TULKUBASH PROJECT UPDATE

RNS Number : 2166Y

Chaarat Gold Holdings Ltd

04 December 2017

 

Chaarat Gold Holdings Limited

("Chaarat" or the "Company")

TULKUBASH PROJECT UPDATE

Road Town, Tortola, British Virgin Islands (4^th December 2017)

Chaarat (AIM: CGH), the AIM quoted company developing the Chaarat Gold Project in the Kyrgyz Republic, is pleased to provide an update on continued progress at the Tulkubash heap leach project. 

Highlights

·    All assays from the 2017 Tulkubash drilling programme now finalised - resource update on track for completion in January 2018

·    Mineralised wireframes exhibit remarkable continuity along strike - mineralisation is open to the north east with numerous strong gold in soil anomalies to be tested in 2018 drill programme

·     Further positive drill results not previously reported include:

·     Section 680: CCH17T07319: True width of 94.6 metres at 1.34g/t Au from a depth of 1.5 metres

·    Section 1480: CCH17T07347: True width of 31.2 metres at 0.88 g/t Au from a depth of 40.5 metres with additional multiple intercepts down the hole

·    Feasibility Study is substantially completed pending updated resource - also on track for completion in Q1 2018

·    Infrastructure upgrades are progressing ahead of development:

·    Access road from Chatkal Valley to the top of Kumbel Pass is 65% complete - work will continue over the winter as weather allows with completion expected in Q2 2018

·    Bridge crossing the Sandalash River is complete, providing heavy equipment access between the mine and the plant site

·    Infrastructure for mobile communications system is complete

·    Detailed design engineering commenced for the heap leach facility

Robert Benbow, CEO of Chaarat, commented: "The development activities initiated and advanced this year will give us an advantage when we start construction.  Improving access to site and communications will assist our team in delivering the project. 

We look forward to announcing an upgraded resource for the Tulkubash oxide zone in January 2018 incorporating the positive results obtained in the 2017 drilling programme.  It is clear that an ongoing exploration programme will be an integral part of our business plan.  We look forward to commencing our next season of drilling and project development to deliver Tulkubash as an oxide heap leach operation of significant scale."

Activities for the 2017 field season focused on the drilling programme to increase the Tulkubash oxide resource and to provide infrastructure that will de-risk and accelerate project development.  As previously reported, the successful drilling programme was expanded to 17,420 metres.  The results are being tabulated for inclusion in a new resource update due in January 2018.  

The infrastructure upgrade ongoing at site is crucial to ensure that construction of the Tulkubash heap leach project can commence in a timely manner following completion of the feasibility study in Q1 2018.  The access road from the Chatkal Valley to the top of the Kumbel Pass is the only access to the mine and needs to be improved to ensure the safe delivery of equipment and construction supplies to site.  The newly constructed bridge over the Sandalash river will provide access to the Tulkubash open pit for heavy mining equipment and service vehicles.  Establishing reliable mobile communications is a high priority for construction and operations at the mine and we are well advanced to achieve this in 2018.

During 2017, the Tulkubash heap leach feasibility study was progressed in draft form and is now approximately 80% complete.  Resources, reserves and the mining sections are expected to be updated, costs re-evaluated and the study put into final form for release by the end of Q1 2018.

Detailed design of the heap leach facility began in Q4 2017.  Earthworks for the heap leach pad are on the critical path and beginning detailed design helps de-risk the construction schedule.

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 Q1 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 mineralised 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 north west.

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 programme consisted of 135 holes covering 17,420 metres of in-fill and step-out development drilling. The objective of the drilling programme was 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 define 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.  The programme of assaying for cyanide soluble gold in order to assess the amenability of the ore to processing by conventional heap leaching has now been completed for the 2017 drilling.

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 mineralised 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 7 drill holes are summarised in the table below.  Significant intercepts are defined as intercepts greater than 10 metres in width above a 0.25 g/t cut off or greater than 3 metres in width at a 0.25 g/t 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
CCH17T07320	400	51.0	70.5	19.5	16.3	0.31
CCH17T07320	400	105.0	108.0	3.0	2.2	2.11
CCH17T07320	400	123.0	126.0	3.0	2.2	2.98
CCH17T07335	400	38.5	56.5	18.0	16.7	0.61
including	400	38.5	41.5	3.0	2.6	1.48
CCH17T07319	680	1.5	135.0	133.5	94.6	1.34
including	680	36.0	39.0	3.0	2.1	2.66
including	680	42.0	49.5	7.5	5.3	2.72
including	680	76.5	82.5	6.0	4.3	3.45
including	680	96.0	108.0	12.0	9.6	2.23
including	680	118.5	127.5	9.0	6.5	4.21
CCH17T07341	960	18.0	48.0	30.0	22.6	0.63
including	960	42.0	46.5	4.5	4.0	1.43
CCH17T07341	960	85.5	102.0	16.5	13.5	0.73
CCH17T07341	960	132.0	156.0	24.0	20.8	0.62
CCH17T07341	960	172.5	202.5	30.0	25.6	1.31
including	960	172.5	177.0	4.5	3.8	2.11
including	960	183.0	187.5	4.5	3.8	4.05
CCH17T07347	1480	40.5	75.0	34.5	31.2	0.88
including	1480	42.0	48.0	6.0	5.7	1.56
including	1480	55.5	60.0	4.5	4.1	1.55
including	1480	72.0	75.0	3.0	2.8	1.35
CCH17T07347	1480	93.0	100.5	7.5	5.7	1.86
including	1480	93.0	96.0	3.0	2.4	3.35
CCH17T07347	1480	174.0	192.0	18.0	12.9	0.71
CCH17T07347	1480	222.0	235.5	13.5	11.4	0.60
including	1480	229.5	232.5	3.0	2.6	1.05
CCH17T07345	1680	186.0	201.0	15.0	12.7	0.44
including	1680	186.0	189.0	3.0	3.0	0.97
CCH17T07349	2520	214.5	246.0	31.5	21.0	0.44
CCH17T07349	2520	253.5	256.5	3.0	2.0	0.98

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 programme 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'. He was also 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)

 

END

 

 

DRLLLFIEFFLVIID