Chesterfield to re-commence operations in Cyprus

RNS Number : 3697M

Chesterfield Resources PLC

11 May 2020

 

Chesterfield Resources Plc/ EPIC: CHF/Market: LSE/ Sector: Mining

11 May 2020

Chesterfield to re-commence operations in Cyprus

Chesterfield Resources Plc, the mineral exploration company, is pleased to announce that it is to resume operations in Cyprus.  The country has conducted a successful campaign against the Covid-19 epidemic and has now announced a detailed roadmap to release lockdown restrictions. As a consequence, Chesterfield is now able to commence planning to resume its fully-funded drill programme.

Highlights

· Cyprus has conducted one of the most successful Covid-19 suppression operations in the world. Like New Zealand and Iceland, there is a possibility it could soon eradicate the virus altogether.

· The country has announced a detailed four-phase roadmap out of lockdown, spread over two months. This provides businesses with a clear framework to plan ahead.

· Chesterfield is set to be among the first junior miners to recommence operations. Drilling is planned on its Troodos West licences by mid-June. Detailed preparations are underway.

Martin French, Executive Chairman of Chesterfield commented: "We are fortunate to be operating in a country that has conducted a particularly successful campaign against Covid-19. Cyprus last week initiated a comprehensive and well-defined programme to re-open its economy. We have drill, crew and logging geologists all available in country. We do not need to fly any personnel in from overseas in order to re-commence drilling.

During the lockdown, the company was able to completely shut down local operations and so preserve cash.  We are now well-positioned to resume our percussion drill campaign. We have also used the lockdown period to conduct further detailed desktop technical evaluations, including our strong potential for gold, as well as further target analysis based on our initial percussion testing. We are excited to be getting back to work in Cyprus. The drill programme has the potential to add significant value for shareholders."

Cyprus: a very successful campaign against Covid-19

Out of a population of 1.2 million, the Republic of Cyprus (Southern or "Greek" Cyprus), only 898 cases of infection have been recorded since the outbreak began, with 16 deaths. Just nineteen people remain in hospital and over the last week there were only eight new Covid-19 cases. The northern section of the island, occupied by Turkey (population 326,00), has not reported any new Covid-19 cases since April 19.

The island was swift to lock-down, with particularly strict curfews enforced by the military and police. Military conscription is compulsory in Cyprus for all males and so the population is relatively disciplined. The Government's lockdown strategy has a 79% approval rate, according to a poll published yesterday.

Analysis by the Singapore University of Technology has forecasted that Cyprus could potentially be completely virus free by May 25, in a similar way as may be achieved by other island states such as New Zealand. While it remains to be seen if this can be accomplished, it is a strong indication that the Republic of Cyprus, along with Iceland, has been one of the most successful countries in Europe in responding to the epidemic.

Clear and detailed roadmap out of lock-down

As a consequence, Cyprus has been able to design one of the most detailed and comprehensive Covid-19 economic recovery roadmaps in Europe. It is a four-phase plan which commenced last week. Highlights are:

Phase 1, May 4-May 20: Construction has re-commenced and selected shops have re-opened, including outdoor markets and bazaars. School and religious gatherings of up to 10 people allowed. Full breadth of the public sector services had resumed operations. Senior schools to re-open today.

Phase 2, May 21 to June 8: Restrictions on movement and curfew times fully scrapped. Full resumption of port operations (excluding cruise passengers). Museums, historical sites and marinas to re-open. Gatherings of up to 10 people permitted.

Phase 3, June 9 to July 13: Airport and airlines to resume operations in a phased manner. Shopping Malls, department stores, hotels and gyms to re-open with distancing measures.

Phase 4, July 14 onwards: Relaxation of other major restrictions. Festivals and concerts permitted. Decision still to be taken on how to phase in tourism from overseas, which will possibly be restricted to countries of low viral risk.

Chesterfield evaluation and drilling operations moving ahead

The commencement of Phase 2 of the programme, on May 21, is of particular relevance to Chesterfield, as restrictions on movement around the island are to be lifted, and groups of up to ten people may gather. This will allow the company to re-commence percussion drilling with a truck mounted rig available on the island. Logging and analysis can be conducted by Chesterfield's in-country team of Cypriot geologists.

Chesterfield's technical team will this week start evaluating drill locations, planning for pad creation, access earthworks and surface permissions, as well as liaising with the authorities. After some initial test work, the company expects to resume its full percussion drilling campaign in mid-June, and possibly sooner. Chesterfield staff will strictly comply with all Government Covid-19 guidelines during field operations.

During 2019 the company developed 30 potential targets for buried VMS (volcanogenic massive sulphide) deposits within a concentrated 5km radius in its Troodos West licence area. 15 of these targets are ranked on a priority list. The company' strategy is to first test these targets with a percussion drill to confirm the presence of VMS material. This can be used to vector subsequent diamond drilling to gather accurate assay information. Vectoring will create a more efficient diamond drill programme.

This strategy also allows for a quicker roll-out of the programme. The diamond drill has to be imported, together with a team, from overseas and so this will be scheduled later under the current Covid-19 recovery plan. Because the percussion drill and its operators are located in-country they can be utilised much more quickly.

Chesterfield had just commenced its percussion drill campaign when the Covid-19 crisis hit Europe in March. Two targets were drilled and both successfully encountered mineralised sulphide material (see RNS January 14, 2020). As well as copper and zinc, rock chips were assayed at the Hillside target of > 1g/t gold. A subsequent desk top evaluation by the technical team determined that Cyprus may offer higher than average gold content when compared with other VMS camps globally, and that Cypriot deposits are capable of producing clean gold-rich copper concentrates that are in increasingly high demand by smelters (RNS April 21, 2020).

The company's technical team has taken advantage of the lockdown period to further advance its targeting strategy, based on information gleaned from this initial percussion drilling. Based on this, drill design plans are now being drawn up for further holes to test the Hillside, Hillside North and Hillside South range of targets. Details of this will be announced soon. The drill programme is fully funded. The company's recently-reported year-end cash position was £748,596.

About Chesterfield Resources Plc

Chesterfield Resources is a copper-gold exploration and development Company active in Cyprus. The Company strategy is to generate value for shareholders by discovering and developing multiple deposits to production. Chesterfield is in the advanced stage exploration in on its Troodos West licence area, and has a large bank of licence areas elsewhere in Cyprus, either granted or under application.

Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) Disclosure

Certain information contained in this announcement would have been deemed inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 until the release of this announcement.

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For further information, please visit www.chesterfieldresourcesplc.com  or contact:

Chesterfield Resources plc:

Martin French, Executive Chairman Tel: [phone]

Brandon Hill Capital (Broker):

Jonathan Evans/Oliver Stanstead Tel: [phone]

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