,” said the broker. “The soggy nature of the Australian economy is well known and the household savings rate is already high, providing something of a buffer against further deterioration.”

WSJ

Nevsun Resources Ltd and South Boulder Mines Ltd will be presenting at the annual International Convention and Trade Show of Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) in Toronto.

Both companies have promising mining projects in the Red Sea State of Eritrea. Nevsun has just announced that its Bisha mine has reached commercial production in February 2011 and South Boulder Mines spectacular share price surge seems not to be running out of fuel due to the huge potential investors see in potash and Eritrea.

PDAC is one of the most important investment trade events in the world of exploration. With over 22,000 industry representatives and delegates from over 118 countries the trade show hosts 400 exhibitors promoting mining industry services, products technology and jurisdictions.

The convention is known to be attended by many company representatives seeking out for the right investment and trade deal as well as Geoscientists, Mining media, Mining service sector representatives, International government representative and other industry stake holders.

Other exhibitors from secondary industries include Air Transportation Services, Insurance Companies, Internet Services, Labatories/Labatory Suppliers, Law Firms, Software Companies, Satellite Communications, Universities and more.

Nevsun Resources will be presenting on Monday, March 7 at 11:00 am in Room 801B in the Volcanogenic Massive Sulphides Session and exhibiting at booth 2608A on March 7 and 8 at the Investor Exchange floor.

South Boulder Mines Managing Director Lorry Hughes will be presenting on Tuesday, March 8 at 10:50 am in Room 715 AB, in the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, South Building.

New York based market expertise and investment consulting firm Arrowhead Business and Investment Decisions published a report on the potential of South Boulder Mines and its mining prospects. Find below an excpert and a link to the entire report.

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South Boulder Mines Limited is an Australian-listed exploration and development company focusing on multiple gold, nickel and fertilizer prospects primarily located in Western Australia and Eritrea in North East of Africa.

One of South Boulder’s main areas of focus is on its Duketon Greenstone Belt projects which contain the exciting new Rosie NiCu-PGE discovery. The company owns 100% of all gold prospects and participates in a farm-out Joint Venture with Independence Group NL (earning 70%) for nickel sulphide prospects within the same area.

South Boulder Mines Ltd has a 100% interest in the Colluli Potash Project located in the Danakil Depression region of Eritrea (Africa), approximately 200km south east of the Capital Asmara. In January 2011, South Boulder announced the maiden JORC/43-101 compliant resource estimate for the Colluli Potash project. It reported a Measured, Indicated and Inferred resource of about 548MT @ 19% KCl including 119MT @ 23% KCl (total contained potash of 102MT) located at <100m depth. It plans to increase the exploration target to 750MT – 1250 MT @ 18-20% KCl including 450MT – 750MT @ 20-23% KCl in the coming quarters.

South Boulder is currently conducting an engineering scoping study to ascertain the optimum potash processing capacity from 1MT to 10MT per annum. Arrowhead believes that this is a significant landmark which reduces the resource risk and improves the upside potential for the company.

South Boulder also has three (90-100%) owned fertilizer exploration projects in Western Australia. Given due diligence and valuation estimations based on discounted cash flow method, Arrowhead believes that South Boulder mines limited fair share value lies in the AS$6.25 to AS$29.95 bracket. iv This valuation is based solely on the Duketon Nickel and Eritrean Potash project and does not take account of the potential value of the company’s Terminator Gold prospect. We have also presented a comparable valuation based on Enterprise Value/resource and Enterprise Value /proposed capacity to ascertain the value the Nickel and Potash prospects respectively.

South Boulder Mines – Arrowhead BID Due Dillegence and Valuation Report

South Boulder Mines

South Boulder Mines Ltd is pleased to announce that diamond drilling has resumed at the Colluli Potash Project in Eritrea. The drilling is part of an expanded 5,000m exploration program designed to further define and extend known resources. The results will be incorporated into the current engineering scoping and feasibility studies.

To date approximately 1,407m of diamond core drilling has been completed at Colluli in 17 holes.

The planned locations of the first five diamond drill holes are shown in Figure 1. The location of additional drill holes for the program will be determined based on the new results.

In addition, a trial surface gravimetric survey has been completed with results currently being interpreted. Once outstanding drill results are received and interpreted together with the gravity data, the effectiveness of the gravity survey as a targeting tool will be assessed.

A number of key activities are planned to be completed over the coming months including;

• Receipt of outstanding potash assays from holes 006 – 017 which are expected in March/April;
• At the end of March drilling is planned to commence with a second rig that has the capacity to drill deeper and larger diameter core holes for geotechnical and metallurgical test work;
• An update to the initial resource is planned to be completed in May/June and will incorporate additional drilling, downhole geophysical logging and geotechnical/metallurgical data. It is expected there will be an increase to the current JORC/43-101 Mineral Resource Estimate of; o 547.62Mt @ 18.58% KCl (total contained potash of 101.73Mt); o Includes 119.21Mt @ 23.14% KCl;
• A mining engineering study into the optimum processing and production capacity from open pit mining is planned to be completed mid-year. The study will investigate a range of production scenarios ranging from 2Mt – 10Mt KCl p.a. Outstanding assay results and details on further exploration drilling will be released as they come to hand.

Outstanding assay results and details on further exploration drilling will be released as they come to hand.

Figure1 South Boulder

Investor Coverage

Recent investor relations, corporate videos and broker/media coverage on The Company’s projects can be viewed on the website in the “Media Centre” and “Investor Centre” sections by following the link www.southbouldermines.com.au.

About South Boulder Mines Ltd

Listed in 2003, South Boulder Mines (ASX: STB) is a diversified explorer primarily focused on potash, nickel and gold. South Boulder has a 100% interest in the Colluli Potash Project in Eritrea and a 100% interest in the Duketon Gold Project in Western Australia.

The Colluli Potash Project has a current JORC/43-101 Compliant Measured, Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resource Estimate of 547.62Mt @ 18.58% KCl (total contained potash of 101.73Mt); Includes 119.21Mt @ 23.14% KCl; and an exploration target of 750Mt – 1.25 billion tonnes @ 18-20% KCl. The potential quantity and grade of the Colluli exploration target is conceptual in nature and there has been insufficient exploration to define a Mineral Resource (outside the area shown in Figure 1) and it is uncertain if further exploration will result in the determination of a Mineral Resource (outside the area shown in Figure 1). An engineering scoping study into open pit mining and processing to produce up to 10Mt p.a of potash is underway.

Within the Duketon Gold Project area, South Boulder entered a farm-out Joint Venture (JV) Agreement with Independence, whereby Independence can earn a 70% interest in the nickel rights on JV tenements held by South Boulder in the Duketon Project, by the completion of a Bankable Feasibility Study within 5 years of the grant of the relevant tenement.

About the Nickel Joint Venture

The Duketon Nickel JV has had recent success at The Rosie and C2 Nickel sulphide prospects where drilling has defined intercepts of 5.20m @ 9.13% Ni, 1.09% Cu, 0.21% Co and 7.09g/t PGE’s at Rosie and 50m @ 0.92% Ni including 37m @ 1.05% Ni at C2. The deposits are located approximately 120km NNW of Laverton, W.A in the Duketon Greenstone Belt. The deposits are approximately 2km apart and the mineralisation at both prospects is considered open in most directions. A Mining Lease was granted over the Rosie and C2 deposits on the 19 th of November. The Mining Lease comprises a total of 19.13km 2 .

NGEX Eritrea

NGEx Resources Inc. (NGQ-TSX) (‘NGEx’ or the ‘Company’) announces major exploration programs underway in South America and Africa (please see attached project maps). The Company’s exploration budget is focused on large scale copper, gold, and potash targets that demonstrate the potential for world class discoveries.

In total, the Company and its partners are expecting to drill more than 20,000 meters by the end of September, 2011. This is a very significant amount of drilling for a company of our size and we believe that this program can create substantial value for shareholders by defining new mineral resources at our more advanced projects such as Los Helados, or by drilling the initial discovery drill holes on our new projects like the Bada potash project in Eritrea.

Three drill programs are in progress on copper-gold projects in South America with a fourth program scheduled to begin in April. In Eritrea drilling on both base metal and potash projects should start in April. Drilling on all programs is expected to continue through the first half of the year, with results released as they become available. In addition, Teck Resources Limited (“Teck”) plans a $4.5 million program on the Company’s GJ project in northern BC beginning in June. Around 45% of the approximately $17,000,000 expected to be spent on the company’s projects this year will come from its joint venture partners.

SOUTH AMERICA

Los Helados, Chile

Drilling is underway at NGEx’s 60% owned Los Helados project located east of Copiapo in Chile’s Region 3 where previous drilling defined a porphyry copper-gold system measuring about 1,000 meters by 600 meters and up to 700 meters thick and is open in several directions. The best grades intersected to date are associated with a large hydrothermal breccia located in the southern two thirds of the zone. Drilling this field season will focus on defining the higher grade portion of the system. See attached map for some previously released intercepts.

The prospect has recently been surveyed by deep penetrating IP-Resistivity to define zones of higher grade mineralization and any possible extensions to guide further drilling. Using two drills, the Company has completed approximately half of the initial 10 hole, 7,500 meter drill program to date. It is anticipated that this drill program will be extended with the objective of completing sufficient drilling to permit an initial resource calculation later this year.

Josemaria, Argentina

Drilling is also underway at the Josemaria project, located approximately 15 kilometers east of Los Helados in northern San Juan Province, Argentina. Josemaria has a previously announced NI 43-101 inferred resource of 460Mt @ 0.4% Cu and 0.3 g/t Au. This year’s drilling at Josemaria is focused on discovering extensions of the known deposit under post-mineralization cover and testing a strong chargeability anomaly north of the current resource. The current 2,500 meter drill program is funded by JOGMEC who are earning a 40% interest in the project. Approximately 1000 meters have been completed to date.

Filo del Sol, Argentina

A fourth drill is working at the 60% owned Filo del Sol project located approximately 12 kilometers south of Los Helados in San Juan Province, Argentina. Previous drilling at Filo del Sol has identified near surface copper oxides and gold within a large diatreme breccia. Most of the drilling to date has focused on shallow copper sulfate mineralization and deeper copper sulfide in the southern part of the project area. The main copper sulfate mineral, chalcanthite, is water soluble and potentially amenable to low cost heap leaching. Chalcanthite was an important component of copper production from Chuquicamata in the early part of the last century.

A recent review of drill data from Filo del Sol identified several compelling gold targets in the northern part of the project area. An initial 2,000 meter drill program will follow up some of the better gold results from previous drilling and as well as better define the extent of the near surface copper sulfate mineralization. The program will be extended as needed to follow-up any encouraging results.

Colmillos, Chile

Colmillos is an exciting early stage porphyry copper project located east of Ovalle, Chile. Mapping and sampling at Colmillos have defined a 4.3 kilometer trend of tourmaline breccia bodies, local visible copper oxide mineralization and anomalous copper and molybdenum geochemistry. Copper mineralized tourmaline breccias are a common feature of many major porphyry copper systems. An access road has recently been completed and an IP survey is underway. An initial drill program of up to 2,000 meters in 6 to 8 holes is planned for March.

AFRICA

Bada Potash, Eritrea

Initial mapping and geophysical surveying is underway on the Company’s recently awarded Bada potash license located approximately 35 kilometers from the Red Sea coast of Eritrea. NGEx’s license covers the northern portion of the Dallol evaporite basin which in Ethiopia hosts the historic potash deposits of Musley held by Sainik Coal Company, India and Dallol, held by Allana Resources, Canada. The Eritrean portion of the basin hosts the Colluli potash deposit which is currently being explored by South Boulder Mines of Australia. All three areas are being actively explored with resource estimates recently issued for all three projects. Recent results released by South Boulder Mines highlight the potential for shallow potash mineralization on the Eritrean side of the border.

NGEx’s license lies approximately 20 kilometers northwest of South Boulder’s license and covers the northwest extension of the same basin. Any discovery of potash on the Eritrean side of the border will have significant logistical advantages over deposits on the Ethiopian side because they have much closer access to the Red Sea coast.

NGEx has contracted experienced potash consultants and has begun an initial program of gravity and magnetic surveying to define the basin depth and geometry, to be followed by a reconnaissance diamond drilling program of approximately 1000 meters in three holes.

The initial drilling should be completed by the end of April and is expected to provide important information to guide a more extensive exploration program to commence before the end of the exploration season in July.

VMS, Eritrea

The Company holds approximately 650 square kilometers covering prospective stratigraphy near Nevsun Resources’ recently commissioned Bisha Mine. The successful development of the Bisha Mine has significantly increased investor confidence in Eritrea. The Company’s land position hosts the Hambok Deposit for which an initial NI 43-101 resource estimate was announced in 2009 as well as the high grade Aradaib discovery announced in 2010. Previously released drill results from Aradaib include 13 meters of 3.3% Cu, 5.6% Zn, 1.8 g/t Au, and 46 g/t Ag.

In late 2010 the Company completed a high resolution helicopter- borne electromagnetic, magnetic, and radiometric (VTEM) survey covering the Company’s entire land position. The survey was designed to identify volcanic-hosted massive sulfide (VMS) mineralization beneath recent cover. Initial screening of the survey results has highlighted 18 anomalies to be geophysically modeled for massive sulfide bodies. A drill program to test targets generated by the VTEM survey and to follow-up on the positive results from Aradaib is planned for late in the first quarter of 2011. The size of the drill program will be determined once initial follow-up is completed.

CANADA

GJ Project, BC

GJ is a copper-gold project, located in northern British Columbia. The Company has optioned the project to Teck which has the right to earn an initial 51% by spending $12,000,000 by December 31, 2014 and up to a 75% interest by spending an aggregate of $44,000,000 by December 31, 2020. Teck has received internal approval for a $4.5 million exploration program consisting of ground geophysics and up to 5,000 meters of drilling. The objective of the program is to add to the previously reported NI 43-101 compliant resource and to test the potential for high grade copper-gold zones similar to those discovered at Imperial Metals’ nearby Red Chris project. Exploration is expected to begin in late June, 2011 and continue through to September.

Dr. Wojtek Wodzicki, P. Geo. (BC), President and CEO of NGEx, a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed the technical contents of this release.

On behalf of the Board,

Wojtek Wodzicki

President and CEO

NGEx Eritrea Projects

NGEx Canada Project

NGEx Vicuna Projects

Please find below an excerpt from an interesting article by Dr. Alex Cowie in  ‘Diggers and Drillers’ about South Boulder Mines, Eritrea, the Red Sea and the future potential of potash in terms of increasing global demand for fertilizer products needed to improve crop efficiency and agricultural output.

I’ll be up front about this. South Boulder is a speculative investment.

It may not be for the faint of heart. Its potash deposit is still in its infancy. And it’s two or three years until production. It’s also based in one of the riskier parts of Africa, Eritrea: a country that still disputes its border with Ethiopia.

So why have I bypassed my usual insistence on low-sovereign risk countries?

Because this potash deposit is too good to miss.

South Boulder is at early exploration stage of its 100% owned Colluli potash project. Progress has been very fast here. Drilling started on the edge of the Red Sea just six months ago, and the company has already announced its first resource figure of 548 million tonnes of potash. Let me put that in context. It is already almost half the size of Potash Corp’s 1132-million-tonne resource…  currently the largest in the world. Not bad for half a year’s work.

But what is even more remarkable is that this 548-million-tonne figure only factors in THREE of the 17 holes drilled so far. The other 14 are being tested right now. And the results will be factored into a new resource figure that you can expect to see before the end of March.

The company believes the resource figure will grow much higher, as they more than doubled the upper range of the exploration target to 1250 million tonnes. Whether this happens or not remains to be seen. But it would make it the largest deposit in the world. Is it really possible?  Let’s just say I reckon they’re being conservative! If you take into account that three holes has enabled a JORC compliant 548 million tonnes (Mt) inferred resource, you could infer 17 holes gets you to over 3100 Mt.

Of course, nothing is ever that simple in mining. But even if you halve that estimate – to be safe – you’re still looking at 1550 Mt. And that still exceeds Potash Corp’s figure.  And the company is planning a lot more drilling yet.I need to point out that most of this will be in inferred category, which is only the first hierarchy of resource classification. More good drilling results between the current holes will be needed to upgrade it to a ‘measured’ resource that you could be more confident of.

The 17 drill results so far have been very consistent. But this is typical of a deposit created by an ancient sea bed drying out. Millions of years ago this was an inlet of the Red Sea.

The land changed and the inlet was cut off from the sea. So it dried up into a twenty metre thick layer of potash, which then got covered over by a shallow layer of rock.

So it’s not like a gold or copper deposit where the grade can vary from one metre to the next. Potash deposits are more like a coal deposit, where you get a predictable blanket lying across the whole basin. It’s also important to point out that they have only scratched one small corner of their exploration license…..

To read the full article please visit http://www.portphillippublishing.com.au/osi/

Please note that Diggers and Drillers requires you to subscribe  to their paid content to be able to read the full article.