TIDMEEE
RNS Number : 8330L
Empire Metals Limited
15 September 2021
To view the announcement with the illustrative images please use
the following link:
http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/8330L_1-2021-9-15.pdf
Empire Metals Limited / AIM: EEE / Sector: Natural Resources
15 September 2021
Empire Metals Limited ('Empire' or the 'Company')
Technical update for the Eclipse Gold Project
Empire Metals Limited, the AIM-quoted resource exploration and
development company, is pleased to announce the outcome of a recent
technical review of the geology of the Eclipse Gold Project
('Eclipse' or the 'Project') located within the Eastern Goldfields
of Western Australia.
Overview:
-- The Company recently announced the appointment of additional
key geoscientists to bolster its exploration team and to bring
local technical expertise together to review the results of the
drilling programmes recently completed at Eclipse.
-- A strategic technical review has commenced focusing on the
structural controls on known gold mineralisation and an appropriate
exploration programme to unlock the full potential of the Project
most efficiently.
-- Drilling to date has confirmed that gold mineralisation is
associated with a NW-striking and steeply SW-dipping shear zone (
"Eclipse shear" ) with significant gold mineralisation known to
extend over a strike length of more than 200 metres.
-- It is now evident that the mineralised system at Eclipse is
much larger than originally thought. Mineralisation at Eclipse
Shaft may connect to the Jack's Dream area further to the NW,
giving a total known strike length of the Eclipse system of some
500m, and the presence of multiple parallel mineralised structures
has also been proven.
-- Results from the drilling also indicate that gold
mineralisation likely continues to greater depths, and this merits
further drilling to test the strike and depth extensions of
multiple gold structures at Eclipse.
Shaun Bunn, Managing Director, said: "In considering how best to
approach the next phase of exploration at the Eclipse Gold Project
it has become apparent that we need to determine what controls the
gold mineralisation and in doing so where the high-grade
mineralisation might persist. Whilst our initial focus was on a
near-surface, laterite-hosted deposit we now believe the high-grade
targets will most likely be found slightly deeper at the fresh rock
interface, both down dip and along strike of the current workings.
We are also focusing on the wider potential that is offered by
combinations of the Eclipse lode with the Jack's Dream extension
and the recently discovered Twin Shaft lode to see if a larger
mineralised inventory can be established prior to commencing
further mine optimisation studies. "
Location and Regional Geology
The Eclipse Gold Project is comprised of a single mining licence
(M27/153). The licence is located approximately 55km NNE of
Kalgoorlie. The nearest gold processing plant is at Kanowna Belle,
35km to the south. The licence is accessed by the Yarri Road. This
road is sealed to the turn off to Kanowna Belle. While it has not
been gazetted, it is a well-used road generally in good
condition.
Eclipse is situated within the Kurnalpi Terrane, close to the
boundary of the prolific Kalgoorlie terrane (high Au and Ni
endowment) defined by the major regional Ockerburry Fault system
(Figure 1). The surrounding district is dominated by 2.70 Ga mafic
volcanic rocks, calc-alkaline complexes, feldspathic sedimentary
rocks, and mafic rocks. The western margin of the Kurnalpi terrane
comprises slightly younger 2.68 Ga rhyolite-basalt and felsic
calc-alkaline complexes and associated volcanoclastic
sediments.
The interpreted position of the Ockerburry Fault is within
5-10km of Eclipse but its exact position is poorly defined and may
be closer to the western boundary of the Project (Figure 2).
Widespread historic gold workings are present in the Gindalbie
area, but few larger deposits have yet been discovered which may
largely be due to the limited past exploration or geological
research previously undertaken in the area. The emerging
Whiteheads/Blue Poles discovery of Great Boulder Resources
(ASX:GBR) is 15km to the north and the 200,000oz Au Lindsays
Project is just 5km to the west. In addition to gold, important Ni,
Co, Cu +/- PGE magmatic deposits are present in the area which
attests to the deep-seated structural framework. Black Swan (Silver
Swan) is situated 12km to the WSW and the Carr Boyd layered
mafic-hosted deposit is located 33km along strike to the NNW
(Figure 2).
Quaternary-aged cover and a deep regolith profile obscures the
basement geology throughout much of the licence. Low magnetic
response of the local geology has impacted the effectiveness of
aeromagnetic and ground magnetic surveys in defining the basement
architecture except for a prominent mafic dyke, one of several
NNW-orientated dykes within the Kurnalpi Terrane.
Local Geology
Drilling by the Company at Eclipse has confirmed that gold
mineralisation is associated with a NW-striking and steeply
SW-dipping shear zone ("Eclipse Shear") with significant gold
mineralisation known to extend over a strike length of more than
200 metres. Mineralisation may connect to the Jack's Dream area
further to the NW giving a total known strike length of the Eclipse
system of some 500 metres. High grade mineralisation has also been
intersected at Twin Shaft about 120m south of the Eclipse shear. It
is not yet clear if the known mineralisation in the Eclipse area is
part of a linked shear system, or separate sub-parallel shear
zones.
Diamond drillhole ECDD21_003 intersected the Eclipse Shear in
fresh rock which confirmed the presence and orientation of the
structure. High-grade gold up to 15g/t was associated with thin
foliation-parallel quartz veins and a possible laminated quartz
structure, and strong silica-sericite-pyrite-arsenopyrite in the
immediate wallrock. This was the first instance of arsenopyrite
recognised at Eclipse and it may prove to be useful future
indicator of gold mineralisation. Surrounding the high-grade core
of the Eclipse Shear, the shear comprised chlorite-carbonate-pyrite
alteration, and was weakly gold mineralised being typically
<1g/t. Within the fresh rock, short strike length (<50
metres) high-grade shoots are present and appear to extend below
the currently drilled area.
Strong weathering extends to 30-50 metres depth below surface
and the shallow RC drilling demonstrates that gold is extensively
leached within the weathered zone. Locally high gold grades (and
some surface old workings) within the weathered zone may reflect
gold encapsulated within quartz veining, although it appears that
the bulk of the gold associated with altered wallrock has been
removed or remobilised.
The stratigraphy hosting Eclipse is poorly exposed within the
project but is known from 1:100,000 scale government geological
mapping and from logging of RC and diamond drilling at Eclipse. The
geology is dominated by felsic to intermediate volcanics and
volcanoclastic sediments intercalated with fine grained siltstone
and mudstone. Geology within the project appears to strike NNW and
is cut obliquely by the NW-trending Eclipse Shear zone.
Stratigraphy may exert some control on the localisation of
high-grade gold within the Eclipse Shear.
Future Exploration Focus
Further exploration is required to understand the full extent of
the gold mineralised system at Eclipse. This includes:
-- Detailed analysis of available structural data from televiewer surveys and diamond drillcore;
-- Detailed surface geochemistry on NE-SW oriented lines to
define gold-arsenic anomalies on the projected position of the
Eclipse Shear and on any as yet unrecognised parallel
structures;
-- Additional drilling to target extensions of the Eclipse Shear
in fresh rock below the gold-depleted weathered zone;
-- Deeper drilling to test the plunge continuity of high-grade gold shoots.
Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) Disclosure
Certain information contained in this announcement would have
been deemed inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of
Regulation (EU) No 596/2014, as incorporated into UK law by the
European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018, until the release of this
announcement.
**S**
For further information please visit www.empiremetals.co.uk or
contact:
Shaun Bunn Empire Metals Ltd Company Tel: 020 7907
9327
Mike Struthers Empire Metals Ltd Company Tel: 020 7907
9327
Ewan Leggat S. P. Angel Corporate Nomad & Broker Tel: 020 3470
Finance LLP 0470
Adam Cowl S. P. Angel Corporate Nomad & Broker Tel: 020 3470
Finance LLP 0470
Damon Heath Shard Capital Partners Joint Broker Tel: 020 7186
LLP 9950
Susie Geliher St Brides Partners Ltd PR Tel: 020 7236
1177
Selina Lovell St Brides Partners Ltd PR Tel: 020 7236
1177
About Empire Metals Limited
Empire Metals is an AIM-listed (LON: EEE) exploration and
resource development company with a project portfolio comprising
gold interests in Australia and Austria.
The Company strategy is to develop a pipeline of projects at
different stages in the development curve. Its current focus is on
the high-grade Eclipse Gold Project and the Central Menzies Gold
Project in Western Australia, with the goal to expand through the
addition of further projects in the region to develop a viable and
compelling portfolio of precious metals assets.
Empire also holds a portfolio of three precious metals projects
located an historically high-grade gold production region
comprising the Rotgulden, Schonberg and Walchen prospects in
central-southern Austria.
The Board continues to evaluate opportunities through which to
realise the value of its wider portfolio and reviews further assets
which meet the Company's investment criteria.
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