GWMO Great Western Mining Corporation Plc

GREAT WESTERN MINING CORPORATION PLC

("Great Western", "GWM" or the "Company")

WESTERN MILLING UPDATE

Great Western Mining Corporation PLC (AIM - GWMO, Euronext Growth - 8GW), which is exploring and developing gold, silver and copper targets in the Walker Lane belt of Nevada, USA, provides an update on its Western Milling joint venture.

HIGHLIGHTS

·    State of Nevada inspection of project now completed

·    Minor upgrades required prior to first production

·    State Environmental inspection of mill and remote site now completed

Great Western Chairman Brian Hall commented:  "The completion of the State Mine Inspector's visit is a significant step in the preparation of processing operations at the Western Milling site.  Some minor issues need to be addressed before start-up of pilot production through gravity separation, primarily to meet stringent health and safety regulations and timing of which is now in the hands of our joint venture partner.  We have created an impressive milling operation, although dogged by irritating delays.  We will notify shareholders when pilot production has commenced and we will now start planning the next phases of production to maximise precious metals recovery, involving flotation recovery and vat-contained leaching."

UPDATE

On 16 January the Nevada State Inspector of Mines made a scheduled visit to the Western Milling project in Mineral County, Nevada. A director of Great Western was present throughout the visit.  The purpose of this thorough inspection by the State of Nevada was to ensure that all state mining regulations, which are similar to federal mining regulations, had been fully complied with by the joint venture, so that a post start-up inspection by the federal Mining Safety & Health Authority (MSHA) would not result in penalties and consequent production delays.

No significant issues emerged from the inspection. However, there are a number of minor issues, primarily health and safety items, which must be addressed prior to first production and these will be handled as soon as Western Milling's operating partner has personnel available on site.

On 22 January, two representatives of NDEP (Nevada Division of Environmental Protection) made a scheduled visit to the mill site.  NDEP has already granted the joint venture the required environmental permit for production of concentrates and precious metals by gravity separation and this visit was for verification prior to start-up. No issues have arisen from this visit. Western Milling is required to fulfil ongoing environmental reporting obligations during production in order to maintain its permit and these will be rigorously observed.

The NDEP representatives also visited the OMCO Mine site at Great Western's Olympic Gold Project to inspect and verify tailings heaps and coarse stockpiles of pre-mined material.  No issues arose from this visit.

Trial production can start as soon as the issues identified by the State Mine Inspector have been addressed and remedied.  

For further information:

Notes to Editors

The Company has a large tract of acreage in Mineral County, Nevada. The area consists of rugged, mountainous terrain, which means that large parts of it remain under-explored. Mineral potential is hosted by the regional Walker Lane Structural Belt, the largest structural and metallogenic belt in Nevada, yet one of the least explored in recent times, with gold, silver and copper currently produced in Mineral County.  Great Western has seven distinct concession areas which offer the potential for exploiting (1) short term gold and silver deposits and (2) long-term, world-class copper deposits. 

Six of the Company's properties are in the west of Mineral County and the seventh and most recent acquisition, the Olympic Gold Project, is in the east of the county, some 50 miles from the main group.  All the Company's claims are 100% owned. Claims at the Eastside Mine Group have been contributed to a pooling agreement with Bronco Creek Exploration, Inc. and in addition the Company participates in the Huntoon Mine Area Cooperation Agreement with landowner-neighbour Crowne Point Resources with whom it shares resources.  Great Western's small exploration team is supported by locally based consultants and contractors. 

The state of Nevada is one of the world's most mining friendly jurisdictions.  While tightly regulated and environmentally conscious, Nevada welcomes the mining industry.  Great Western takes care to ensure that its claims are maintained in good standing and all regulations observed. 

There are numerous gold and silver prospects on the Company's acreage, including extensive historic mine workings which offer the opportunity for secondary recovery. The Company is party to a 50-50 joint venture known as Western Milling LLC which is constructing a mill to process pre-mined material for secondary recovery of gold and silver.

Furthermore, through extensive drilling over a five-year period, GWM has established a Mineral Resource on its first target area known as M2, of 4.3 million tonnes at 0.45% copper, for 19,000 tonnes of contained copper metal. This resource has been independently reported in accordance with JORC guidelines. 

GWM has also established an Inferred Resource Estimate of 31,000 tonnes grading 1.6 g/t gold and 3.0 g/t silver in tailings associated with the OMCO Mine at the Olympic Gold Project.  Additionally, exploration targets have been independently reported as follows:

·    3,400 - 6,400 tonnes grading between 0.5 and 1.2 g/t Au and 1.2 and 2.1 g/t Ag in the substrate beneath the tailings volume at the Olympic Mine.

·    9,000 - 12,000 tonnes grading between 0.9 and 2.4 g/t Au and 2.0 and 5.1 g/t Ag in a coarse stockpile at Olympic Mine.

·    4,200 - 7,700 tonnes grading between 40 and 140 g/t Ag and 0.3 and 0.3 g/t Au in spoil heaps at Mineral Jackpot.