TIDMALBA
RNS Number : 6876T
Alba Mineral Resources PLC
22 July 2020
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Alba Mineral Resources plc
("Alba" or the "Company")
Clogau Gold Mine: Bulk Sampling Programme
Alba Mineral Resources plc (AIM: ALBA), the diversified mineral
exploration and development company, is pleased to provide an
update on the Company's field activities.
Key Points
-- Work activities at Clogau Gold Project have resumed following easing of COVID-19 lockdown.
-- The priority for Clogau for the remainder of 2020 will be the execution of an underground bulk sampling programme,
subject to receipt of regulatory approvals.
-- The first bulk sample will be processed off-site at an accredited processing facility in the UK. Thereafter, Alba
will establish its own dedicated pilot processing plant.
-- Amitsoq drilling programme deferred until 2021.
Alba's Executive Chairman, George Frangeskides, commented:
"We are delighted to be back on site at Clogau. We have a team
currently carrying out underground sampling and 3D scanning and
refining our targets for underground bulk sampling and drilling.
The bulk samples we take will initially be processed at a
third-party facility offsite, but in the meantime we will look to
establish our own dedicated pilot processing plant capable of
processing three tonnes of material per hour or around 400 tonnes
per month."
Bulk Sampling Programme
The coronavirus pandemic and the associated restrictions imposed
in England & Wales in recent months has resulted in Alba's team
not being able to undertake the planned work activities on site at
Clogau during this time. However, with the recent easing of the
lockdown measures, Alba's exploration team has now returned to site
and commenced the next phase of work.
The upcoming work at the Clogau-St David's Mine (the "Mine")
will be focused on extracting several bulk samples from target
areas within the existing mine development. As the gold at Clogau
is highly nuggety and contained in narrow quartz veins, bulk
sampling is typically deployed in order to obtain a representative
idea of gold content across a particular vein or zone.
The bulk sampling exercise will be undertaken in conjunction
with the underground rock chip sampling, channel sampling and
drilling programmes described below. The Company will look to
extract approximately 5-10 tonnes of material from a number of
target zones. The target zones (indicated on the map in Figure 2 of
the PDF version of this announcement) are subject to further
refinement as results are obtained from the Company's ongoing
exploration activities within the Mine.
This work is directly aimed at identifying unexploited gold
zones and known payshoot extensions within the Mine which will
support a decision to reopen the Mine for long-term commercial
production.
Subject to the timely receipt of regulatory approvals, it is
intended to undertake the first phase of the bulk sampling
programme in around September of this year.
Other Work Plans
Other work activities which will be rolled out at Clogau for the
remainder of this year include the following:
(1) Processing of Bulk Samples
As the gold within the Clogau Gold Mine is "free gold", meaning
that the majority of the gold is not bound up with other minerals
within the quartz veining, it only requires simple processing to
liberate the gold, involving crushing and screening followed by
gravity recovery.
Alba intends to process the first bulk sample of around 3-5
tonnes of material at a third-party mineral processing facility in
the UK.
In the longer-term, however, the Company intends to establish
its own pilot processing facility either at the mine site or close
to it, capable of supporting a 3 tonne per hour operation. The
Company has obtained firm quotes for the capital items required to
establish the pilot plant, and a suitable site has been identified.
The Company intends the plant to be operational by early Q4 2020,
subject to the timely receipt of regulatory approvals and no delays
being encountered in the shipment of those items of plant which are
being sourced from overseas.
(2) Underground chip and channel sampling and 3D scanning
This work has now commenced. Underground sampling is being
undertaken to refine the targets for bulk sampling and drilling. At
the same time, Alba will be completing the 3D-scanning of the mine
workings at the Llechfraith level, to enable the existing 3D mine
model to be completed. The completion of this work is an important
step for establishment of geological targets and mine planning
purposes.
(3) Underground Drilling
Drilling in a narrow-veined setting such as Clogau is an
efficient way to explore for extensions of an existing ore body.
Drilling depths will likely be between 50-100m, as drilling from
within the existing mine development means that holes can be
significantly shorter than they would be from surface.
The current targets for underground drilling are indicated in
Figure 3 of the PDF version of this announcement . These are
subject to refinement in the final drill plan. The programme will
likely involve around 5-10 holes for a total of around 500
metres.
Subject to the timely receipt of regulatory approvals, the
Company intends to commence the first phase of the underground
("UG") drilling programme in around September of this year.
(4) Surface trenching of the Dolgellau Gold Belt ("DGB")
As regards the Company's regional exploration of the DGB, as
previously reported Alba's 2019 regional geochemical soil sampling
programme resulted in 10 significant anomalies being identified
away from all known major mines and gold mineralisation being
confirmed over about a six-mile section of the DGB (see Figure 4 in
the PDF version of this announcement).
As previously announced, the next phase of work over the DGB
will involve the surface trenching of a selection of those 10 new
gold targets. Given that the anomalous gold-in-soil values may
indicate elevated gold grades in the underlying strata, the purpose
of the trenching is to remove the soil cover and expose the
underlying bedrock and all quartz outcrops. Eight trenches have
been planned in this first phase, each varying in length from
40-90m for a total of 575m, with each trench being 1m wide and up
to 2m deep. Once exposed, the quartz veining will be sampled, and
those samples sent to a laboratory for assaying.
Upon receipt of planning approval for the surface trenching
programme, which is awaited, the Company intends to carry out this
programme in Q4 of this year.
Other activities currently under investigation by the Company
include the sampling of the historical waste dump at Clogau and the
dewatering of the Lower Llechfraith mine area, which was the area
targeted by the Company's short drilling programme in late
2019.
The Llechfraith mine area (see Figure 5 in the PDF version of
this announcement) has been identified as the one of the best
targets within the existing mine workings. Alba's drilling has
confirmed that the known gold-bearing geological setting continues
below the deepest workings at Level 4.
Only the higher workings at Llechfraith are currently
accessible, the levels below Level 2 being flooded. Dewatering the
main Llechfraith shaft would enable the Company to access areas
where visible gold has been mapped. Ongoing geochemical monitoring
of the water within and adjacent to the workings has so far
indicated that the underground water is benign and that any
contaminants are within acceptable levels.
Amitsoq Update
In the Company's announcement of 31 March 2020, it was reported
that the COVID-19 pandemic had placed considerable doubt on Alba's
ability to execute its planned field activities this year. By way
of an update, the Company can now confirm that it will not now be
practicable to execute a drilling programme at Amitsoq during the
current summer field season. This drilling programme will therefore
be stood over to 2021. The additional time will be fully utilised
to complete further metallurgical and other studies and to refine
drill targets as necessary prior to the commencement of the
programme next year.
This announcement contains inside information for the purposes
of Article 7 of EU Regulation 596/2014.
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 Company's or any third party's
ability to execute and implement future plans, and the occurrence
of unexpected events. 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.
Glossary
Geochemical: Relates to the chemical composition of the Earth
and its rocks and minerals.
Mineralisation: Economically important metals that can occur at
a variety of scales from small disseminations through to large
zones or ore bodies.
Quartz Veins: A distinct sheet-like body dominantly composed of
quartz hosted within a rock formation.
For further information, please contact:
Alba Mineral Resources plc
George Frangeskides, Executive Chairman +44 20 3907 4297
Cairn Financial Advisers LLP (Nomad)
James Caithie / Liam Murray +44 20 7213 0880
First Equity Limited (Broker)
Jason Robertson +44 20 7374 2212
Alba's Project and Investment Portfolio
Project (commodity) Location Ownership
Mining Projects
Amitsoq (graphite) Greenland 90%
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Clogau (gold) Wales 90%
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Inglefield (copper, cobalt,
gold) Greenland 100%
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Limerick (zinc-lead) Ireland 100%
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Melville Bay (iron ore) Greenland 51%
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TBS (ilmenite) Greenland 100%
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Oil & Gas Investments
Brockham (oil) England 5%
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Horse Hill (oil) England 11.765%
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of this information may apply. For further information, please
contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.
END
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