4 February 2025
East Star Resources
Plc
("East Star" or the
"Company")
Exploration
Update
All holes intersected
mineralisation outside current resource at Verkhuba and further
indications of significant epithermal gold target at
Snowy
East Star Resources Plc (LSE:EST),
which is exploring for copper and gold in Kazakhstan, is pleased to
provide an update on recent exploration activities and future work
plans in relation to its VMS and copper porphyry
strategies.
Highlights:
VMS
- Verkhuba Copper Deposit & Targets
·
Completion of three drill holes at the Verkhuba
Copper Deposit ("Verkhuba"), with all holes intersecting
mineralisation outside of the existing modelled ore bodies which
make up the current mineral resource
·
Submission of 238 core samples from the three
drill holes to assay service provider ALS in Karaganda for analysis
- results expected by end-February 2025
·
Further evidence supporting Talovskoye as a high
priority drill target following Induced Polarisation ("IP")
geophysical survey results indicating a conductor which requires
infill survey lines
Copper Porphyry/Epithermal Gold
·
Additional satellite spectral data from the large
gold in soil anomaly (4 km by 1 km) at Snowy indicates a
significant epithermal gold target worthy of follow-up
work
Alex Walker, East Star CEO, commented:
"Recent exploration is delivering encouraging results across
both our current work streams. Results at Verkhuba show we are
advancing this already substantial copper asset, while refining
other targets including Talovskoye for near-term drilling. At
Snowy, the emergence of a large epithermal gold target bookended by
old artisanal gold pits is undeniably exciting given the typically
very large size of these deposits.
East Star has been operating efficiently in Kazakhstan for
more than three years now and the global exploration community is
beginning to accelerate its interest in the country. Our
proprietary data set and experience provides a distinct operating
advantage, and we believe 2025 will be a year of significant
progress across all three of our exploration
strategies."
Next Steps
VMS
Verkhuba Copper Deposit &
Targets
Drilling started on 12 November 2024 and
stopped for a winter break on 19 December 2024. A number of new
mineralised zones have been intersected within the previously
modelled open pit shell but outside
of East Star's 2024 Verkhuba Mineral Resource
Estimate. The mineralised
intervals appear to correlate with the same
stratigraphic horizon as existing modelled ore bodies
and therefore drill
results have the potential to add tonnes to the existing resources
and lower the strip ratio of an open pit development.
Once received, East Star will
evaluate assay results from Verkhuba and determine the extent of
additional mineralisation and suitability of the results to inform
additional drilling in 2025. East Star is also evaluating the
potential for additional massive sulphide resources at Verkhuba. If
targets are identified, geophysics and drilling will be used to
test these additional targets in 2025.
Figure 1 - Main
mineralised interval in VU_24_DD_008A
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Figure 2 - Pyrite, chalcopyrite and sphalerite mineralisation
in VU_24_DD_008A
|
Talovskoye IP Survey
The IP survey began on 23 October
2024 and stopped on 8 November 2024. Surveys were completed on the
Talovskoye and Nikolovskoye East targets. In total, 5.5-line km of
IP was completed.
The results from the IP survey were processed
by Mitre Geophysics in Australia. The data was processed, and
sections were generated to visualise the IP response. Mitre noted a
strong chargeable anomaly in the southernmost line of the
Talovskoye survey. As a result, East Star has planned 50 m of
infill lines at Talovskoye when the snow recedes which is expected
to be in May 2025. East Star previously announced rock
chip results at Talovskoye, including:
o 6.30% Cu, 5.19%
Pb, 0.81 g/t Au and >100g/t Ag
o 8.44% Cu,
>20% Pb, 1.1 g/t Au and > 100 g/t Ag and
o 2.58% Cu,
11.35% Pb, 3.84 g/t Au and >100 g/t Ag
Figure 3 - Talovskoye IP survey processed image showing
chargeability anomaly
Copper Porphyry/Epithermal Gold
East Star previously announced soil sampling of
the Snowy Licence. The licence is being explored for porphyry
copper and epithermal gold. Results from the soil sampling show two
anomalous targets on the licence. A copper-molybdenum anomaly in
the western portion of the licence is prospective for a copper
porphyry target, while another target (the "Eastern Target") is
around 4 km long by 1km wide and displays anomalous gold (up to
0.28g/t) and silver (up to 7.2g/t) as well as arsenic, molybdenum
and weak mercury in soils. This is consistent with the nearby
artisanal workings present at each end of the anomaly, which are
believed to have exploited gold bearing epithermal veins at the
surface and lend additional support to the presence of
mineralisation at the target.
Figure 4 -
Artisanal pit located to the west of the target
Figure 5 -
Quartz-pyrite altered rock (granitic precursor) found near to
artisanal pit
Satellite hyperspectral data (PRISMA) has since
been used to further delineate compositional variability within the
gold target. Improved spectral resolution in the hyperspectral
imagery allows mineral species to be identified and targeted.
Spectral signatures collected from the imagery are interpreted to
identify areas with high pyrophyllite (red) and variability in
white mica composition (green and blue).
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Figure 6 - PRISMA imaging showing pyrophyllite
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Figure 7 - Gold in soil anomaly over the spectral
area
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The images above show a very strong correlation
between the pyrophyllite alteration and the gold distribution
through the centre of the anomaly. This is significant as
pyrophyllite is an indicator mineral of the higher temperature
(deeper) portions of epithermal deposits and can be interpreted as
being more proximal to the feeder structure of the mineralisation
allowing for tighter vectoring into the central part of the
mineralising system. Confirmation of the
target through geological mapping is planned at the start of the
field season. Likely follow-on work would also include geophysics -
typically IP - before the target is drill ready. All
of the follow-up work leading to a drill ready target can be
completed in the 2025 field season.
Note on Epithermal
Mineralisation
East Star is evaluating the potential for gold
in a high sulfidation epithermal deposit. High-sulfidation
epithermal gold deposits are formed in the epithermal environment
(usually the upper 2 km of the crust) and at moderately low
temperatures (100-300°C) and are usually associated with advanced
argillic alteration often forming large, highly altered lithocaps.
Most epithermal deposits are related to hydrothermal systems that
form in response to the release of magmatic fluids (degassing)
emanating from crystallising intrusions at depth. High-sulfidation
deposits are characterised by a core zone of residual (vuggy)
quartz flanked by quartz-alunite and advanced argillic alteration
containing kaolinite/dickite and pyrophyllite produced by very low
pH fluids below the paleowater table. These alteration minerals are
highly amenable to mapping using remote sensing techniques such as
ASTER.
The biggest examples of high-sulfidation
deposits in production are Yanacocha in Peru (36M Oz contained) and
Pueblo Viejo in the Dominican Republic (>19M Oz).
Investor Webcast
Alex Walker, CEO, will host a
presentation and Q&A for investors and shareholders via the
Investor Meet Company platform on Thursday, 6 February 2025 at
10:30 a.m. GMT to discuss recent exploration activity.
Investors can sign up to Investor
Meet Company for free and add East Star Resources Plc in order to
attend the Webcast via:
https://www.investormeetcompany.com/east-star-resources-plc/register-investor.
No material new financial or other
information will be provided during the webcast. A recording of the
webcast will be made available on the Company's website later in
the day.
East Star
Resources Plc
Alex Walker, Chief Executive
Officer
Tel: +44 (0)20 7390 0234 (via Vigo
Consulting)
SI
Capital (Corporate Broker)
Nick Emerson
Tel: +44 (0)1483 413 500
Vigo Consulting (Investor Relations)
Ben Simons / Peter Jacob
Tel: +44 (0)20 7390 0234
About East
Star Resources Plc
East Star Resources is focused on the discovery
and development of copper and gold in Kazakhstan. East Star's
management are based permanently on the ground, supported by local
expertise. The Company is pursuing three exploration
strategies:
· A
Volcanogenic Massive Sulphide (VMS) discovery with a maiden JORC
MRE of 20.3Mt @ 1.16% copper, 1.54% zinc and 0.27% lead, in
an infrastructure-rich region, amenable to a low capex
development
·
Copper porphyry and epithermal gold exploration, with
multiple opportunities for Tier 1 deposits, supported by an initial
$500k grant from BHP Xplor in 2024
·
Sediment-hosted copper exploration with Getech where the
initial targeting strategy is at no cost to East Star
Visit our
website:
www.eaststarplc.com
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The person who
arranged for the release of this announcement was Alex Walker, CEO
of the Company.
Competent
Person Statement
The technical information related to East Star
Resources assets contained in this report that relates to
Exploration Results is based on information compiled by Mr
Christopher van Wijk, who is a Member of the Australasian Institute
of Mining and Metallurgy and who is a Geologist employed by East
Star Resources as an Executive Director. Mr van Wijk has sufficient
experience which is relevant to the style of mineralisation and
type of deposit under consideration, and to the activity which he
is undertaking, to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the
2012 Edition of the 'Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration
Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves'. Mr van Wijk consents
to the inclusion in the release of the matters based on the
information he has compiled in the form and context in which it
appears.
This announcement contains inside information
for the purposes of Article 7 of Regulation 2014/596/EU which is
part of domestic UK law pursuant to the Market Abuse (Amendment)
(EU Exit) Regulations (SI 2019/310) ("UK MAR"). Upon the
publication of this announcement, this inside information (as
defined in UK MAR) is now considered to be in the public
domain.
