Results Support Potential of Thunderstone Project

RNS Number : 9785M

Bluejay Mining PLC

27 January 2021

 

Bluejay Mining plc / EPIC: JAY / Market: AIM / Sector: Mining

27 January 2021

Bluejay Mining plc ('Bluejay' or the 'Company')

Link to view the announcement in full including all figures:

http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/9785M_1-2021-1-26.pdf

Geochemical Results Support the Gold and Base Metal Potential of the Thunderstone Project, South Greenland

Bluejay Mining plc, the AIM, FSE listed and OTCQB traded exploration and development company with projects in Greenland and Finland, is pleased to announce the geochemical results of its maiden fieldwork programme (the 'Field Programme') targeting precious and base metals at the Thunderstone Project ('Thunderstone' or the 'Project'), a historically underexplored area of South Greenland.

The geochemical results from the Field Programme support a southern extension to the Nanortalik Gold Belt. The Belt which runs over 175 kilometres ('km') long and over 50 km wide, demonstrates geological similarities that support a correlation with well-established gold belts in northern Sweden, where many producing mines, of similar geological ages to mineralisation in South Greenland, have been discovered over the last century.

With the geochemical results and field observations identifying several prospective areas for gold and base metals, the Company can now reduce the size of its exploration licences, in order to streamline future early-stage, low-cost, exploration activities in the areas of interest.

Whilst the Company's focus for the year will centre around reaching significant milestones at its nearer term value creation projects, Thunderstone has proven itself to be a significant asset in Bluejay's portfolio as we look to advance our findings and move it up the value curve.

Summary

Gold

· New regional sediment geochemistry for gold and associated pathfinder-elements, e.g., As, W, Sb (refer to Figure 2), confirms a southern extension to the Nanortalik Gold Belt

· Strong gold anomalies, up to 172 ppb gold, identified in both scree and stream sediments at Stordalen's Havn (refer to Figures 3 to 5)

o  Validates Nunaoil's historic heavy mineral concentrate ('HMC') gold anomalies

o  Expands the area anomalous in gold at this locality to >3.25 square kilometres ('sq km'), remaining open in several directions

o  41% of the rock samples collected at Stordalen's Havn returned anomalous gold values (>10 ppb gold).

· Reconnaissance of remote sensing targets and historic stream sediment gold anomalies surrounding the Qinnguadalen valley led to the discovery of a significant package of amphibolite-facies basaltic metavolcanics, associated with elevated gold in sediments, that had not previously been mapped (refer to Figure 6)

o  The metavolcanic package is similar in size, lithology and alteration to the klippe that hosts orogenic gold mineralisation at AEX Gold Inc.'s Nalunaq gold mine (refer to Figures 1 & 2) produced over 350,000 ounces of gold at a grade of ca. 15 grammes per tonne ('g/t') gold, with a remaining inferred resource of 251,000 ounces at a grade of 18.5 g/t gold, located only 25 km to the west

o  Due to limited time, several neighbouring remote sensing targets with similar mafic signatures were not visited in 2020 and remain untested

· A cluster of gold-silver anomalies in scree sediments discovered at Qinngeq Kujalleq covering an area of ca. 1.5 sq km, upstream of an historical HMC gold anomaly (refer to Figure 8)

o  The anomalous zone remains open in several directions

Base Metals

· A gossan (highly ferruginous rock largely consisting of oxides, which is usually the product of intense oxidation by weathering and leaching of sulphide mineralisation) identified in the Qinnguadalen valley from Bluejay's remote sensing study, led to the discovery of a new occurrence of semi-massive to massive sulphides, some of which are graphitic, that yielded up to 0.33 % copper in rock sampling and is associated with an extensive multi-element (Cu-Au-Ag-Mo-Zn) anomaly in scree sediments (refer to Figure 7)

· A second gossan located 4 km north in the Qinnguadalen valley, also identified from remote sensing, shares the same anomalous multi-element (Cu-Au-Ag-Mo-Zn) signature in scree sediments and yielded the highest sediment copper values (up to 559 ppm copper) identified during the Field Programme

· Multiple clusters of Cu-Ni-Cr-Co ± Pt, Pd sediment anomalies, e.g., on Eggers Ø, underpin the potential for mineralised mafic-ultramafic intrusions, which are known to occur elsewhere in the Ketilidian Orogenic Belt

Next steps for the Project

· Bluejay has now identified key areas of interest for focussed future field programmes

· As the Company focusses its exploration efforts at Thunderstone, Bluejay will now begin reducing the size of the exploration licences (MEL 2020/03 and MEL-S 2020/22) by the end of 2021, in line with the Company's strategy for the Project

o  The Company will update the market of these licence adjustments in due course

· Bluejay welcomes the Government of Greenland's supportive measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, whereby expenditure obligations will once again be set to zero for 2021

o  Therefore, all exploration expenditure on Thunderstone during 2020 and 2021 will be transferred as credit into 2022 

o  The official Year 1 for the licence will not begin until 2022

o  With the planned reductions to the licence areas, the accrued credit secures the Project financially for several years whilst Bluejay progresses its high-priority base metal projects at Disko-Nuussuaq and Kangerluarsuk

The 2020 Field Programme focussed on early greenfield exploration phase activities in the form of in-fill stream sediment sampling and rock sampling to supplement Bluejay's existing geochemical database. Bluejay was able to systematically evaluate pre-existing gold and base metal anomalies as well as remote sensing targets (refer to previous announcements dated 10 August 2020 and 22 September 2020). A total of 347 samples were collected during the Field Programme, comprising of 88 rock samples, 238 sediment samples, two water samples and 19 QA/QC samples. The samples were shipped to ALS Loughrea, Ireland for geochemical analysis. Results from the laboratory were received on 6 January 2021 and have now been interpreted and integrated into the Company's geochemical database for the Project.

Commenting on the results of the Field Programme, Bluejay Greenland Exploration Manager, Joshua Hughes commented :

"We are encouraged by the results of our regional-scale geochemical sampling at Thunderstone, which have increased our geological understanding of the Project area considerably. Despite being in arguably one of the most easily accessible areas of Greenland, Thunderstone remains a true greenfield region that has largely evaded exploration until now. The Field Programme, which was supported by our recently commissioned remote sensing study, has demonstrated many inconsistencies and erroneously mapped units in the existing regional geological mapping. One example that enhances the gold potential of Bluejay's licences was the discovery of a large package of previously unmapped basaltic metavolcanics, which are known to host economic gold mineralisation elsewhere in South Greenland. We still have several similar remote sensing targets left to ground truth.

"Despite its proximity to a past-producing gold mine, Thunderstone was overlooked for its gold potential by previous explorers, largely due to the high metamorphic grade that characterises much of the licence area. However, based upon detailed petrology and geochronology of other orogenic gold deposits in the region, we know that gold was introduced on the retrograde metamorphic path of those deposits. With that in mind, we went into the field confident that that the Nanortalik Gold Belt extends further south than has previously been recognised. We have now confirmed this based upon these new geochemical data and our field observations that both support the presence of orogenic gold mineralisation at Thunderstone. Particularly encouraging are the strong gold anomalies identified at Stordalen's Havn, where the highest gold concentrations identified in scree sediments are comparable to the historic HMC samples [that typically have much higher anomalism thresholds due to their concentrated nature] taken in the same valley. We consider this a priority area for follow-up work.

"The Government's zeroing of the exploration expenditures for 2020 and 2021 in response to the pandemic, has effectively provided us with two free years in which to review the Project. We now hold the necessary data required to begin reducing our licences and geographically focus our continued exploration efforts at Thunderstone."

Commenting on the results of the Field Programme, Consultant Geologist, Dr Denis Schlatter EurGeol., who participated in the Field Programme, said :

"The fieldwork in 2020 successfully tested several exploration models for gold and base metals. By far the most promising finding of the regional Field Programme was confirming that the Nanortalik Gold Belt extends southwards into Bluejay's Thunderstone licences, supported by the new geochemistry presented in this announcement. In several recent scientific publications, myself and Josh (Bluejay's Greenland Exploration Manager) have advocated a geological correlation between the Skellefte Mining District and the so-called 'Gold Line' in northern Sweden, with the Nanortalik Gold Belt of South Greenland, which are all of comparable geological age and share many compelling similarities.

"As our geological understanding of this highly underexplored gold belt develops, the confirmation of anomalous gold values in the Qinnguadalen, Qinngeq Kujalleq and Stordalen's Havn areas provides Bluejay with completely new and totally untested targets within the gold belt that justify follow-up campaigns. At Qinnguadalen, the strong epidote-carbonate and calc-silicate alteration assemblages we observed in the new basaltic metavolcanics sequences appear to be analogous to those associated with Nalunaq gold mine, where I was involved in the early exploration and have since published geochemical and petrological studies on the deposit. The broader tectonostratigraphic sequence of this new occurrence also shares many similarities with that of Nalunaq. I am also encouraged by the base metal potential, notably for copper where we have located new massive sulphide occurrences and new areas of copper anomalism in sediments."

Technical Notes

Samples were submitted to ALS Loughrea in Ireland for preparation and geochemical analysis. For sediment samples, after drying and sieving to -180 micron, a 250 gram split of the sieved fraction was pulverised to -75 micron and a 50 gram fine pulp split of this material was analysed for gold, platinum and palladium using fire assay and Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) finish (ALS method PGM-MS24™). A second fine pulp split was prepared for multi-element analysis by ICP-MS after four acid digestion (ALS methods ME-MS61L™ and ME-MS61L-REE™). Both the precious metal and multi-element analytical methods have ultralow detection limits appropriate for the sample medium.

For the rock samples, after drying, crushing, and pulverising to -75 micron, a 50 gram fine pulp split of this material was analysed for gold, platinum and palladium using fire assay and Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-AES) finish (ALS method PGM-ICP24™). A second fine pulp split was prepared for multi-element analysis by ICP-MS after four acid digestion (ALS method ME-MS61r™).

Bluejay's Quality Assurance and Quality Control (QA/QC) protocol included insertion of certified reference materials and blank samples, as well as field duplicates at a total insertion rate of 5.8%, which is deemed appropriate for this stage of exploration.

Qualified Person

The technical information presented in this announcement has been approved by Dr Denis Schlatter EurGeol., Managing Director of Helvetica Exploration Services GmbH and a Chartered Geologist with the European Federation of Geologists since 2011 (title No. 930). Dr Schlatter has sufficient experience, relevant to the styles of mineralisation and type of deposits under consideration and to the activity that he is undertaking, to qualify as a "competent person" as defined by the AIM rules. Dr Schlatter participated in the 2020 Field Programme at Thunderstone and oversaw the implementation of Bluejay's QA/QC protocols described above. Dr Schlatter has reviewed the geochemical results and information presented in this announcement.

Figure 1: Geological map of the 2,555 sq km Thunderstone Project in South Greenland showing historic sample coverage (includes Bluejay's re-assayed historical stream sediment data, HMC samples collected by Nunaoil A/S and sediment samples collected by the Kujalleq Municipality) as well as samples collected by Bluejay during the 2020 Field Programme. Note that Bluejay's re-assayed stream sediment data covers the area south of 61^O N but has been cropped to a 1 km buffer surrounding the Company's licences for the purposes of this announcement. Proximity of the Thunderstone Project area to several towns and settlements, as well as two former mines (gold, graphite) are also indicated.

Figure 2: Geological map of western Thunderstone licence (MEL 2020/03) showing (A) the 2020 Field Programme results for gold (ppb) in stream and scree sediments; and (B) historical HMC samples collected by Nunaoil A/S in 1989, and historical sediment samples collected by the Geological Survey of Greenland (GGU; now the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland, GEUS) and the Kujalleq Municipality. Collectively these data support a southern extension of the Nanortalik Gold Belt.

Figure 3: 2020 Field Programme and historic results for gold (ppb) in stream and scree sediments at the Stordalen's Havn target. The anomalous gold zone has a footprint over 3.25 sq km (that remains open in several directions). Stordalen's Havn is dominated by high metamorphic grade (amphibolite to granulite facies) metasediments, which represents a new and untested target for orogenic gold in the Nanortalik Gold Belt.

Figure 4: Field photograph of prominent rust zones within high-metamorphic grade metasediments at Stordalen's Havn. Scree sediment sampling beneath the rust zone in the lower left of the photography yielded 172 ppb gold. Vertical extent of the rock face is approximately 900 metres.

Figure 5: Field photograph of prominent rust zones within high-metamorphic grade metasediments at Stordalen's Havn, 1.2 km south of the outcrops in Figure 4. Scree sediment sampling beneath these rust zones yielded up to 97 ppb gold, associated with highly anomalous tungsten, copper and arsenic values. Vertical extent of the rock face in the field of view is approximately 300 metres.

Figure 6: Annotated field photograph of a significant package of previously unmapped basaltic metavolcanics, up to 1330 metre elevation, that was discovered in the Tasermiut area and traced over several kilometres. The metavolcanics share many lithological and alteration characteristics with the metavolcanic klippe that hosts Nalunaq gold mine, located 25 km to the West. Bluejay's field teams identified several alteration assemblages within the scree material beneath the basaltic amphibolite cliff face including strong epidote-carbonate alteration and skarn like alteration comprising diopside -feldspar. Immediately above the thrust contact between the metavolcanics and underlying granites (marked by the dashed yellow line) is a rusty zone of silicified and sulphide-rich metavolcanics, analogous to the that observed in the lowermost tectonostratigraphic sequence at Nalunaq gold mine. Locally the new metavolcanic package is associated with elevated gold and associated pathfinder elements (e.g., W, Sb) in stream and scree sediments.

Figure 7: Field photograph of one of several gossans discovered during reconnaissance of remote sensing targets in the Qinnguadalen valley. Rock samples of semi-massive to massive sulphides (some of which are graphitic) from the gossanous scree in the photograph returned up to 0.33 % copper. At this locality, scree sediments over a 1 km strike (open in all directions) define a multi-element (Cu-Au-Ag-As-Mo-Zn) anomaly over the gossanous zone.

Figure 8: Field photograph of a cluster of scree sediment gold-silver anomalies at Qinngeq Kujalleq. Sample sites shown by red circles. Distance between the two sample locations on the far side of the glacier is approximately 500 metres. An historical HMC sample with 498 ppb gold was collected in a glacial stream beneath the mouth of the hanging glacier in the bottom right hand-side of the photograph.

For further information please visit  http://www.bluejaymining.com  or contact:

Roderick McIllree	Bluejay Mining plc	[phone]
Kevin Sheil	Bluejay Mining plc	[phone]
Ewan Leggat	SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP (Nominated Adviser)	[phone]
Adam Cowl	SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP (Nominated Adviser)	[phone]
Andrew Chubb	Hannam & Partners (Advisory) LLP	[phone]
Tim Blythe	Blytheweigh	[phone]
Megan Ray	Blytheweigh	[phone]

Notes

Bluejay is listed on the London AIM market and Frankfurt Stock Exchange and its shares also trade on the OTCQB Market in the US. With projects in Greenland and Finland, its most advanced project is the Dundas Ilmenite Project in Greenland, which is being developed towards production in the near term. 

The Company's strategy is focused on securing financing ahead of commencing commercial production at Dundas in order to create a company capable of self-funding exploration on its current projects and future acquisitions.

Bluejay holds three additional projects in Greenland - the 2,897 sq km Disko-Nuussuaq ('Disko') Magmatic Massive Sulphide nickel-copper-cobalt-platinum group element-gold project ('Ni-Cu-Co-PGE-Au'), which has shown its potential to host mineralisation similar to the world's largest nickel-copper mining district at Noril'sk-Talnakh, northern Russia; the 692sq km Kangerluarsuk zinc-lead- silver project ('Kangerluarsuk'), and the 2,555 sq km Thunderstone project which has the potential to host large-scale base metal and gold deposits. In Finland, Bluejay has agreed a joint-venture agreement with Rio Tinto Mining and Exploration Ltd  at its Enonkoski Project.

**ENDS**

 

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