Forward Modelling & Drilling Programme at Havieron

RNS Number : 9027E

Greatland Gold PLC

14 February 2018

 

 

14 February 2018

Dissemination of a Regulatory Announcement that contains inside information according to REGULATION (EU) No 596/2014 (MAR).

Greatland Gold plc

("Greatland" or "the Company")

Forward modelling results & Drilling Programme at Havieron Licence

Further to the announcement of 6 December 2017, Greatland Gold plc (AIM:GGP), the precious and base metals exploration and development company, is pleased to announce that the first drilling campaign to be conducted by Greatland at its Havieron licence is expected to commence in April 2018.

Highlights:

·     Results of forward modelling of detailed aeromagnetic and ground gravity data by independent geopyhysical consultants is favourable and indicates a potentially large mineralised system at Havieron;

·     Forward modelling also suggests that, of the six historic drill holes completed at Havieron, only two intersected the primary target and those two holes intersected only the very top of the mineralised system;

·     First drilling campaign at Havieron includes up to four vertical core holes for a total of approximately 2,400 metres to determine the type of mineralisation and to evaluate grades of gold, copper and other elements;

·     All approvals for drilling at Havieron have been received from the Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety and drilling is expected to commence in April 2018.

The Paterson project covers more than 385 square kilometres in the Paterson region of Western Australia and includes the Havieron licence, the Paterson Range East licence, and the recently acquired Black Hills licence. Limited historical drilling was conducted by Newcrest at Havieron during the 1990s where six holes were drilled, all of which intersected significant alteration and gold plus copper anomalism. Thick lower grade zones of gold and copper were intersected and gold grades within these peaked at 15.4g/t and copper to 2.5%.

Greatland intends to drill the Havieron target with up to four vertical core holes for a total of approximately 2,400m of drilling. Drilling is expected to intersect the mineralised system at Havieron near to historical drill holes HAC9101 and HAC9201. Drill core will be subject to several analytical methods and geophysical measurements to produce a comprehensive suite of data to determine the type of mineralisation at Havieron and to evaluate grades of gold and copper and other elements.

Gervaise Heddle, Chief Executive Officer, commented:  "We are very pleased to be moving forward with Greatland's first drilling campaign at Havieron. Over the past few months, the Paterson region has seen a substantial number of new exploration licence applications by several industry participants. Greatland's early entry advantage makes us well positioned to capitalise on the region's potential. We look forward to announcing the results of our drilling campaign in due course."

A regional map showing the Havieron licence area with regional targets and adjacent landholdings can be found at: http://greatlandgold.com/paterson/ 

Overview of Paterson Project (Havieron, Paterson Range East and Black Hills)

The Company's Paterson project, comprising the Havieron and Paterson Range East licences, and the Black Hills licence, is located in the Paterson region of northern Western Australia. The three licences collectively cover more than 385 square kilometres prospective for iron-oxide-copper-gold ("IOCG") deposits and Telfer style gold deposits.

The Paterson region hosts several large gold and copper deposits such as Telfer (27m oz) and Nifty (2m t copper). The region has been subject to more recent exploration which has outlined several other deposits including Magnum (Au), Calibre (Au), O'Callaghans (Cu) and Maroochydore (Cu).

The region is remote, however infrastructure is good with several operating mines, roads, formed tracks and rail networks nearby which branch out from the regional industrial hub of Port Hedland 500km to the west.

The Paterson Province is the northern portion of the Proterozoic Paterson Orogen. More recent exploration throughout several Proterozoic Orogens within the western parts of the Australian continent has resulted in the discovery of the large Tropicana gold deposit (7.9M oz) and the large Nova nickel-copper deposit (10m t). Globally these Proterozoic Orogens are highly prospective for large deposits, and are often under-explored.

Alteration and mineralisation of those targets which have been drill tested at Havieron and Paterson Range East display similarities to IOCG-type deposits. Examples of these are the large Olympic Dam and Ernest Henry deposits in central and eastern Australia.

Initial airborne data has outlined the Havieron target as covering approximately 1,000m x 1,000m. Depth to top of target is around 400m with these depths easily achieved with modern drilling equipment. Only six drill holes have been completed to date, all of which intersected significant hematite alteration and gold, plus copper anomalism. Thick lower grade zones of gold and copper have been intersected and gold grades within these peak at 15.4g/t and copper to 2.5%. Current drill hole spacing is broad and the core of Havieron therefore represents an immediate resource definition drilling target.

Following a review of regional geophysical and geochemical data over the Paterson project approximately 50 IOCG targets have been identified in the broader region, with around half in ground held by Greatland. The setting of these licences is on the western margin of a Proterozoic basin which ranges in depth from less than 100m below surface to more than 400m below surface. Basement rocks of the basin are predominantly calcareous rich sandstones intruded by several late stage granitic bodies exploiting basin margin faults which have also provided a focus for ore fluids. Historically, several of these targets have been subject to initial first-pass work and show promise at hosting mineralisation as seen at Havieron. The geophysical signature of these targets is very similar to that at Havieron. Basement rocks do not outcrop and Greatland intends to employ modern geophysical and geochemical methods to define targets prior to drill testing. The Scallywag target was identified from this regional review and hosts several magnetic anomalies over an area of approximately 6km x 4km with potential to host gold and/or copper mineralisation.

The Black Hills licence, E45/4512, lies 30 km east of the large Telfer gold mine (27m oz). Black Hills is a granted exploration licence that covers 25 square kilometres and sits adjacent to the Company's Havieron exploration licence. The Black Hills licence is regarded as having high potential to host further gold deposits similar to Telfer. There has been a reasonable amount of historical exploration work at Black Hills with several discrete zones of mineralisation identified over 5km of strike. Rock chip samples have returned up to 90g/t gold, and commonly 20g/t gold, with free (visible) gold in places. Drill intercepts include 4m at 7.0g/t from 25m, 5m at 2.3g/t from 25m, 2m at 3.4g/t from 23m and 2m at 1.29g/t from 10m. Historical drill spacing appears quite broad with holes at least 400m apart, some up to 600m.

Gold prospects identified to date extend from Black Hills into the north western parts of the Havieron licence. Proterozoic sandstone and carbonate rocks of the Yeneena Group formations are present, including the Telfer Formation, in a domal structure which is the equivalent geology to that of the large Telfer gold deposit (27m oz) located 30km to the west.

Prospectivity of the Paterson Province is widely recognised with several large industry participants present. These include Rio Tinto, Newcrest and Antipa. Greatland's licences lie adjacent to Rio Tinto and Antipa.

MMI sampling and ground gravity over the Havieron target was completed in late 2017 at an initial sample and station spacing of 200m x 200m. Additionally ground gravity was completed over the Scallywag target at a station spacing of 400m x 200m. Results of ground gravity and MMI work at Havieron has outlined several targets for a 2018 drill campaign with the peak gravity response not tested by existing drilling. Gravity confirms a NW structural trend of basement carbonate sediments which is mirrored by the surface MMI response. Clusters of elevated gold, silver, arsenic, copper and iron in MMI results are proximal the peak co-incident gravity and magnetic response. An elevated MMI response in pathfinder elements (cerium, lanthanum, uranium and lead) to the immediate SE of Havieron suggests primary basement mineralisation may be present along strike in a structural contact for up to 1.5 kilometres. Peak MMI responses over Havieron were 4ppb silver, 70ppb arsenic, 25ppb gold, 834ppb cerium, 710ppb copper, 53ppm iron, 284ppb lanthanum, 860ppb lead and 112 ppb uranium. Elevated pathfinder elements detected by the MMI survey support our view that Havieron is an Iron Oxide Copper Gold ("IOCG") system. Gravity results from Scallywag show gravity highs co-incident with the magnetic targets over approximately 2km of strike. Gravity and MMI results have been deemed satisfactory and can be cost effectively deployed to screen the many other prospective regional targets identified by Greatland.

Forward modelling of detailed aeromagnetic data (50m line spacing and 40m mean terrain clearance) and detailed ground gravity data (100m x 100m and 100m x 200m station spacing) over the Havieron target was completed in February 2018 by independent geophysical consultants. Results of forward modelling have defined a primary body approximately 600m x 600m across with a depth extent from 400m to 900m below surface resulting in a potential volume of more than 240,000,000 cubic metres and an estimated mass of more than 650,000,000 tonnes. A second smaller body with a volume of more than 16,000,000 cubic metres lies immediately adjacent to the primary body. Results of forward modelling are indicative only as geophysical data is ambiguous, however modelled bodies were constrained to known physical rock properties and therefore potentially represent the core of the mineralised system at Havieron. Forward modelling suggests that of the six historic drill holes completed at Havieron only two intersected the target. Those two holes intersected only the very top of the mineralised system but returned over 100m of mineralisation (HAC9101) and over 50m of mineralisation (HAC9201) peaking at 15.4g/t gold and 2.5% copper within broad, lower grade intercepts.

Greatland intends to drill the Havieron target with up to four vertical core holes for a total of approximately 2,400m of drilling. Drilling is expected to intersect the mineralised system at Havieron near to historical drill holes HAC9101 and HAC9201. Drill core will be subject to several analytical methods and geophysical measurements to produce a comprehensive suite of data to determine the type of mineralisation at Havieron and to evaluate grades of gold and copper and other elements. All approvals for drilling have been received from the relevant government authorities (Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety). Drilling is scheduled to commence in April 2018.

Additional information on the Havieron, Paterson Range East and Black Hills licences can be found on the Company web site at www.greatlandgold.com/projects.

Competent Person:

Information in this announcement that relates to exploration results is based on information compiled by Mr Callum Baxter, a director of Greatland Gold plc, who is a member of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and Australian Institute of Geoscientists. Mr Baxter has sufficient experience relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity which has been undertaken to qualify as a Competent Person as defined by the 2012 Edition of the Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves (the JORC Code) and under the AIM Rules - Note for Mining and Oil & Gas Companies. Mr Baxter consents to the inclusion in the announcement of the matters based on their information in the form and context in which it appears.

Enquiries:

Greatland Gold PLC

Callum Baxter/Gervaise Heddle

Tel: [phone]

Email:  [e-mail]

www.greatlandgold.com

SPARK Advisory Partners Limited (Nominated Adviser)

Mark Brady/Andrew Emmott/James Keeshan

Tel: [phone]

SI Capital Limited (Broker)

Nick Emerson

Tel:  [phone]

Luther Pendragon (Media and Investor Relations)

Harry Chathli/Ana Ribeiro/Alexis Gore

Tel: [phone]

Notes for Editors:

Greatland Gold plc (AIM: GGP) is a London listed natural resource exploration and development company with a current focus on gold, nickel and cobalt exploration projects.  

The Company has six main projects; four situated in Western Australia and two in Tasmania.  All projects are 100% owned by Greatland or Greatland has the right to take 100% ownership.

Greatland is seeking to identify large mineral deposits in areas that have not been subject to extensive exploration previously.  It is widely recognised that the next generation of large deposits will come from such under-explored areas and Greatland is applying advanced exploration techniques to investigate a number of carefully selected targets within its focused licence portfolio.

The Company is also actively investigating a range of new opportunities in precious and strategic metals and will update the market on new opportunities as and when appropriate.

 

 

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