TIDMALBA
RNS Number : 2188V
Alba Mineral Resources PLC
13 April 2021
Click on or paste the following link into your website browser
to view the associated PDF document (including maps and images):
http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/2188V_1-2021-4-12.pdf
Alba Mineral Resources plc
("Alba" or the "Company")
Clogau-St David's Gold Mine Update
Pitting of Waste Rock Dump Commences
Alba Mineral Resources plc (AIM: ALBA) is pleased to announce
that the evaluation pitting of the historic waste rock dump at the
Clogau-St David's Gold Mine ("Clogau" or the "Mine") will commence
shortly.
Key Points
-- The waste rock dump contains material derived from the
internal development of the Clogau-St David's Gold Mine during past
periods of production.
-- The dump is estimated to cover about 30,000 square feet and
to contain 20,000 tonnes of rock.
-- Nine pits are to be dug, with around 15 tonnes of material to
be extracted per pit. The material will be screened and a sample of
the finer material from each pit will then be sent for gold
assaying offsite.
George Frangeskides, Executive Chairman, commented:
"We are constantly looking for ways to unlock early revenue
streams at Clogau-St David's while we continue with our work to
prove up, through drilling, the new gold-bearing zones within the
mine complex which will ultimately justify a decision to reopen the
mine for long-term commercial production."
"One such potential source of early revenue is in the waste rock
dump at Clogau. We estimate that this dump contains around 20,000
tonnes of rock extracted from the mine during previous periods of
production, and we believe there are good prospects for finding
significant quantities of gold in the finer grain-size fractions
within the dump."
"Although we will be initially shifting a lot of rock in this
exercise - around 135 tonnes of it - the samples that we will be
screening, collecting and sending for assay will only weigh around
50-100kg per pit. Assuming normal processing times at our preferred
external assay laboratory, we expect, therefore, to have a
definitive answer on the gold-bearing potential of the waste rock
dump by the middle of next month."
Detail
Within the Clogau mine site there is a waste rock dump which
covers an estimated surface area of 2,833m(2) (approximately 30,000
square feet or 7/10ths of an acre), being up to 10m thick and
containing an estimated 20,000 tonnes of waste rock originating
from previous periods of mining at Clogau.
As most of the underground development was developed on the
vein, Alba considers that it is likely that there are remnants of
the quartz vein contained in the dump. The Company has designed a
scheme for the sampling of the waste dump for gold content, which
involves the digging and sampling of selective pits across the
dump.
The waste rock dump comprises material which was derived from
the internal development of the Clogau-St David's Gold Mine. The
majority of the underground development comprised on-vein reef
drives, from which stopes were developed. It is reported that
six-foot blasting rounds were blasted in the development face and
the large pieces of vein quartz were hand-sorted and sent to the
Mine's processing plant. The finer material was cleaned out of the
development end and sent to the adjacent waste rock dump.
It is Alba's opinion that there could be significant quantities
of gold still left in the finer grain size fractions within the
waste rock dump.
Accordingly, at this first stage the Company will be sampling
the waste rock dump to test for its gold content. If the gold
content is found to be sufficiently high-grade, the Company will
then move to the next stage (subject to all regulatory approvals),
being to extract large tonnages of the waste rock dump material and
to then process the material in the Company's pilot processing
plant. Most likely the pilot plant will first be modified and
extended to enable it to handle the large tonnages which would be
extracted from the waste rock dump.
As part of the current sampling phase, nine pits will be
excavated, with each pit being up to 5 metres deep and up to 1.5
metres in diameter. This will result in around 15 tonnes of
material being extracted per pit. That material will then be passed
over a rock screen to screen out the oversize material. The
undersized material will be thoroughly mixed on site and a 50-100
kg sample taken from it, with the remainder (99.5%) of the
excavated material being returned to the pit immediately following
the sampling. Each pit has been sited so as to give a
representative sample of the waste rock dump as a whole.
The composite samples will be transported to an assay laboratory
where they will be screened into specified size fractions and each
fraction assayed for its gold content.
The pitting exercise is expected to take up to two weeks, with
the assaying of the composite samples then being subject to normal
turn-around times at the off-site laboratory used by Alba.
This announcement contains inside information for the purposes
of the UK Market Abuse Regulation and the Directors of the Company
are responsible for the release of this announcement.
Glossary
Drive: At Clogau, a horizontal tunnel developed on the strike of
the quartz vein and from which stoping was established.
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.
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%
----------- ----------
This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the
London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct
Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United
Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution
of this information may apply. For further information, please
contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.
RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms
and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information
contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an
anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services.
For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange
use the personal data you provide us, please see our Privacy
Policy.
END
UPDDBGDSCDBDGBD
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 13, 2021 02:00 ET (06:00 GMT)
Alba Mineral Resources (LSE:ALBA)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jun 2024 to Jul 2024
Alba Mineral Resources (LSE:ALBA)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jul 2023 to Jul 2024