COMPLETION OF 2017 DRILLING PROGRAM

RNS Number : 9033W

Chaarat Gold Holdings Ltd

20 November 2017

 

Chaarat Gold Holdings Limited
 

("Chaarat" or the "Company")

COMPLETION OF 2017 DRILLING PROGRAM AT THE CHAARAT GOLD PROJECT

Road Town, Tortola, British Virgin Islands (20^th November 2017)

Chaarat (AIM: CGH), the AIM quoted company developing the Chaarat Gold Project in the Kyrgyz Republic, is pleased to provide an update on the 2017 drilling program in the Tulkubash oxide Zone. 

Highlights
 

·    17,420 metres drilled in 2017 season v planned 11,000 metres

·    30% of total drilling in the Tulkubash Zone completed in 2017 season

·   Indicative pit length increased from approximately 1,100 to 2,200 metres as mineralisation connects current Tulkubash pit with other previously drilled areas (satellite pits)

·  Oxide mineralisation open to the northeast with potential continuity for at least three kilometres (defined by soil anomalies within the area of the existing mining licence) which could significantly increase the scale of the Tulkubash open pit heap leach project

·    Potential extends further along strike in the existing exploration licence

·     Positive drill results received to date include:

Section 440: CCH17T07315: True width of 22.5 metres at 1.01g/t Au from a depth of 65.5 metres

·    Section 560: CCH17T07310:  True width of 11.1 metres at 2.45 g/t Au from a depth of 55.5 metres with an addition zone of 23.3 metres at 2.09 g/t Au from a depth of 148.5 metres

·    Section 640: CCH17T07316: True width of 10.5 metres at 1.80 g/t Au from a depth of 72.5 metres

·    Section 2280: CCH17T07318: True width of 19.9 metres at 1.90 g/t Au from a depth of 74.0 metres

·  Additional hanging wall mineralisation identified within the current Tulkubash pit likely to have a beneficial impact on stripping ratio

·    Gold bearing lodes expanded in the satellite pits

·    Resource update in progress and results will be used to determine reserves in the Feasibility Study due for completion in Q1 2018

Robert Benbow, CEO of Chaarat, commented: "Frank Fenne, our Head of Geology, and his team have delivered on an exceptional drilling season. We were able to drill into November and so completed almost 60% more metres than the 11,000 metres we originally planned for 2017.  Based on the encouraging results we reported in September we decided to continue drilling as long as the weather permitted.  As a result, our knowledge of the Tulkubash deposit has increased substantially.

The results reported today once again demonstrate continuity along the strike of the Tulkubash Zone with significant widths of mineralisation. In September, we were able to report that we had identified oxide mineralisation for another kilometre northeast of the current Tulkubash pit. Now we are increasingly confident that the mineralisation extends for at least three kilometres. Mineralisation has been extended to the south, new hanging wall lodes in the main pit area have been developed and the gold-bearing lodes in the satellite pit area have been expanded.

Based on these results, the anticipated increase in the reserve base (and hence the life of mine) as well as a reduction in pre-stripping are expected to impact positively on the economics of the Tulkubash Project.  We will report a resource update in January 2018 and the Feasibility Study for the Tulkubash Heap Leach Project remains on schedule for completion in Q1 2018.

Looking ahead, adding value through exploration of the Tulkubash oxide mineralisation is going to be a key priority in our future development plans.

In parallel with our successful drilling season we achieved full local approval for the construction of the Tulkubash Project as reported in September. We are currently evaluating the results of our infrastructure work and progress during the season in the other critical areas on the path to production and will provide a full update early next month. In the meantime, I am pleased to confirm that detailed design of the heap leach pad has commenced."

Enquiries:  

Chaarat Gold Holdings Limited	+ 44 (0) 20 7499 2612
Robert Benbow   CEO	[e-mail]
Linda Naylor FD
Numis Securities Limited	[phone]
John Prior, Paul Gillam (NOMAD)
James Black (Broker)

General description of the Tulkubash Zone

The Tulkubash oxide Zone is one of two zones of mineralisation within the Chaarat Gold Project, the other being the Kyzyltash sulphide Zone.

The oxide resources contained within the Tulkubash Zone (912koz: 20.9Mt at 1.35g/t) are suitable for recovery through a low cost heap leach development. Exploration throughout 2017 has focused on extending the Tulkubash resources. A feasibility study for an oxide heap leach plant is due for completion in Q2 2018.

The Kyzyltash sulphide resources (6,131koz: 62.1Mt at 3.07g/t) are high grade and refractory in nature. The Kyzyltash Zone will be developed after the Tulkubash heap leach.

The Tulkubash Zone is a mineralized shear that contains multiple gold-bearing lodes.  The Tulkubash Zone strikes parallel to the Kyzyltash Zone and has been traced for a distance of 10 kilometres to the Ishakuldy area to the northeast.   The mineralised zones dip at 65-80 degrees to the NW.

Drilling in the Tulkubash Zone

Prior to this year, a total of 299 holes have been drilled in the Tulkubash Deposit. The results of this drilling were reported in the 2014 resource update.

The 2017 Tulkubash drilling program consists of 135 holes covering approximately 17,000 metres of in-fill and step-out development drilling. The objective of the drilling program is to develop and enlarge the shallow, open pit, heap leachable reserve base of the Project by (i) increasing the mineralisation in the Tulkubash main and satellite pits (ii) upgrading material that is currently classified as an inferred resource at the bottom of the planned pits (iii) bringing in fringe material on the periphery of the planned pits, and (iv) drilling along strike to the northeast to potentially delineate new mineralisation and expand the resource.

Positive results to date have been obtained from within the Tulkubash Zone where the Company has demonstrated strong continuity of mineralisation.  An on-going program of assaying for cyanide soluble gold is continuing in order to assess the amenability of the ore to processing by conventional heap leaching.

Geology of the Tulkubash Zone

Gold mineralisation occurs within the Tulkubash Formation, a thickly bedded massive quartzite.  The gold occurs in quartzite breccias, quartz stockwork zones, and intensely silicified quartz flooded zones that form multiple parallel lodes that trend northeast and dip 60 to 80 degrees to the northwest.   The individual gold-bearing lodes combine to form a mineralized zone that varies from 110 to 250 metres wide that has been developed over a strike length of 2,160 metres.  Mineralisation is open to the northeast along strike and down dip below the limits of the current drilling (±150 metres).  The gold is very fine grained and is associated with minor pyrite and stibnite.  The Tulkubash Zone is strongly oxidized and contains free milling ore suitable for heap leach processing.

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.

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

Appendix 1: The table below includes the results from holes drilled and assayed (only gold grades are included).

Significant intercepts from 10 drill holes are summarised in the table below.  Significant intercepts are defined as intercepts greater than 10m in width above a 0.25 cut off or greater than 3m in width at a 0.25 cut off assaying greater than 1.0 g/t Au. 

All results are from diamond core holes. The sample intervals are constrained by geology and range from a minimum of 0.4 metres to a maximum of 1.5 metres, generally averaging almost 1.5 metre in length.  Mean grades are calculated at the stated cut off with no upper cap applied.  The maximum length of internal waste in any interval is 3.0 metre. Approximate true width is estimated from cross sectional interpretations.

		Drilling			Approx.
Drill		Interval		Width	true width wwidthThickness	Au
Hole	Section	From	To	(m)	(m)	g/t
CCH17T07315	440	65.5	88.0	22.5	22.5	1.01
including	440	77.5	80.5	3.0	3.0	4.66
CCH17T07310	560	55.5	67.5	12.0	11.1	2.45
CCH17T07310	560	75.0	90.0	15.0	12.0	0.96
CCH17T07310	560	148.5	177.0	28.5	23.3	2.09
including	560	150.0	163.5	13.5	11.1	3.13
CCH17T07310	560	204.0	211.5	7.5	6.2	1.05
CCH17T07310	560	217.5	223.5	6.0	5.5	1.23
CCH17T07307	560	25.0	37.0	12.0	9.8	2.05
including	560	28.0	34.0	6.0	3.3	3.77
CCH17T07307	560	49.0	61.0	12.0	8.3	0.62
including	560	49.0	52.0	3.0	2.3	1.11
CCH17T07307	560	127.0	134.5	7.5	5.4	1.32
CCH17T07307	560	140.5	176.5	36.0	29.5	0.72
incl	560	172.0	176.5	4.5	3.4	2.38
CCH17T07316	640	3.5	11.0	7.5	5.9	1.07
CCH17T07316	640	23.0	36.5	13.5	8.9	1.47
CCH17T07316	640	72.5	90.5	18.0	10.5	1.80
CCH17T07314	960	11.5	28.0	16.5	14.6	0.32
CCH17T07314	960	73.0	91.0	18.0	15.8	1.02
CCH17T07314	960	118.0	137.5	19.5	18.3	0.79
CCH17T07313	1000	72.0	87.0	15.0	10.4	0.71
CCH17T07313	1000	123.0	133.5	10.5	7.2	0.80
CCH17T07317	1840	3.4	17.0	13.6	13.6	0.35
CCH17T07317	1840	35.0	47.0	12.0	12.0	0.40
CCH17T07306	2160	84.0	97.5	13.5	10.2	0.45
CCH17T07306	2160	124.5	135.0	10.5	4.9	1.15
CCH17T07308	2240	64.5	78.0	13.5	12.0	1.02
CCH17T07308	2240	108.0	144.0	36.0	26.0	0.50
CCH17T07318	2280	74.0	99.6	25.6	19.9	1.90

QA/QC Procedures: Sampling Methodology and Quality Control

Samples are shipped to the ALS Global Laboratory in Kara-Balta, Kyrgyz Republic for sample preparation and assay.  Commercial standards and blanks are submitted routinely with each batch of samples.  Gold is analysed using a 30 gram fire assay with an atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) finish.  A quality control/quality assurance protocol is employed in the program which includes standards and blanks in every batch of assays and high grade assays are not capped.  Check assays are conducted on every 20^th sample by a second independent laboratory. 

Representative composites have been selected and shipped to McClelland Laboratories, Inc. for metallurgical testwork to support the Feasibility Study for the Tulkubash heap leach Project.

Competent Person

The Competent Person with overall responsibility for this press release, and who has reviewed the information contained herein, is Frank Fenne, P.G., who is an employee of Chaarat. Frank is a mining geologist with more than 47 years of experience in the resource industry who has sufficient experience 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' and he was supervisor to the work which is the subject of this release. Mr Fenne consents to the inclusion in the report of the matters based on this information in the form and context in which it appears.

Glossary of Technical Terms

"Au"	chemical symbol for gold
"cut off"	the lowest grade value that is included in a resource statement.  It must comply with JORC requirement 19: "reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction" the lowest grade, or quality, of mineralised material that qualifies as economically mineable and available in a given deposit.  It may be defined on the basis of economic evaluation, or on physical or chemical attributes that define an acceptable product specification
"g/t"	grammes per tonne, equivalent to parts per million
"Inferred Resource"	that part of a Mineral Resource for which tonnage, grade and mineral content can be estimated with a low level of confidence.  It is inferred from geological evidence and assumed but not verified geological and/or grade continuity.  It is based on information gathered through appropriate techniques from locations such as outcrops, trenches, pits, workings and drill holes which may be limited or of uncertain quality and reliability
"Indicated Resource"	that part of a Mineral Resource for which tonnage, densities, shape, physical characteristics, grade and mineral content can be estimated with a reasonable level of confidence.  It is based on exploration, sampling and testing information gathered through appropriate techniques from locations such as outcrops, trenches, pits, workings and drill holes.  The locations are too widely or inappropriately spaced to confirm geological and/or grade continuity but are spaced closely enough for continuity to be assumed
"JORC" "koz"	The Australasian Joint Ore Reserves Committee Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves 2012 (the "JORC Code" or "the Code").  The Code sets out minimum standards, recommendations and guidelines for Public Reporting in Australasia of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves thousand troy ounces of gold
"Measured Resource"	that part of a Mineral Resource for which tonnage, densities, shape, physical characteristics, grade and mineral content can be estimated with a high level of confidence.  It is based on detailed and reliable exploration, sampling and testing information gathered through appropriate techniques from locations such as outcrops, trenches, pits, workings and drill holes.  The locations are spaced closely enough to confirm geological and grade continuity
"Mineral Resource"	a concentration or occurrence of material of intrinsic economic interest in or on the Earth's crust in such form, quality and quantity that there are reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction.  The location, quantity, grade, geological characteristics and continuity of a Mineral Resource are known, estimated or interpreted from specific geological evidence and knowledge. Mineral Resources are sub-divided, in order of increasing geological confidence, into Inferred, Indicated and Measured categories when reporting under JORC
"Mt"	million tonnes
"oz"	troy ounce (= 31.103477 grammes)
"Reserve"	the economically mineable part of a Measured and/or Indicated Mineral Resource
"t"	tonne (= 1 million grammes)

 

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