TIDMCGH
RNS Number : 6603M
Chaarat Gold Holdings Ltd
01 May 2018
Chaarat Gold Holdings Limited
("Chaarat" or the "Company")
2018 Drilling Commences at Tulkubash
Road Town, Tortola, British Virgin Islands (1 May 2018)
Chaarat (AIM - CGH), the AIM quoted exploration and development
company developing the Chaarat Gold Project in the Kyrgyz Republic,
is pleased to announce the commencement of its 2018 drilling
campaign at its Tulkubash oxide gold deposit. The first drill rig
arrived on site on April 23 and commenced drilling on April 25. Two
more rigs are expected to arrive on site this week, with up to ten
rigs expected to be working at site later in the drill season.
The first hole being drilled is targeting strike length
extension of the currently defined oxide mineralisation. The
initial drill hole targets the extension of strong mineralisation
along the southeast side of the currently designed Tulkubash pit.
This target has the potential to add low stripping ratio,
high-grade oxide ore to the existing pit design by extending an ore
shoot about 80 metres along strike. Visual inspection of drill core
indicates that the hole is intersecting mineralisation, with the
strongest mineralisation seen from a drill depth of approximately
90 metres.
Robert Benbow, the Company's CEO, commented:
"The ongoing infrastructure construction at Tulkubash has
allowed us to get an early start on this year's drilling programme.
The drilling programme is designed to extend gold mineralisation
along strike from the defined Resource that forms the basis for the
recently completed and announced Feasibility Study. The Feasibility
Study is the blueprint that defines how we initiate gold production
in 2020. The ongoing exploration along strike from the currently
defined Resource is the mechanism by which the initial investment
is warranted and enhanced."
Dorian L. (Dusty) Nicol, Non-Executive Director and Chair of the
Company's Technical Committee, commented:
"We are very excited to begin this season's drilling programme
at Tulkubash. We are planning an aggressive programme of 30,000
metres of diamond drilling this year, and the same again in 2019,
with the objective of greatly expanding the oxide gold resource
defined at Tulkubash. The highest priority of the drilling will be
to add Measured and Indicated gold ounces near the current resource
boundary, with the objective of moving as high a percentage as
possible of these ounces to reserves for addition to the Tulkubash
mine plan. The drilling programme will be designed to maximise
additions to the resource base and also to maximise the ratio of
resource to reserve conversion. Our target is to at least double
the oxide resource as a result of this, and next year's,
drilling.
"Our ongoing exploration and drilling will continue to build on
our ever-increasing knowledge and geologic understanding of the
deposit. Our 2017 drilling programme comprised 17,400 metres of
drilling, roughly half of what is envisioned for each of the next
two drill seasons, and added 287,000 ounces of gold to Measured and
Indicated Resource, over an additional strike length of about one
kilometre, while increasing the average grade by 25%. This was
accomplished at an all-in discovery cost of under $20/ounce,
amongst the lowest I have experienced in this industry.
"In addition to near-term mine life addition, some drilling will
be carried out to document the further extent of Tulkubash
mineralisation along strike. To date, only 2.2 kilometres has been
explored of a 24 kilometre strike length of favourable geology with
coincident outcropping ore-grade gold mineralisation and
gold-in-soil anomalies. Some of the gold-in-soil anomalies along
strike from the currently defined resource are larger and higher
grade than the surface anomaly associated with the current
resource. As an exploration geologist, I am confident that much
oxide gold mineralisation remains to be found within our licenses
and I am by no means certain that we have found the richest part of
the deposit yet."
The Company will update the market regularly as assay results
are received from the ongoing drilling.
Throughout the winter, the Company has continued to advance
engineering design and construction of infrastructure for the mine.
The detailed engineering of the heap leach facility is
approximately 90% complete and design of the plant facilities
kicked off in January of this year. Access road construction
continued throughout the winter with a focus on excavation and
blasting. As the weather warms, fill and placement of road bases
are ramping back up. Communication system components are being
fabricated in Bishkek and will be delivered to the mine site in
May. Major construction activities are planned in the mine and heap
leach areas this summer. Updates will be provided as these
activities progress.
Competent Person
The Competent Person (CP) for the Company on technical aspects
of this Press Release is Dorian L. (Dusty) Nicol, FAussIMM, a
Non-Executive Director of the Company and Chair of the Company's
Technical Committee.
Enquiries:
Chaarat Gold Holdings Limited + 44 (0) 20 7499 2612
Martin Andersson - Chairman info@chaarat.com
Robert Benbow - Chief Executive Officer
Numis Securities Limited +44 (0) 20 7260 1000
John Prior, Paul Gillam (NOMAD)
James Black (Corporate Broking)
BMO Capital Markets Limited +44 (0) 20 7236 1010
Jeffrey Couch, Neil Haycock,
Thomas Rider (Joint Broker)
Blytheweigh (Financial PR) +44 (0) 20 7138 3204
Tim Blythe
Camilla Horsfall
NOTES TO EDITORS:
About Chaarat Gold
Chaarat Gold is an exploration and development company operating
in the Kyrgyz Republic with a large, high grade resource - the
Chaarat Gold Project. The Company's key objective is to become a
long term, low-cost gold producer focused in Central Asia and the
former Soviet Union.
Chaarat aims to create value for its shareholders, employees and
communities in the Kyrgyz Republic by building relationships based
on trust and operating to the best environmental, social and
employment standards.
Further information is available at www.chaarat.com
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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