Clogau Update and Change of Adviser (Broker)

RNS Number : 0996I

Alba Mineral Resources PLC

06 August 2019

 

http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/0996I_1-2019-8-6.pdf

Alba Mineral Resources plc

("Alba" or the "Company")

Two Kilometre Gold Anomaly Discovered at Clogau

Change of Adviser

Alba Mineral Resources plc (AIM: ALBA), the diversified mineral exploration and development company, reports that final results have now been received from the infill and extension soil sampling campaign undertaken within the Company's 107 km² Clogau Gold licence area in North Wales. 

The largest new anomaly now identified has a strike extent of approximately two kilometres, being four times larger than the anomaly associated with the main Clogau-St David's Mine which has produced the largest quantity of gold from any region in the United Kingdom. According to records, Clogau-St David's produced 81koz of gold with an estimated head grade of 24 g/t Au.

Additionally, the Company notes the news story published on the Financial Conduct Authority ("FCA") website on 5 August 2019, stating that SVS Securities plc ("SVS") has been placed into Special Administration. SVS acts as joint broker to Alba, however as a result of these developments SVS will no longer be able to provide broking services to Alba.  As a consequence, First Equity Limited is now the Company's sole broker with immediate effect.

Highlights

·     Largest new anomaly identified has strike extent of ~2km (~4 times longer than strike extent of Clogau-St David's Mine)

·     In total, the completed sampling programme has identified ten significant anomalies away from known major mines, with gold mineralisation now confirmed across ~9 km strike extent of Dolgellau Gold Belt

·     Potential extensions to existing mines have also been identified, with infill sampling confirming continuity of an anomaly (the "Lowri Target") lying parallel to the Llechfraith adit and a major anomaly (the "Eryn Target") lying above historic Llechfraith workings

·     Weighted average grades for all new anomalies exceed average gold-in-soil grades for the historic mine anomalies

·     Sampling is considered open along strike with samples collected to date covering only ~30% of the gold belt under licence to Alba

·     Alba now planning trenching of selected targets, drilling campaign to target extensions to Llechfraith mine area and clean-up and sampling of broken stock material within Clogau-St David's Gold Mine

·     Clogau remains a key focus for the Company, in particular given the Project's near-term cash-flow potential

Alba's Executive Chairman, George Frangeskides, commented:

"The completion of this extensive exploration programme over the Dolgellau Gold Belt has confirmed what should already have been apparent from previous announcements:  Alba's licence area has serious potential to host one or more new gold deposits that could rival the historic Clogau-St David's Mine in importance.  The fact that the Cerys-Gwyneth anomaly trend is four times the size of the anomaly over the Clogau Mine should need no further explanation."

"While that ongoing exploration success alone represents a huge and unique opportunity for Alba, the key focus for the Company in the coming 12 months will be in pushing forward with the work to re-open one or more of the historic mines for commercial production, as that represents a clear cash-flow generative opportunity for the Company.  With that in mind, the completion of the first phase of mine safety works represents an important milestone."

"The next stage of work will involve identifying potential zones of unexploited gold for commercial production, whether from the underground sampling and clean-up operation which is being planned or from the drilling of the exciting Llechfraith Mine target.  In the 1980s, visible gold was reported in the Llechfraith Mine adjacent to westerly dipping greenstone intrusives along the lowest number 4 level, which is only about 30 metres below the Llechfraith adit entrance.  Despite that, only very limited further work was done in the area and, as such, this represents one of the best opportunities for the discovery of economic deposits of gold." 

"A series of short holes is currently being planned to test this Llechfraith Mine sequence, in which the Clogau shale is potentially up to 200m thick."

Soil Sampling Programme

Infill and extension soil sampling and geochemical analysis has now been completed within the Dolgellau Gold Belt.

In total, the soil sampling programme spanned a five-month period from February to July 2019 and followed on from the initial orientation soil sampling programme that was completed in the summer of 2018 over historic mine workings (as reported on in our RNS of 17 October 2018).  

Samples were generally collected at ~20 m intervals on lines ~100 to 200 m apart.  At each sample location, a sample was taken from the B soil horizon (subsoil) by hand auger. In total, 1,996 soil samples were taken and submitted for assay at the ALS accredited laboratory in Ireland.

Figure 1 (in the PDF version of this RNS) highlights the targets identified to date.  Based on the full sample database, the yellow anomalies represent new targets that are believed to occur where no significant mines have been reported. The historic Vigra, Clogau-St David's, Old Clogau, Garthgell and Llechfraith mine areas are contained within the three red areas marked on the map.  Numerous adits and trenches have been observed within Anomaly 10 (Gwyneth) in the far east, although the extents of these workings are unknown at present.

All anomalies will undergo further extensive ground-truthing to assess the level of activity in these areas.  Anomaly 1 (Cerys), being the largest new anomaly identified, has been ground-truthed, with only limited exploration workings being identified.

Figure 2 (in the PDF version of this RNS) compares the extent of Anomaly 1 (Cerys) to the anomaly associated with the known Clogau Mine workings. The Clogau Mine area anomaly (see label on Figure 2) is significantly smaller than the extent of Anomaly 1 (Cerys).  Further, Anomaly 1 is supported by 55 samples greater than 0.005 g/t Au, whereas the Clogau Mine area is only supported by 18 samples greater than 0.005 g/t Au.

Figure 3 (in the PDF version of this RNS) shows the location of the latest, 636 infill and extension samples collected. The locations of this final set of sample results are shown as green dots.  Sampling to date covers a strike extent along the Dolgellau Gold Belt of approximately nine kilometres in total.  In Figure 3, the blue unit represents the Clogau Shale with the Gamlan and Maentwrog Formations lying immediately north and south respectively of the Clogau Shale.

Figure 4 (in the PDF version of this RNS) shows the results obtained to date from the entire 1,996 sample programme which have a laboratory gold detection limit of at least 0.001 ppm (equivalent to 0.001 g/t Au).  Given the limited weathering and thin soil profile above bedrock, the anomalous values are considered likely to be close to source and the sampling highlights that low gold-in-soil levels can be significant anomaly indicators given the similar presence of a low-grade gold-in-soil anomaly associated with the Clogau-St David's mine, which we know to have been a producer of high-grade gold.

The results show that gold-in-soil grades above the detection limit occur at multiple locations within the areas sampled to date.  Elevated values correspond with the known mine areas as well as multiple locations that appear to be unaffected by mining activities, the latter therefore representing potential bedrock sources of gold rather than being due to contamination by historic workings.  

The results obtained to date highlight multiple anomalies across a range of geological features.  Traditionally, however, gold was mined from within the Clogau Shale (shown in blue in Figures 3 and 4 in the PDF version of this RNS) and it is clear from the results obtained that a continuous anomaly is present within this unit. However, elevated gold values are also now observed at contacts between the Clogau Shale / Maentwrog boundary (shown in light grey in Figures 3 and 4) and within the Gamlan Formation (shown in dark grey in Figures 3 and 4) that do not appear to have been the focus for most of the historic mining activities. Results from the latest batch of samples are, however, located predominantly within the Clogau Shale unit.

The weighted average grade of the samples for all "new" anomalies (of 0.023g/t Au) is comparable to the average grade of the samples from the "historic" anomalies (of 0.02g/t Au). See Table 1, below.

Table 1: Comparison of average grades of samples >0.005 ppm.

Anomaly	No. of Samples	Min (ppm)	Max (ppm)	Average (ppm)
New Anomalies
1 (Cerys)	55	0.006	0.093	0.017
2 (Lowri)	24	0.006	0.055	0.016
3 (Mairwen)	5	0.006	0.648	0.142
4 (Ifanna)	11	0.006	0.247	0.037
5 (Nerys)	10	0.006	0.010	0.008
6 (Olwen)	4	0.006	0.013	0.010
7 (Rhian)	3	0.012	0.017	0.014
8 (Eryn)	7	0.006	0.029	0.018
9 (Seren)	2	0.011	0.027	0.019
10 (Gwyneth)	19	0.006	0.204	0.024
Total / Average	140	0.006	0.648	0.023
Historic Anomalies
Clogau-St David's	18	0.006	0.198	0.026
Garthgell	12	0.006	0.022	0.009
Old Clogau	2	0.013	0.014	0.014
Vigra	7	0.011	0.018	0.015
Llechfraith	12	0.006	0.130	0.023
Total / Average	51	0.006	0.198	0.02

Completion of Adit Repair Work

The Company has now successfully completed the adit repairs to the Llechfraith adit, which is a necessary precursor to the detailed underground exploration activities that Alba intends to carry out in the coming months.  The latest phase of the works involved the removal of approximately 20 tonnes of material from the collapsed section of roof and the installation of several steel arches and steel roof sections (see, at Figure 5 in the PDF version of this RNS, a photograph of the completed works).  In addition, the installation of the final section of the 60-metre vertical raise connecting the Tyn Y Cornel and Llechfraith adits was completed during this phase of works.  The vertical raise provides a second means of egress and is an important safety feature as Alba embarks upon underground exploration within the mine.

Alba wishes to thank The Crown Estate and Wardell Armstrong LLP, the onshore Mineral Agent to The Crown Estate, for their assistance and co-operation in executing these important works.

Forthcoming Exploration Programme

The focus of the Company's next phase of in-mine work at Clogau will be three-fold, subject to receipt of any necessary regulatory approvals:

·     To drill a highly prospective gold target traversing the historic Llechfraith mine area, on ground which is owned by Alba;

·     To carry out in-mine exploration within the historic Clogau-St David's mine, involving mapping, sampling and bulk-sampling; and

·     To undertake trenching over the gold anomalies identified in the course of the soil sampling programme as reported in this release.

1/ Llechfraith Drill Target

The recent infill soil sampling included a line of samples traversing the Llechfraith mine area with the soil line orientated along the axis of the dominant anticline fold within the area. Twelve samples above 0.005 g/t Au averaged 0.023 g/t Au with the highest grade being 0.13 g/t Au.

The Llechfraith mine is reported to have been opened in 1862 and ceased production in 1865. Limited mining was then undertaken between 1983 and 1986 with visible gold being reported adjacent to westerly dipping greenstone intrusives along the lowest number 4 level, which is approximately 30m below the main Llechfraith Adit entrance.  Note that the Llechfraith mine area is separate from the Clogau-St David's mine area which is accessed via the Llechfraith and Tyn Y Cornel adits.

Figure 6 (in the PDF version of this RNS) shows the Llechfraith gold-in-soil results set against the geology map and Llechfraith workings. The workings are shown in cross section in the Figure 6 inset.

Given the anticline fold structure, the Clogau shale within this area is potentially up to 200m thick and is considered a high priority target area for future mining activities. As such, Alba is considering a surface drill programme to target an extension to the mine workings. At present, 3 to 4 drillholes are being considered totalling ~200m of drilling.   One of the collateral benefits of this drill target is that drilling can be executed entirely from Alba's own freehold land, thereby not requiring any third party land-owner involvement.

2/ UG clean-up/sampling programme

Subject to receipt of all necessary approvals, Alba is planning to undertake an underground clean-up and sampling programme within the Clogau-St David's mine, accessing the relevant areas via the Tyn Y Cornel and Llechfraith adit levels. The programme, targeting areas of loose broken stock and floor material amassed from previous periods of mining, will allow for the sampling of prospective zones within the mine and will also stockpile material for future processing and metallurgical testwork.

3/ Trenching

Alba is also considering a trenching programme across a selection of the gold-in-soil anomalies identified in the now completed soil sampling programme. The purpose of the trenching would be to expose the underlying bedrock and collect in-situ rock chip samples across areas of interest.  It is believed that the underlying bedrock will generally be found within the first 1-2 metres from the surface, making it very susceptible to this method of exploration.  Assays of samples taken directly from exposed quartz veins from within the bedrock which confirm the presence of gold-bearing structures will be of significant geological interest in terms of pointing to the possible existence of an economic gold deposit.

Competent Person Declaration

The information in this release that relates to Exploration Results has been reviewed by Mr Howard Baker, Technical Director of Alba Mineral Resources Plc. Mr Baker is a Chartered Professional Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (Membership Number 224239) and a Competent Person as defined by the rules of International Reporting Codes that are aligned with CRIRSCO. Howard Baker 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. Howard Baker consents to the inclusion in the announcement of the matters based on his information in the form and context in which they appear.

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of EU Regulation 596/2014.

Glossary

Anticline: A fold, closing in any direction, in which the older rocks occupy the core.

B soil horizon: Commonly referred to as "subsoil" and typically consists of clay or minerals such as iron or aluminium oxides and minor organic material. Plant roots penetrate through this layer, but it has very little humus.

Clogau Shale: A dark-grey or black-banded carbonaceous mudstone and silty mudstone.

Geochemical: Relates to the chemical composition of the Earth and its rocks and minerals.

Geophysics: The application of the methods and techniques of physics to the study of the earth and the processes affecting it.

Hand Auger: A hand tool with a long blade that resembles a screw, which drills narrow diameter holes when turned.

Intrusives: An igneous rock formed from magma forced into older rocks at depth within the Earth's crust, which then typically slowly solidifies below the Earth's surface.

Lithological Units: The lithology of a rock unit is a description of its physical characteristics visible at outcrop, in hand or core samples or with low magnification microscopy, such as colour, texture, grain size, and mineral composition.

Lithological Contacts: The contact between two lithologies of differing characteristics.

Mineralisation: Economically important metals that can occur at a variety of scales from small disseminations through to large zones or ore bodies.

Pathfinder Elements: In geochemical exploration, an element that occurs in close association with an element or commodity being sought, but one can be more easily identified because it forms a broader halo or can be detected more readily by analytical methods.

Quartz Veins: A distinct sheet-like body dominantly composed of quartz hosted within a rock formation.

Strike Length: The direction and length of a geological feature (for example, a vein or rock formation) measured on a horizontal surface.

Structural Architecture: The three-dimensional distribution of bodies of rock, as controlled by geological structures.

Weathering Profile: A vertical assemblage of weathering zones (subsurface zones of alteration differing physically, chemically or mineralogically from adjacent zones) from the surface soil to the unaltered bedrock.

For further information, please contact:

Alba Mineral Resources plc

George Frangeskides, Executive Chairman                        [phone]

Cairn Financial Advisers LLP (Nomad)     

James Caithie / Liam Murray                                            [phone]

First Equity Limited (Broker)

Jason Robertson                                                             [phone]

Yellow Jersey PR (Financial PR/ IR)

Tim Thompson / Harriet Jackson / Henry Wilkinson            [phone]

[e-mail]

Alba's Project & Investment Portfolio

Mining

Amitsoq (Graphite, Greenland): Alba owns a 90 per cent interest in the Amitsoq Graphite Project in Southern Greenland and has an option over the remaining 10 per cent.

Clogau (Gold, Wales): Alba owns a 90 per cent interest in Gold Mines of Wales Limited ("GMOW"), the ultimate owner of the Clogau Gold project situated in the Dolgellau Gold Belt in Wales.

Inglefield Land (Copper, Cobalt, Gold): Alba owns 100 per cent of mineral exploration licence ("MEL") 2017/40 and 2018/25 in north-west Greenland.

Limerick (Base Metals, Ireland): Alba owns 100 per cent of the Limerick base metal project in the Republic of Ireland.

Melville Bay (Iron Ore, Greenland): Alba is entitled to a 51 per cent interest in MEL 2017/41 in Melville Bay, north-west Greenland. The licence area benefits from an existing inferred JORC resource of 67 Mt @ 31.4% Fe.

Thule Black Sands (Ilmenite, Greenland): Alba owns 100 per cent of MEL 2017/29 in the Thule region, north-west Greenland.

Oil & Gas

Brockham (Oil & Gas, UK): Alba has a direct 5 per cent interest in Production Licence 235.

Horse Hill (Oil & Gas, UK): Alba holds an 11.765 per cent effective interest in the Horse Hill oil and gas project (licences PEDL 137 and PEDL 246 covering a total area of 142.9 km²) in the UK Weald Basin.

Web: www.albamineralresources.com

 

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