Bluebird Merchant Ventures Limited KORES Grant Approved for Kochang Drilling (3976Y)
09 May 2019 - 4:00PM
UK Regulatory
TIDMBMV
RNS Number : 3976Y
Bluebird Merchant Ventures Limited
09 May 2019
9 May 2019
Bluebird Merchant Ventures Ltd
(the "Company" or "Bluebird")
KORES Drilling Grant Approved for Kochang Drilling Programme
Bluebird Merchant Ventures (EPIC: BMV), the Korean focused gold
development group, is pleased to announce that it has now
officially received confirmation of the drilling grant from KORES
for its Kochang Drilling Programme.
Highlights:
-- Official confirmation of drilling grant received from KORES
-- Drilling to commence from 1 July 2019
-- A further six old adits located with evidence of historic mining noted in three
KORES sent official confirmation of the drilling grant on 1 May
2019. The initial subsidy will help fund three underground holes,
which will be a total of 280 metres. There is the potential for the
grant to be extended, depending on success and KORES' funds. The
grant will enable drilling to commence by 1 July 2019 for
completion by 30 September 2019.
There are currently three identified vein structures at Kochang
to a depth of 150 metres below surface. Following surface mapping
and modelling in 2016, the veins can be projected to depths below
the lowest current level of the mine and along strike to connect
with the Kochang silver mine, thus leaving a 600 metre extension of
the veins between the two mined areas.
The three KORES-funded holes target the area below the current
mine and are expected to intersect at least two of the veins. It is
important to note that the primary objective of drilling is to
pinpoint the positioning of the veins. As gold is not evenly
distributed in grade throughout the veins, intersections with high
grade values will be considered a bonus.
Bluebird is pleased to report that it has located a further six
old adits entering the mine some 100 metres to the northeast of the
current entrance. Evidence of historic mining was noted in two of
these adits, in addition to a strong ventilation flow which
suggests there are further adits. Only two of these adits exist on
plans in the Company's possession. The existence of these adits
continues to point to a potential increase in the general size of
the deposit.
Upon completion of this short program, the company can update
its model and commence a program to develop a JORC compliant
resource. Further drilling will be carried out to fill in the gaps,
with the expectation of showing a viable project with a multi-year
mine life.
Bluebird expects to commence construction of the processing
plant in September of this year, with production coming from
currently identified resources such as broken ore, vamping
(cleaning) and remnant pillars. The construction period is expected
to be completed within four to five months as the initial plant is
small and given that the Kochang mine is open production will
commence shortly thereafter.
Colin Patterson, CEO, commented:
"We are delighted to have received official confirmation of the
drilling grant from KORES. This demonstrates the level of
confidence the South Korean authorities have in the prospectivity
of the Kochang Mine and Bluebird as a company. We also find it
significant that this assistance is being provided to Bluebird, a
foreign company. The funds will subsidise the drilling of three
holes and enable the completion of drilling by 30 September 2019.
This is hugely exciting for Bluebird and its shareholders,
especially as our work continues to yield evidence of
prospectivity, such as the location of two previously mined
adits.
"We look forward to updating the market on our progress at this
hugely exciting project."
THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONTAINS INSIDE INFORMATION FOR THE PURPOSES
OF ARTICLE 7 OF THE MARKET ABUSE REGULATION EU 596/2014 ("MAR")
Enquiries:
Bluebird Merchant Ventures Ltd +44 (0) 7797 859986
Jonathan Morley-Kirk, Non-Executive
Chairman
SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP
Ewan Leggat + 44 (0) 20 3470 0470
Blytheweigh +44 (0) 20 7138 3204
Tim Blythe / Camilla Horsfall
/ Julia Tilley
www.bluebirdmv.com
@BluebirdIR
Notes to Editors
The Gubong mine was once the second largest producing gold mine
in South Korea until its closure in 1971 when gold prices were
US$40 per ounce. The mine consists of nine shallow dipping stacked
veins. Although production was mainly from vein number six, five
other veins were mined from 1928 until its closure. Over 17,000
metres of drilling was carried out over the years and there are
over 120 kilometres of existing underground development.
The Kochang mine is a gold-silver mine that operated between
1928 and 1975 and produced over five million ounces of silver at
over 1000 g/t and 110,000 ounces of gold at 19.6 g/t. This gold
production was mainly derived from the three main veins at the
North East end of the "Gold Mine" part of Kochang, with the
majority of the silver production from the "Silver Mine" some 2.5
kilometres to the south west. The mine closed in 1975 when the gold
price was USD 140 per ounce. Today the mine consists of three
steeply dipping veins. Bluebird has opened up three kilometres of
original development, taken over 400 samples and has confirmed
process viability by carrying out initial metallurgical test
work.
This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the
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END
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