Update re Ferensola Gold Project

RNS Number : 2583R

Sula Iron & Gold PLC

08 December 2016

 

8 December 2016

Sula Iron & Gold plc

("Sula" or the "Company")

Ferensola Gold Project - Re-sampling of Additional Historic Drill Core Yields Positive Results with Increased Evidence of Near Surface High Grade Oxide Mineralisation

Sula (AIM: SULA), the multi-commodity exploration company focused on Sierra Leone, is pleased to announce that additional samples taken from historic drill core have yielded further positive results, with one oxide sample returning an assay of 28.9g/t Au.

Highlights:

·   28.9g/t Au returned from an oxide sample within the historic drill hole SDD001 for the interval from 13.6m to 14.3m.

·   1.64g/t Au returned from an oxide sample within the historic drill hole SDD001 for the interval from 35.3m to 36.3m.

·   Historic oxide assay result of 1.72g/t Au over 6.45m from hole SDD013 confirmed through the re-sampling.

·   1.26g/t Au returned from a fresh sulphide sample within the historic drill hole SDD004 for the interval from 108.3m to 109.3m.

·   Increased evidence of high grade near surface oxide mineralisation.

In early November 2016, samples were collected from historic drill core remaining on site and which was drilled prior to Sula's ownership of the Ferensola project's licence.  Whilst the quality of the samples collected was deemed poor, due to core box degradation over time, the samples were collected with the objective of assessing further zones of potential mineralisation and in order to extract the maximum amount of information from the historic core. As such, all visible fresh sulphide zones and potential oxidised mineralisation zones were sampled.

In total, 25 samples were collected from historic drillholes which were drilled towards the northwest and which are now known to be sub-parallel to the actual dip of the mineralised shear zones identified by Sula. The sample results received serve to, further highlight the potential of the Ferensola Gold Project with increasing evidence of high grade near surface oxide mineralisation.

All samples were analysed by way of fire assay at ALS Laboratories in Ireland.

Roger Murphy, Sula's CEO, commented:

"It is very pleasing that what was planned largely as a confirmatory exercise has yielded some exceptionally positive results pointing towards exciting gold grades within the project's weathered oxide zone. This represents an opportunity for an early start on a near surface deposit that will enhance the project's economics. We will re-examine a potential oxide exploration programme as the planned drilling programme, due to commence in the New Year, unfolds." 

For more detailed information, refer to "Sula's Historical Sampling Programme" below.

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information under the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014.

For further information, please visit www.sulaironandgold.com or contact the following:

Sula Iron & Gold plc Roger Murphy (CEO)	[phone]
Strand Hanson Limited (Financial and Nominated Adviser) James Harris / Mathew Chandler / James Dance	[phone]
VSA Capital Limited (Broker) Andrew Raca	[phone]

Notes:

Sula is a multi-commodity exploration company focused on Sierra Leone. The Company's main objective is to explore and advance its 153km² Ferensola Project in Northern Sierra Leone, which is highly prospective for gold, iron ore and coltan. In December 2014, the Company achieved a corporate milestone in delivering its JORC MRE for the BIF 1 iron ore project. A total resource of 514.5Mt @ 31.8% Fe was identified and total oxide resource of 55.5Mt @ 45.39% Fe. In July 2015, the Company defined a JORC Exploration Target on its Ferensola Gold Project. The Exploration Target centres on Sanama Hill, with a tonnage range of between 5 and 7 million tonnes ("Mt"), grading at between 4 and 8 g/t Au, which equates to between 0.8 and 1.5 million ounces ("Moz") Au. The Exploration Target was restricted to a 2km strike length segment of the regional fold belt that is believed to extend for over 10km.

The information in this release that relates to Exploration Results has been reviewed by Mr Howard Baker, Non-Executive Technical Director of Sula. Mr Baker is a Chartered Professional Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (Membership Number 224239) and a Competent Person as defined by the rules of International Reporting Codes that are aligned with CRIRSCO.

Mr Baker therefore has sufficient experience that is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity being undertaken to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2012 Edition of the 'Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration targets, Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves', also known as the JORC Code and as a qualified person under the AIM Rules for Companies. The JORC code is a national reporting organisation that is aligned with CRIRSCO. Mr Baker consents to the inclusion in this announcement of the matters based on his information in the form and context in which they appear.

Sula's Historical Sampling Programme

Figures 1 to  3 show the locations of the various samples being reported herein with Figure 1 showing the location of the 28.9g/t Au and 1.64g/t Au samples located to the north of the Sanama Hill drill site. The samples are for intervals from between 13.6m to 14.3m and 35.3m to 36.3m respectively and further demonstrate the potential for high grade oxide mineralisation that exists across the Project's licence area. It should be noted that drilling to date has focussed on the fresh sulphide mineralisation and it is becoming increasingly evident that potential exists for near surface high grade oxide mineralisation, as supported by drill results, regional grab samples, trench samples and extensive artisanal workings.

http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/2583R_-2016-12-7.pdf

Figure 1: Location of 28.9g/t Au and 1.64g/t Au oxide samples

Figure 2 shows the location of the 1.26g/t Au sample from historic drill hole SDD004, being partially sampled by SRK Consulting (UK) Ltd as part of its JORC compliant Exploration Target announced in June 2015. The sample shows additional potential mineralisation and correlates to the modelled strands of mineralisation that dip sub-parallel to the orientation of the historic drill holes.

http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/2583R_1-2016-12-7.pdf

Figure 2: Location of 1.26g/t Au fresh sulphide sample

Figure 3 shows the location of the historic assay result of 1.72g/t Au over a reported 6.45m interval within hole SDD013. Sula re-sampled a 15m interval overlapping the historic assay result with a returned grade of 0.85g/t Au. As such, and given the quality of the sample collected by Sula, it is believed that the original historic assay result is more reliable and considered to be valid. It is observed that the oxide sample taken correlates with Sula's trench assays and a portion of the TZ4 Induced Polarisation (IP) anomaly further validating the IP anomaly as potentially hosting a sulphide bearing system.

http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/2583R_2-2016-12-7.pdf

Figure 3: Location of 1.72g/t Au oxide sample

Oxide Potential

Sula is continuing to increase its level of data from within the oxide zone at its Ferensola Gold Project with grab samples, the historically reported RAB samples, Sula's trenching samples and core samples showing the high-grade nature of the near surface oxide zone. Table 1 below summarises all samples collected from within the oxide zones that returned an assay result of more than 0.5g/t Au.

Drilling has shown that the oxide cap is approximately 50m thick although critically, drilling completed to date by Sula has focused on the underlying fresh mineralisation to determine the controlling structures for the project. Drilling does not directly overlay the high-grade system identified. Nevertheless, 10 core samples have now been recovered from within the oxide zone that return a length weighted grade of 3.4g/t Au with trenching and RAB samples showing weighted average grades of 2.6g/t Au and 2.8g/t Au respectively.  Regional grab samples show an average grade of 9.7g/t Au.

The increasing quantity of available data from within the oxide zone, coupled with the extensive potential mineralised strike length identified through the recent IP survey and visible gold reported from crushed and panned samples from the TZ2 Eastern Target, provides increased confidence in the presence of extensive potential near surface high grade oxide mineralisation.

Table 1: Summary of all Oxide Samples collected to date

Sample Type	Au (g/t)	Min (g/t Au)	Max (g/t Au)	Count
Grab Samples	9.7	0.7	69.2	27
Historic RAB*	2.8	0.5	7.4	3
Sula Trenching Samples*	2.6	0.6	5.8	9
Core Samples*	3.4	0.8	28.9	10

*length weighted

** Ends **

 

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