TIDMALBA
RNS Number : 2011H
Alba Mineral Resources PLC
02 December 2020
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Alba Mineral Resources plc
("Alba" or the "Company")
Underground Drilling at Clogau-St David's Gold Mine
Identifies Potential 550-Metre Extension to Main Lode
Alba Mineral Resources plc (AIM: ALBA) is pleased to announce
that the first phase of the Company's underground drilling
programme at the Clogau-St David's Gold Mine ("Clogau" or the
"Mine"), which was completed in October 2020, has intersected what
Alba believes to be the westerly extension to the Clogau Main Lode,
representing a potential 550-metre extension to the Main Lode. The
Main Lode is the source of most of the historic gold production at
the Mine.
Key Points
-- The first phase of an underground drilling programme was
successfully completed on 30 October 2020, with seven drillholes
completed for a total of 559.5 metres.
-- All seven drillholes intersected quartz veining, the known
geological setting of all historic gold production at the Clogau-St
David's Gold Mine, validating Alba's geological model.
-- Drillhole L002 returning significant gold assays of 1.16
metres at 0.653 grammes/tonne ("g/t"), including 0.25 metres at
1.79 g/t.
-- Drillholes L002 and L003 have intersected what Alba believes
to be the westerly extension of the Clogau Main Lode, representing
a 550-metre extension to the Main Lode, the source of most historic
production at the Clogau-St David's Gold Mine.
-- Infill surface and underground drilling is now planned to
confirm the continuity of the Main Lode extension.
Alba's Executive Chairman, George Frangeskides, commented:
"The intersection of quartz veins along strike from the Main
Lode is a potentially significant discovery. The Main Lode has
provided most of the gold production at the Clogau-St David's Gold
Mine historically, so finding a continuation of the Main Lode which
has never previously been exploited would constitute the most
significant discovery at the Mine in many decades."
"What is more, intersecting representative gold grades at Clogau
solely from drilling is always going to be a challenge given the
nature of the deposit, which is why our methodology has always
involved drilling and bulk sampling working hand-in-hand. So, for
our drill team to hit a really solid gold intercept in our very
first underground drilling campaign of just seven holes is a very
positive outcome indeed."
"We intend to undertake infill drilling from surface early in
the new year, followed by phase 2 of our underground drilling
programme in Q2 of 2021, both being aimed at confirming the
continuity of this Main Lode extension. Subject to that
confirmation, this will become a primary zone for underground
development and extraction."
Details
The first phase of the underground drilling programme at the
Clogau-St David's Gold Mine consisted of seven drillholes drilled
with a Kempe U3-9 BQ pneumatic underground drill rig in the period
from 1 September to 30 October 2020.
The objective of the drilling was, firstly, to locate any
parallel structures to the historically mined quartz veins (or
lodes), and, secondly, to probe for deeper extensions to known
mined veins. The information to be obtained from the drilling was
also expected to contribute greatly to an understanding of the
general geology of the Mine.
The aim of drilling at a gold deposit such as Clogau is to
confirm favourable geological structures rather than to drill for
grade, as the narrow-veined, nuggety-effect setting of the deposit
is such that drilling alone cannot achieve a representative idea of
the gold grade. As such, for this first phase of underground
drilling not only to confirm significant quartz vein intercepts,
but also to return material gold values, is regarded by the Company
as a great success.
Drillholes L001, L002, L003 and L004 were drilled north and
south from the Llechfraith Level (see Figure 1 in the PDF version
of this RNS). Drillholes L002 and L003 were drilled for 121.5m and
129.6m respectively, with L002 returning significant gold assays of
1.16m at 0.653 g/t including 0.25m at 1.79 g/t (see Figure 1 and
the drill core at Figure 2 in the PDF version of this RNS). See
Table 1 for all significant gold values returned.
Table 1: Gold values returned in selected significant assays
from Sep-Oct 2020 Underground Drilling Programme
Hole Final Target Intersected Significant Assays
No. Depth (m)
----- ----------- ------------ ------------ -------------------------------
L001 49.75 - 50.05 m (0.30 m) @
58.5 Unspecified - 0.01 g/t
----------- ------------ ------------ -------------------------------
L002 121.5 Main Lode 90.57-91.73 91.41 - 91.73 m (0.32 m) @
m 0.09 g/t
----------- ------------ ------------ -------------------------------
91.17 - 91.41 m (0.24 m) @
0.28 g/t
----------- ------------ ------------ -------------------------------
90.82 - 91.17 (0.35 m) @ 0.61
g/t
-------------------------------
90.57 - 90.82 m (0.25 m) @
1.79 g/t
-------------------------------
90.27 - 90.37 m (0.1 m) @ 0.46
g/t
-------------------------------
88.81 - 88.95 m (0.14 m) @
0.1 g/t
----------- ------------ ------------ -------------------------------
L003 129.6 Main Lode 78.70-79.65 43.31 - 43.57 m (0.26 m) @
m 0.02 g/t
----- ----------- ------------ ------------ -------------------------------
79.03 - 79.39 (0.36 m) @ 0.01
g/t
----- ----------- ------------ ------------ -------------------------------
79.39 - 79.65 (0.26 m) @ 0.01
g/t
----- ----------- ------------ ------------ -------------------------------
L004 13.09 - 13.38 m (0.29 m) @
50.4 Unspecified - 0.01 g/t
----------- ------------ ------------ -------------------------------
L009 66.5 Main Lode 16.36-16.98 36.10 - 36.33 m (0.23 m) @
m 0.01 g/t
----------- ------------ ------------ -------------------------------
Drillholes L002 and L003 both intersected what is believed to be
the westerly extension of the Clogau Main Lode - see red dotted
line in Figure 1 (in the PDF version of this RNS). This conclusion
has been reached due to the position, strike and morphology of the
veins. The Main Lode is the source of most historic gold production
at Clogau-St David's and comprises a network of anastomosing veins
over a width of up to two metres. The geological observations of
the mined Main Lode and the morphology of the vein quartz in the
borehole intercept suggest a correlation between the two bodies.
Further drill intercepts will either prove this relationship or
indicate that another, separate vein system has been intersected.
In either case, the Company believes this to be a potentially very
significant new discovery.
Drillholes L009 and L010 were drilled to the north, in order to
evaluate any Main Lode extensions at depth. Both drillholes
intersected what are believed to be lode extensions, albeit at low
gold grades (<0.01 g/t). Drillhole L011 was drilled to the south
and was aimed at the depth extension of the 7-10 Lode. The 7-10
Lode is a parallel vein structure to the Main Lode, lying some
30-40m to the south of the Main Lode. Drillhole L011 intersected
the 7-10 Lode as projected, at a depth of 5.9 metres below the
stoped-out reef, albeit that low gold grades were returned here
(<0.01 g/t).
Infill Drilling Programme
Subject to regulatory approvals, the next phase of drilling will
consist of an 8-10 hole programme for around 2,000 metres which
will be undertaken from surface in Q1 2021. This phase of drilling
will target the Main Lode extension indicated by the underground
drilling (see drillholes JW006-009 in Figure 3 in the PDF version
of this RNS) and will also seek to intersect the projected depth
extensions of certain historically worked lodes, namely
Grandfathers Lode and the 7-10 Lode (drillholes JW001-005 in Figure
3 in the PDF version of this RNS), thereby testing the continuation
of mineralisation at depth and identifying currently undeveloped
resource potential.
Figure 4 (in the PDF version of this RNS) shows, by way of
illustration, a section view of the indicative trajectory of
planned surface drillhole JW002, which will seek to intersect
mineralisation in both the Main Lode and the 7-10/Grandfathers Lode
extensions.
Note that this surface drilling programme is separate to the
surface drilling which is currently in progress, focused on the
Llechfraith mine area, close to the Llechfraith Adit entrance.
Once this further phase of surface drilling targeting the Main
Lode extension has been completed, infill drilling will be
undertaken from underground, commencing in Q2 2021.
All activities and timelines in this announcement are subject to
the timely receipt of regulatory and other third-party consents and
to the timely availability of contractors, plant and equipment.
This announcement contains inside information for the purposes
of Article 7 of EU Regulation 596/2014.
Glossary
7-10 Lode: The 7-10 Lode is a parallel vein structure to the
Main Lode, lying some 30-40m to the south of the Main Lode. The
whole of the Llechfraith Level is developed on the 7-10 Lode.
Anastomosing: Anastomosis refers to a network of irregularly
branching and reconnecting veins of ore.
Borehole: A hole drilled into bedrock using a diamond-coated bit to return core samples.
Grandfathers: Grandfathers or Grandfathers Lode is a pay-shoot
within the 7-10 Lode.
Jack Williams: The Jack Williams Stope is the most westerly
mined portion of the Main Lode.
Igneous Sill: A bedding-parallel, sheet-like unit of hard igneous rock.
Infill Drilling: A series of boreholes designed to spatially
constrain and sample a target structure.
Intercept: A section of core in which a target lithology,
structure or significant assay result has been identified.
Main Lode: The main quartz vein structure along which the
majority of historic mining took place at Clogau-St David's. The
Main Lode was mined from the Jack Williams Stope for approximately
300m eastwards to the Bryntirion Fault, on the other side of which
it was mined over a strike of at least 150m at the St David's
Mine.
Mineralisation: Any single mineral or combination of minerals
occurring in a mass, or deposit, of economic interest. The term is
intended to cover all forms in which mineralisation might occur,
whether by class of deposit, mode of occurrence, genesis or
composition.
Narrow-veined: Structures hosting gold mineralisation are
typically narrow, and can range in thickness from cm to m scale,
with typical mining widths between 1-2 m.
Nuggety-effect: The nugget effect is a geostatistical term used
to describe the variability seen between samples that are closely
spaced.
Pay-shoot: An area within a quartz vein where gold has been
concentrated into a high-grade zone.
Quartz vein: A sheet-like body consisting predominantly of the
mineral quartz, which is known to host gold mineralisation in the
Dolgellau Gold Belt.
Reef: Another term for a quartz vein or lode.
Stope: A mined-out area along a lode structure from which ore has been extracted.
Stoped-out: Mined-out in a stope.
Stratigraphy: A succession of geological units.
Forward Looking Statements
This announcement contains forward-looking statements relating
to expected or anticipated future events and anticipated results
that are forward-looking in nature and, as a result, are subject to
certain risks and uncertainties, such as general economic, market
and business conditions, competition for qualified staff, the
regulatory process and actions, technical issues, new legislation,
uncertainties resulting from potential delays or changes in plans,
uncertainties resulting from working in a new political
jurisdiction, uncertainties regarding the results of exploration,
uncertainties regarding the timing and granting of prospecting
rights, uncertainties regarding the timing and granting of
regulatory and other third party consents and approvals,
uncertainties regarding the Company's or any third party's ability
to execute and implement future plans, and the occurrence of
unexpected events.
Without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing,
uncertainties also exist in connection with the ongoing Coronavirus
(COVID-19) pandemic which may result in further lockdown measures
and restrictions being imposed by Governments and other competent
regulatory bodies and agencies from time to time in response to the
pandemic, which measures and restrictions may prevent or inhibit
the Company from executing its work activities according to the
timelines set out in this announcement or indeed from executing its
work activities at all. The Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic may
also affect the Company's ability to execute its work activities
due to personnel and contractors testing positive for COVID-19 or
otherwise being required to self-isolate from time to time.
Actual results achieved may vary from the information provided
herein as a result of numerous known and unknown risks and
uncertainties and other factors.
Competent Person Declaration
The information in this release that relates to Exploration
Results has been reviewed by Mr Mark Austin. Mr Austin is a member
of SACNASP (Reg. No. 400235/06), Fellow of The Geological Society
and Fellow of the Geological Society of South Africa. He has a
B.Sc. Honours in Geology with 38 years' experience.
Mark Austin has sufficient experience that is relevant to the
style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and
to the activity being undertaken to qualify as a Competent Person
as defined in the 2012 Edition of the 'Australasian Code for
Reporting of Exploration targets, Exploration Results, Mineral
Resources and Ore Reserves', also known as the JORC Code. The JORC
code is a national reporting organisation that is aligned with
CRIRSCO. Mr Austin consents to the inclusion in the announcement of
the matters based on his information in the form and context in
which they appear.
For further information, please contact:
Alba Mineral Resources plc
George Frangeskides, Executive Chairman +44 20 3950 0725
Cairn Financial Advisers LLP (Nomad)
James Caithie / Liam Murray +44 20 7213 0880
ETX Capital (Broker)
Thomas Smith +44 20 7392 1494
Alba's Project and Investment Portfolio
Project (commodity) Location Ownership
Mining Projects
Amitsoq (graphite) Greenland 90%
----------- ----------
Clogau (gold) Wales 90%
----------- ----------
Gwynfynydd (gold) Wales 100%
----------- ----------
Inglefield (copper, cobalt,
gold) Greenland 100%
----------- ----------
Limerick (zinc-lead) Ireland 100%
----------- ----------
Melville Bay (iron ore) Greenland 51%
----------- ----------
TBS (ilmenite) Greenland 100%
----------- ----------
Oil & Gas Investments
Brockham (oil) England 5%
----------- ----------
Horse Hill (oil) England 11.765%
----------- ----------
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