Drilling Further Extends Tulkubash Mineralisation

RNS Number : 4080H

Chaarat Gold Holdings Ltd

15 November 2018

 

15 November 2018

Chaarat Gold Holdings Limited

("Chaarat" or the "Company")

Chaarat Exploration Drilling Continues to Extend Tulkubash Mineralisation

Chaarat (AIM: CGH), the AIM quoted exploration and development company developing the Chaarat Gold Project in the Kyrgyz Republic, is pleased to provide an update on its 2018 exploration drilling programme at its Tulkubash oxide gold project. This press release presents results obtained subsequent to the cutoff of drillhole data (12 August 2018) used in the Company's last resource update reported on 4 September 2018.

The following link provides a plan and cross-sections showing the locations of the drill holes as well as tabulations of the drill assay data discussed in this press release:

http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/4080H_1-2018-11-14.pdf

Highlights

·   This release reports the results of approximately 9,000 metres of new drilling since the last resource update of 4 September 2018. 

·   Gold mineralisation is confirmed to continue further along strike northeast of the existing 1.5 million ounce resource. Drilling has extended mineralisation by approximately 1,600 metres since the beginning of the 2018 season and over 500 metres since the resource update of 4 September 2018. Drilling since the last resource update has also added gold mineralisation within the existing resource footprint.

·    New, shallow mineralisation has been identified within the current pit design.

·    Significant intercepts include:

o  Section 3560, Hole DH18T429: True width of 7.0 metres at 3.96 grammes per tonne ("g/t")  gold "Au") from a depth of 43.5 metres.

o  Section 480, Hole DH18T441: True width of 14.0 metres at 0.83 g/t Au from a depth of 19.5 metres.

o  Section 640, Hole DH18T430: True width of 16.8 metres at 1.56 g/t Au from a depth of 54.5 metres.

o  Section 640, Hole DH18T460: True width of 18.0 metres at 1.09 g/t Au from a depth of 124.5 metres.

o  Section 2520, Hole DH18T414: True width of 10.4 metres at 1.63 g/t Au from a depth of 177.0 metres.

o  Section 3240, Hole DH18T428: True width of 23.8 metres at 0.54 g/t Au from a depth of 155.0 metres.

o  Section 3800, Hole DH18T444: True width of 14.0 metres at 1.57 g/t Au from a depth of 64.5 metres.

·    Road cuts have exposed new, significant mineralisation in Segment IV: 32.0 metres at 1.01 g/t Au.

Approximately 19,660 metres has been drilled to date in 2018. Two drill rigs are currently in operation on site and the program is expected to wind down by the end of November with approximately 20,500 metres drilled. The Company's ambition to drill 30,000 metres this year will not be realized, due to weather and logistical issues (drill water shortages). The drill water shortages were caused by an abnormally dry spring and summer this year. Steps are being taken to engineer a water delivery system to preclude reoccurrence of this during future drill campaigns.

Dorian L. (Dusty) Nicol, the Company's Technical Director and Head of Exploration, commented:

"We continue to be very encouraged by the  ongoing results of our drilling at Tulkubash. Drilling since the interim resource update in September continues to add oxide gold mineralization. We continue to focus our drilling on mineral resource addition with the objective of maximising conversion to reserve and enhancing Tulkubash project economics. We will be completing a year-end resource update on the completion of this  season's drilling. We expect to complete the year-end resource update early in January 2019. This will form the basis of an updated reserve estimate and financial model to be completed by end-February 2019."

Drilling Update

In planning the 2018 drill programme, the Company defined five along strike segments within the current Tulkubash trend. The current 1.5 million ounce Tulkubash resource is located in segments I to IV.  Significant additional new resources have been developed in Segment IV based on this year's drilling.  Segment V represents the area with the strongest gold in soil geochemical anomalies and favourable structural geology and represents some of Chaarat's highest priority drill targets. This year's drilling in Segment V has confirmed that the Tulkubash oxide mineralization continues to the northeast and represents an attractive target for follow-up drilling in the 2019 season.

Drilling in the second half of this year has focused on developing resources in Segment I and Segment IV that could have the potential to add reserves to the project. Drilling in Segment I is targeting oxide mineralization on the footwall and hanging wall of the main pit that has the potential to expand the pit design. 

Drilling in Segment IV is targeting extensions of the Satellite Pits that may result in connecting these small pits to add reserves and enhance the project economics. It is also expected that a new pit ("Northeast Pit") may be designed as a result of resource / reserve growth toward the northeast.

Drilling in Segment V  continues to add strike length to the mineralisation, which has now been extended at least 1,600 metres along strike from the Feasibility Study resource boundary. Recently completed geologic mapping combined with the drill results are highly encouraging and confirm that mineralisation extends to the northeast of the current resource. 

The gold mineralisation in this Segment IV is strongly oxidised. This can be gauged by the percentage of contained gold determined to be easily recovered by cyanide solution (cyanide soluble assay). In this batch of samples, 1331 of 1744 cyanide soluble assays received to date are greater than 80 per cent of contained gold with only 188 samples less than 60 per cent. This suggests that a significant amount of this mineralisation would be recoverable by heap leach.

Significant intercepts from eighteen drill holes on sixteen sections are summarised in the table below. The sections are in general 80 metres apart. Significant intercepts are defined as intercepts greater than 10 metres in width above a 0.25g/t gold cut off or greater than 3.0 metres in width at a 0.25g/t gold cut off assaying greater than 1.0 g/t gold or a minimum equivalent grade x thickness. 

Drill Hole		Interval		Thickness (m)	True Thickness (m)	Au g/t
	Cross Section	From	To
DH18T420	400	102.00	117.00	15.00	14.00	0.47
DH18T441	480	7.50	13.50	6.00	5.60	7.60
DH18T441	480	19.50	34.50	15.00	14.00	0.83
incl	480	30.00	33.00	3.00	2.80	2.21
DH18T441	480	48.00	52.50	4.50	4.25	1.46
DH18T430	640	54.50	72.50	18.00	16.80	1.56
DH18T430	640	141.50	152.00	10.50	9.80	0.58
DH18T430	640	195.50	221.00	25.50	23.80	1.32
DH18T460	640	124.50	147.00	22.50	18.00	1.09
DH18T414	2520	177.00	189.00	12.00	10.40	1.63
incl	2520	177.00	181.50	4.50	3.90	2.86
DH18T417	2680	63.00	69.00	6.00	5.60	1.32
incl	2680	66.00	69.00	3.00	2.80	2.00
DH18T409	2760	46.50	52.50	6.00	5.60	1.29
DH18T409	2760	61.50	76.50	15.00	12.60	0.28
DH18T425	2840	52.00	62.50	10.50	9.80	0.68
DH18T411	2920	122.00	125.00	3.00	2.80	1.21
DH18T383	3000	126.00	130.50	4.50	4.25	3.22
DH18T428	3240	155.00	180.50	25.50	23.80	0.54
DH18T422	3280	54.00	57.00	3.00	2.80	1.11
DH18T437	3320	139.50	150.00	10.50	9.50	0.46
DH18T415	3400	198.00	207.00	9.00	8.40	1.00
DH18T415	3400	214.50	228.00	13.50	12.60	0.48
DH18T415	3400	238.50	267.00	28.50	25.60	0.59
DH18T415	3400	274.50	300.00	25.50	23.50	0.41
DH18T439	3480	81.00	84.00	3.00	2.70	3.04
DH18T439	3480	124.50	136.50	12.00	10.80	0.52
DH18T429	3560	43.50	51.00	7.50	7.00	3.96
incl	3560	43.50	49.50	6.00	5.60	4.81
DH18T421	3680	51.00	61.50	10.50	9.80	0.30
DH18T426	3680	49.50	61.50	12.00	11.20	0.30
DH18T447	3680	63.50	75.50	12.00	11.20	0.74
DH18T444	3800	64.50	79.50	15.00	14.00	1.57

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 near 1.5 metres 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 metres. Approximate true width is estimated from cross sectional interpretations.

Additional holes in Segment IV and Segment-V intersected gold mineralisation, but are below the threshold to be considered significant. Nonetheless, they indicate extension of the gold-bearing system, which like all such gold mineralised systems tends to pinch and swell along the controlling structure(s).

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. Gold is analysed using a 30-gramme fire assay with an atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) finish. A quality control/quality assurance protocol is employed in the programme which includes standards and blanks in every batch of assays. Check assays are conducted on every 20^th sample by a second independent laboratory. 

Competent Person

The Competent Person with overall responsibility for this press release, and who has reviewed the information contained herein, is Dorian L. (Dusty) Nicol (FAussIMM), the Company's Technical Director and Head of Exploration. He is a geologist with more than 40 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'. He has supervised the work which is the subject of this release. Mr. Nicol consents to the inclusion in the report of the matters based on this information in the form and context in which it appears.

Enquiries

Chaarat Gold Holdings Limited Martin Andersson (Chairman)	[phone]
Artem Volynets (CEO)	[e-mail]
Numis Securities Limited
John Prior, Paul Gillam (NOMAD)	[phone]
James Black (Corporate Broking)
Powerscourt
Conal Walsh	[phone]
Matthew Attwood Isabelle Saber	[e-mail]

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 low-cost gold producer generating significant production from the development of the Chaarat Gold Project.

On 30 October 2018, Chaarat announced that it had entered into a binding sale and purchase agreement to acquire the Kapan mine in Armenia from Polymetal, for a consideration of US$55 million, subject to adjustments.

Chaarat is engaged in an active community engagement programme to optimise the value of the Chaarat investment proposition.

Chaarat aims to create value for its shareholders, employees and communities from its high-quality gold and mineral deposits 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 

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"	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
"koz"	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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