Haneti Project - Drill Mobilisation

RNS Number : 7940F

Katoro Gold PLC

19 November 2020

 

Katoro Gold plc (Incorporated in England and Wales)

( Registration Number: 9306219)

Share code on AIM: KAT

ISIN: GB00BSNBL022

("Katoro" or "the Company")

 

19 November 2020

Katoro Gold plc ('Katoro' or the 'Company')

HANETI PROJECT - DRILL MOBILISATION

Katoro Gold plc (AIM:       KAT) ("Katoro"), the AIM listed   gold and nickel exploration and development company, is pleased to provide an update confirming mobilisation of the maiden drill programme targeting the discovery of nickel and platinum group metals ('PGM') at the Haneti Nickel Project ('Haneti') in Tanzania.

Katoro holds a 65% ownership interest in Haneti with the remaining 35% held by Power Metal Resources plc (LON:POW) ('Power Metal').

HIGHLIGHTS:

· Drill contract signed with Amazon Drilling Limited, Morogoro, Tanzania.

· All phases of pre - deployment activity, notably liaison and coordination with the Ministry of Mining as well as the relevant regional local and village authorities, conducted and completed.  Katoro thanks the Ministry, all authorities and the communities for their help and support.

· Drilling rig and supporting personnel and equipment fully prepared and now mobilising to the first drill location subject to any changes in COVID-19 restrictions.

· Maiden drill programme will involve 2,000 metres of Rotary Air Blast ('RAB') drilling with a planned 50 holes to circa 40 metres depth.

· The RAB holes will be drilled on profiles across the three target areas in order to provide enhanced information of the subsurface shape and orientation of the ultramafic bodies being targeted and to allow for the optimisation of a planned follow-on diamond drill programme.

· Katoro's pro-rata cost contribution in respect of the programme is fully covered from existing cash resources.

Louis Coetzee, Chairman of Katoro Gold plc, commented: "We believe that Haneti holds significant potential to host a world class nickel deposit within a previously identified 80 km long ultramafic complex. Previous exploration work in this complex delivered nickel values as high as 13.6% and 2.33 g/t combined platinum and palladium. It is therefore very positive to have the drill rig moving to the first location ready for launch of this maiden Haneti drill programme.  Further updates will be provided in the near future."

HANETI PROJECT - NICKEL SULPHIDE AND PGM TARGETS - FURTHER INFORMATION

PROJECT OVERVIEW

The Haneti Nickel Project covers an area of approximately 5,000 km² in central Tanzania approximately 88 km north of the capital city Dodoma. It comprises tenements (prospecting licences, offers and applications) prospective for nickel, PGMs and gold.

One of the key exploration objectives for the JV partners at Haneti is to delineate the potential for economic nickel mineralisation on the linear dyke-like, Haneti-Itiso Ultramafic Complex ('HIUC'), which sporadically crops out over a strike length of 80 km through the centre of the tenement holding. The HIUC mainly comprises serpentinites (metamorphosed ultrabasic rocks such as dunite and peridotite), with metabasic rocks such as metagabbro and metadolerite and is being targeted for a Chonolith-Type Nickel exploration model.

RAB DRILL PROGRAMME

An initial three target areas have been selected for RAB drilling: Milhanza Hill; Mwaka Hill; and Igari Hill. These targets are based on the recommendations of the 2012 AEM survey, the detailed field programme undertaken in 2013, and further supplementary exploration findings.

The planned 2,000 m RAB drilling programme will consist of approximately 50 holes drilled on linear fences across the targets. The programme will seek to verify the existence of near surface nickel sulphide mineralisation at each target whilst increasing the geological understanding such that the orientation and the meterage of a planned follow-up diamond drill programme can be optimised to confirm the scale of any nickel sulphide mineralisation.

The drilling will be conducted by an experienced Tanzanian company in line with international best practice and in accordance to health and safety and COVID-19 precautions.

HISTORIC NICKEL EXPLORATION

The Haneti area was first explored in 1931 by a private prospector who collected a nickel‐rich magnetite sample at Mihanza Hill. Later trenching uncovered a few discontinuous green‐stained veins rich in nickel‐silicates and containing several percent nickel.

In the early 1960s the Geological Survey of Tanzania carried out mapping, pitting, soil sampling, trenching and rock chip sampling of ultramafic outcrops on the Zoani, Mindii and Mihanza hills, within the HIUC belt. 

Further geological mapping and sampling was undertaken in 2006, 2007 and 2013.

An airborne electromagnetic ('AEM') geophysics survey was completed over the Mihanza and Mwaka Hill anomalies in 2012 with further geophysics flown in 2015.

A study commissioned with a consultant expert in ultramafic geochemistry in 2015 identified the nickel, copper, platinum, palladium anomaly at Mihanza Hill as a drill ready target. This report suggested that the Itiso‐Haneti Ultramafic body may fit the Chonolith-Type Nickel exploration model which would imply that the main ultramafic belt may have small discrete sulphide bodies associated with it.

In 2019, a number of soil samples collected during the 2013 exploration programme were sent for analysis and the results confirmed the existing knowledge base and also identified a new ultramafic subcrop.

**ENDS**

For further information please visit www.katorogold.com or contact:

Louis Coetzee	[e-mail]	Katoro Gold plc	Executive Chairman
Bhavesh Patel Andrew Thomson	[phone]	RFC Ambrian Limited	Nominated Advisor
Nick Emmerson Sam Lomanto	[phone]	SI Capital Ltd	Broker
Isabel de Salis Beth Melluish	[phone]	St Brides Partners Ltd	Investor and Media Relations Adviser

 

END

 

 

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