Victoria Goldfields – Berringa Drilling Results

Power Metal Resources PLC

05 May 2023

 

5 May 2023

Power Metal Resources PLC

("Power Metal" or the "Company")

Victoria Goldfields Australia - Berringa Drilling Results

Assay Results Return Gold from all Drillholes; Confirms Down-Dip and Along-Strike Extension of Mineralised Quartz Reefs

Power Metal Resources PLC (LON:POW), the London listed exploration company seeking large-scale metal discoveries across its global project portfolio announces an exploration update from the Company's Berringa Gold Mine Project ("Berringa" or the "Project"), which forms part of the Victorian Goldfields joint-venture ("JV") located in Victoria, Australia.

On 15 March 2023 the Company issued an update regarding the completion of the 2022/2023 drilling campaign at Berringa. The link to this announcement can be found below:

https://www.londonstockexchange.com/news-article/POW/victoria-goldfields-australia-drilling-update/15877022

HIGHLIGHTS:

Programme Highlights	Explanation
Drilling Overview	The Diamond Drilling programme consisted of 988 metres in six drillholes, four of which encountered visible gold mineralisation.
Extensive Gold Confirmed	All drillholes returning gold mineralisation in laboratory assay test results. Multiple gold (Au) mineralised intersections were encountered including drillhole BE23D002 which returned 5.2m at 2.38g/t Au including 0.2m at 34.76g/t Au, and BE23D006 which returned 3.5m at 5.43g/t Au including 0.7m at 23.9g/t Au.
The "Nugget Effect"	Variability in grade was experienced due to "nugget effect" typical of the area, and this led to changes in the sampling protocol. Additional drilling will be needed to determine a representative grade.
Key Objectives Met	Key objectives of this drill programme have been met with drilling successfully intersecting the down dip and along strike extensions of previously mined Berringa gold mineralised quartz reefs. As the gold is hosted in the quartz reef the identification of a larger volumes of quartz reef is a positive development.
Extensive Quartz Reef Confirmed in Final Hole	The final drillhole (BE23D006) intersected a more than 30-metre-wide quartz reef intersection approximately 100 metres east of the main Berringa line of workings. The hole was ended while still in mineralisation and so is open at depth.
Next Steps	The programme has enabled the partners to gain a better understanding of the structure of the historic Berringa gold mine and this work will be further advanced as the results continue to be analysed and related to historical data. The partners will then announce the next phase of exploration.

Sean Wade, Chief Executive Officer of Power Metal Resources PLC commented:

"It is very pleasing to be able to report another good set of drill results, which clearly show us meeting our key objectives. We have added substantial value to the project through this programme, in particular a significant improvement in the structural understanding of Berringa. Nugget gold, whilst extremely exciting, is hard to establish with limited drilling and an enhanced programme will be needed to establish a reliable grade. It has long been our intention to fund such further exploration through an IPO, and this set of results allows us to set about that intention with renewed vigour."

FURTHER INFORMATION

Highlight Assay Results

Hole ID	Hole Length (m)	Interval (Au)	Incl.
BE23D001	431.5	1.4m @ 0.25g/t  from 381m
		0.3m @ 0.83g/t  from 389.45m
		0.2m @ 3.61g/t from 421m
BE23D002	107.4	5.2m @ 2.38g/t  from 88.9m	0.25m @ 34.76g/t
BE23D003	119.5	1.7m @ 1.89g/t  from 105m	0.25m @ 8.74g/t
		1.65m @ 0.88g/t  from 111m
BE23D004	77.4	0.9m @ 0.86g/t  from 2m
		1m @ 0.54g/t  from 39.4m
BE23D005	94.8	0.4m @ 0.62g/t  from 73.6m
BE23D006	158.1	0.7m @ 1.5g/t  from 130.4m
		3.5m @ 5.43g/t  from 133m	0.2m @ 23.9g/t
		4.9m @ 1.09g/t from 140m
		3.9m @ 1.62g/t from 153.6m	0.7m @ 7.49g/t

Programme Overview

Drill programme assay results from the Company's inaugural diamond drilling campaign at its historical Berringa mine Project located in Victoria, Australia, have confirmed extensions of gold mineralised lodes within the main reef systems.

The limited programme was specifically designed to test three potential sites for further evaluation and has exceeded expectations with visible gold identified in 4 of the 6 holes drilled.

All targets tested have proved the mineralised quartz lode systems are continuous and open down plunge and along strike.  All zones require further diamond drilling to build on the early success and work towards possible Resource definition. 

Gaining access to the mine through an historical adit has also become a high priority to enable a bulk sampling of the Berringa syndicate lode for preliminary metallurgical test work. This will accelerate the process to recommence gold mining at the historical mine site. This work is ongoing subject to regulatory requirements and approvals from the State Government regulator.

Geological Interpretations

South Birthday Zone - Drillhole BE23D001

A single long drillhole, BE23D001, was completed targeting a possible extension of the west-dipping lode in the South Birthday Zone, and investigating possible similarities with the reef system currently mined at Ballarat 20km to the east. BE23D001 successfully intersected a fault structure of approximately 9 metres in width which extends the west dipping lode over 50 meters further down plunge from the last known stope.

Geological logging of the core identified predominantly massive quartz veining with sphalerite, galena, pyrite and minor arsenopyrite.  The quartz reef has a hanging wall contact marked by a laminated quartz vein and overall the lode closely resembles the Ballarat mine reef system.    

The hole ended in sandstone and not the expected black shale, and computer modelling based upon detailed lithological core logging will assist in determining where and at what depth the historically gold rich intersections typically found within black shales may sit in the South Birthday Zone.

Berringa Syndicate Zone - Drillholes BE23002 & BE23003

Near the centre of the licence area, located approximately 1.5km north of BE23D001, drilling at the Berringa Syndicate Zone, which historically produced at 7-8 g/t, returned positive results including minor fine visible gold within a well-defined lode structure.

This unmined zone was identified in the late 1980s from sampling in underground drives and adits with BE23002 and BE23003 being the first drillholes to test this zone. Downhole quartz vein intersections included intervals of 9m and 14m with abundant quartz near the footwall and hanging wall contact.

Kangaroo Zone - BE23004, BE23005 & BE23006

Located due east of the Berringa Syndicate Zone, the Kangaroo Zone was tested by drillholes BE23D004,005 and 006. This underexplored lode system has no surface expression. 

Identification of a potential mineralised reef was made from an old plan map of underground workings. Only a single crosscut pushed from the historical Kangaroo mine towards the east which successfully intersected a mineralized structure.  It is unclear if any stoping took place.

BE23004 and BE23005 drill tested the northern extension of the possible structure with BE23004 potentially intersecting a cross-course fault which appeared to have offset mineralisation.  BE23005 also pierced the cross course in a different position but has struck part of a lode structure on the north side of the fault. It is possible that the estimated location of the underground workings was not yet exact so that drilling may have passed over the top of the lode. Further geological work on the lithological core logging will help to refine the positioning and identify optimal locations on the east lode for future drilling. 

Drillhole BE23006 exceeded expectations, intersecting a broad (over 30m apparent width) mineralised quartz reef structure that had not been known containing minor arsenopyrite, galena, sphalerite.  Visible gold was also identified in the hanging wall contact. Initial interpretation suggests the mineralised zone may be closer to the west than previously considered, and the drilling may have intersected a saddle reef not previously mined. 

This supports the inference of a second (parallel) line of mineralization to the east of the main Berringa line and has substantially increased the prospectivity of the Berringa property overall.

Next steps

Currently the technical team is completing detailed review of all new drillhole data including inputting all geological and structural data into 3D modelling software. Next steps will be determined in due course and the market will be updated once plans have been finalised.

JOINT VENTURE STRUCTURE

The JV is held between Power Metal (49.9%) and its partner, London-listed Red Rock Resources PLC (50.1%) (together the "JV Partners"). 

NBGC has a wholly owned Australian operating subsidiary Red Rock Australasia Pty Ltd ("RRAL") which holds a strong land position comprising seventeen granted exploration licences and one purchased licence for a total area of 1,867km² within the prolific Victorian Goldfields of Victoria, Australia, principally surrounding the mining centre of Ballarat, Australia.

In addition, 2 licences covering 467km² await grant. The JV has carefully assembled its portfolio of properties comprising a broad range from robust exploration targets to near term resource potential, all of which remain largely underexplored by modern explorers.

The JV Partners have the intention of listing the JV company NBGC and will make further announcements as appropriate.

GLOSSARY

Arsenopyrite:    iron arsenic sulphide (FeAsS), a sulphide mineral found in hydrothermal veins and often an indicator of gold presence

Fire assay:           the industry standard method of obtaining gold data from high grade ores by heating a sample in a furnace to separate the gold from other materials present

Galena:                                the natural mineral form of lead sulphide (PbS) typically found in hydrothermal veins

KCN bottle roll: an industry standard test for assessing gold recovery possible by cyanide leaching using potassium cyanide (KCN)

Lode :                    a deposit of metalliferous ore that fills or is embedded in a fissure in a rock formation or a vein of ore that is deposited or embedded between layers of rock, generally formed by deposition from hydrothermal solutions

Pyrite :                  iron disulphide (FeS2), the primary iron sulphide and most abundant sulphide mineral, generally found in association with other sulphides and found in hydrothermal quartz veins and other environments

Sphalerite :         the primary zinc sulphide ((Zn, Fe)S) found in association with other sulphides in a variety of deposit types

QUALIFIED PERSON STATEMENT

The technical information in this report is compiled by David Holden, BSc, MBA, MEM, who is a member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists and the Executive Officer and Exploration Manager of RRAL. He is a member of a recognised professional organisation and has sufficient relevant experience to qualify as a qualified person as defined in the Guidance Note for Mining, Oil and Gas Companies, published by AIM.

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) 596/2014 as it forms part of UK domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 ("MAR"), and is disclosed in accordance with the Company's obligations under Article 17 of MAR.

For further information please visit https://www.powermetalresources.com/ or contact:

Power Metal Resources plc
Sean Wade (Chief Executive Officer)	[phone]
SP Angel Corporate Finance (Nomad and Joint Broker)
Ewan Leggat/Charlie Bouverat	[phone]
SI Capital Limited (Joint Broker)
Nick Emerson	[phone]
First Equity Limited (Joint Broker)
David Cockbill/Jason Robertson	[phone]

NOTES TO EDITORS

Power Metal Resources plc - Background

Power Metal Resources plc (LON:POW) is an AIM listed metals exploration company which finances and manages global resource projects and is seeking large scale metal discoveries.

The Company has a principal focus on opportunities offering district scale potential across a global portfolio including precious, base and strategic metal exploration in North America, Africa and Australia.

Project interests range from early-stage greenfield exploration to later-stage prospects currently subject to drill programmes.

Power Metal will develop projects internally or through strategic joint ventures until a project becomes ready for disposal through outright sale or separate listing on a recognised stock exchange thereby crystallising the value generated from our internal exploration and development work.

Value generated through disposals will be deployed internally to drive the Company's growth or may be returned to shareholders through share buy backs, dividends or in-specie distributions of assets.

 

END