Royalty Portfolio Update: Lake Rebecca Gold

RNS Number : 9064H

Trident Royalties PLC.

09 August 2021

 

9 August 2021

Trident Royalties Plc

("Trident" or the "Company")

Royalty Portfolio Update: Lake Rebecca Gold Project Progress

Trident Royalties Plc (AIM:TRR, FSX:5KV), the growth-focused mining royalty and streaming company, is pleased to note recent announcements^{1, 2} by Apollo Consolidated Ltd. ("Apollo") regarding positive progress at the Lake Rebecca Gold Project ("Lake Rebecca" or the "Project"), in Western Australia. Trident holds a 1.5% NSR gold royalty (the "Lake Rebecca Gold Royalty" or the "Royalty") over the entirety of the Project.

Following Apollo's release of the April 2021 JORC (2012) compliant Mineral Resource Estimate ("MRE") update³ for 1.105 Moz gold, ongoing drilling has continued to generate significant gold intersections whilst technical evaluation studies progress.

Apollo recently delivered an informative presentation² at the Diggers & Dealers Mining Forum in Perth, Australia.  This provides a detailed overview of the project status together with useful deposit plans and sections.

Adam Davidson, Chief Executive Officer of Trident commented:

"We are pleased to note Apollo's recent announcements concerning developments at the Lake Rebecca Gold Project, over which Trident holds a 1.5% Net Smelter Royalty.

Drilling results continue to support the prospect of further increasing gold resources, to build on the latest update of the Mineral Resource Estimate in April 2021.  Infill and exploration drilling has outlined new mineralised zones both within and outside of the current Rebecca optimised pit shell, with a 75.8m @ 4.64g/t Au metallurgical drill hole intersection demonstrating confidence in the Resource model around the high-grade Jennifer structure. 

We note Apollo's strong cash position and look forward to following developments at the project as the technical studies, resource and exploration drilling continues."

LAKE REBECCA PROJECT UPDATE SUMMARY

· Metallurgical Study Work : Drill hole MET004, a 63.5mm core diameter diamond hole, designed to provide metallurgical testwork material from the Rebecca deposit's high-grade Jennifer structure has delivered an intercept which validates the Mineral Resource ³ block model :

o  MET004: 75.8m @ 4.64g/t Au from 138m, including 9m @ 15.2g/t Au from 175m and 1m @24.1g/t Au from 208m.

Remaining five metallurgical drill holes MET001 (Duke deposit), MET002 & MET003 (Duchess deposit) and MET005 & MET006 (Rebecca deposit) are being processed with assay results expected in the coming weeks.

· Infill & Exploration Drilling : Ongoing exploration and resource definition drilling continues to provide data and new mineralised zones in support of a further Rebecca MRE update.

Shallow infill drilling is upgrading areas within the southern part of the Rebecca optimised pit shell, where gold mineralisation has previously been identified but where drilling was not at a sufficient density to allow a Mineral Resource classification. Step-down drilling in the same area is focussing on delineating deeper gold mineralisation. New drill intercepts include:

o  Inclined infill reverse circulation ("RC") hole RCLR0832: 18m @ 6.93g/t Au from 131m, including 4m@ 15.1g/t Au from 135m. Interpreted to represent a 10m true width intersection of a circa 100m long structure that has not yet been included in the Rebecca MRE.

o  Step-down drill hole RCLR0835: 9m @ 4.22g/t Au, including 1m @ 24.2g/t Au, both from 246m. This hole also intersected additional mineralised structures and ended in mineralisation (20m @ 0.84g/t Au from 280m to end of hole).

New exploration intercepts from elsewhere inside the Rebecca optimised pit include:

o  New hanging-wall structures: exploration RC pre-collars of planned diamond drill holes, have returned new mineralised hanging-wall structures which were not included in the April 2021 MRE, including: RCLR08333: 5m @ 4.12g/t Au from 152m; and RCLR0830: 2m @ 5.32g/t Au from 120m.

o  On the eastern side of the Rebecca deposit, both internal and external to the current pit shell, further footwall mineralisation has been intersected in hole RCLR0831: 10m @ 1.74g/t Au from 140m (inside pit shell) and 10m @ 2.87g/t Au from 170m and 4m @ 1.36g/t Au (both outside the current pit shell).

o  Hydrological test work bore hole RMB04 has intersected unexpected footwall mineralisation (5m @ 4.41g/t Au from 73m) to the east of the Rebecca pit shell opening up a new exploration target.

· Technical Studies : The current status of technical studies to feed into engineering and mine planning options, is summarised in Apollo's recent Diggers & Dealers presentation² :

o  Geotechnical: reporting to prefeasibility study level ("PFS") incorporates data from four dedicated diamond holes.

o  Environmental studies: field flora and fauna work in progress.

o  Metallurgy: six HQ diameter diamond holes completed. Preliminary metallurgical results point to >90% gold recovery for Rebecca mineralisation.

o  Engineering: conducting options analysis for practical pit design and scheduling.

o  Tailings Storage Facility and site design: preliminary layouts established.

o  In-pit Resource definition drilling: ongoing.

o  Licencing and permitting: ongoing.

o  Hydrological study: six dedicated RC water monitor bores cased and flow-tested.

· Apollo reports it is in a good financial position to continue the ongoing exploration and technical studies with A$36.7M in consolidated cash as of 30 June 2021.

The technical details summarised in this announcement are based on technical information compiled by the Competent Persons set out in the referenced Apollo announcements. The complete set of drilling results, plans and sections, reported in accordance with the JORC Code (2012), can also be found in the referenced Apollo announcements.

Royalty Information

Trident announced the completion of the acquisition of the Lake Rebecca Gold Royalty on 29 October 2020. The royalty is payable on production from exploration licence E28/1610 which is currently pending conversion to a mining licence (M28/400, application date 2 December 2019), and covers the entirety of the Cleo, Duke, Duchess and Rebecca deposits which are collectively referred to as the "Lake Rebecca Gold Project." Apollo is aggressively pursuing the development of Lake Rebecca.

Trident considers Lake Rebecca to be a key cornerstone asset for the company and is expected to underpin the precious metals' allocation in Trident's royalty portfolio.

Notes & References

All of the technical information in this release has been extracted from the publicly available source documents identified below, the reader is advised that the appropriate JORC tables and Competent Persons Statements may be found in those documents.

1   Source: Apollo Consolidated ASX announcement. Rebecca metallurgical hole and drilling results, 3 August 2021

( https://app.sharelinktechnologies.com/announcement/asx/2c8038bf0bac312833727566e80a226f )

2   Source: Apollo Consolidated ASX announcement. Diggers and Dealers Presentation,  4 August 2021

( https://app.sharelinktechnologies.com/announcement/asx/55ab173644b1178eee2cd2e184e76c6b )

3   Source: Apollo Consolidated ASX announcement. Resource Update,  20 April 2021

( https://app.sharelinktechnologies.com/announcement/asx/04ecc22b55573422a308f3b215d6522a )

Competent Person's Statement

The technical information contained in this disclosure has been read and approved by Mr Nick O'Reilly (MSc, DIC, MAusIMM, MIMMM, FGS), who is a qualified geologist and acts as the Competent Person under the AIM Rules - Note for Mining and Oil & Gas Companies. Mr O'Reilly is a Principal Consultant working for Mining Analyst Consulting Ltd which has been retained by Trident to provide technical support.

** Ends **

Contact details:

Trident Royalties Plc Adam Davidson	www.tridentroyalties.com [phone]
Grant Thornton (Nominated Adviser) Colin Aaronson / Samantha Harrison / Lukas Girzadas	www.grantthornton.co.uk [phone]
Tamesis Partners LLP (Joint Broker) Richard Greenfield	www.tamesispartners.com [phone]
Shard Capital Partners LLP (Joint Broker) Erik Woolgar / Isabella Pierre	www.shardcapital.com [phone]
St Brides Partners Ltd (Financial PR & IR) Susie Geliher / Catherine Leftley	www.stbridespartners.co.uk [phone]

About Trident

Trident is a growth-focused diversified mining royalty and streaming company, providing investors with exposure to a mix of base and precious metals, bulk materials (excluding thermal coal) and battery metals.

Key highlights of Trident's strategy include:

· Expanding on a royalty and streaming portfolio which broadly mirrors the commodity exposure of the global mining sector (excluding thermal coal) with a bias towards production or near-production assets, differentiating Trident from the majority of peers which are exclusively, or heavily weighted, to precious metals;

· Acquiring royalties and streams in resource-friendly jurisdictions worldwide, while most competitors have portfolios focused on North and South America;

· Targeting attractive small-to-mid size transactions which are often ignored in a sector dominated by large players;

· Active deal-sourcing which, in addition to writing new royalties and streams, will focus on the acquisition of assets held by natural sellers such as: closed-end funds, prospect generators, junior and mid-tier miners holding royalties as non-core assets, and counterparties seeking to monetise packages of royalties and streams which are otherwise undervalued by the market;  

· Maintaining a low-overhead model which is capable of supporting a larger scale business without a commensurate increase in operating costs; and

· Leveraging the experience of management, the board of directors, and Trident's adviser team, all of whom have deep industry connections and strong transactional experience across multiple commodities and jurisdictions.

The acquisition and aggregation of individual royalties and streams is expected to deliver strong returns for shareholders as assets are acquired on terms reflective of single asset risk compared with the lower risk profile of a diversified, larger scale portfolio. Further value is expected to be delivered by the introduction of conservative levels of leverage through debt. Once scale has been achieved, strong cash generation is expected to support an attractive dividend policy, providing investors with a desirable mix of inflation protection, growth and income.

Forward-looking Statements

This news release contains forward ‐ looking information. The statements are based on reasonable assumptions and expectations of management and Trident provides no assurance that actual events will meet management's expectations. In certain cases, forward ‐ looking information may be identified by such terms as "anticipates", "believes", "could", "estimates", "expects", "may", "shall", "will", or "would". Although Trident believes the expectations expressed in such forward ‐ looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected. Mining exploration and development is an inherently risky business. In addition, factors that could cause actual events to differ materially from the forward-looking information stated herein include any factors which affect decisions to pursue mineral exploration on the relevant property and the ultimate exercise of option rights, which may include changes in market conditions, changes in metal prices, general economic and political conditions, environmental risks, and community and non-governmental actions. Such factors will also affect whether Trident will ultimately receive the benefits anticipated pursuant to relevant agreements. This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect any of the forward ‐ looking statements. These and other factors should be considered carefully and readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information.

Third Party Information

As a royalty and streaming company, Trident often has limited, if any, access to non-public scientific and technical information in respect of the properties underlying its portfolio of royalties and investments, or such information is subject to confidentiality provisions. As such, in preparing this announcement, the Company often largely relies upon information provided by or the public disclosures of the owners and operators of the properties underlying its portfolio of royalties, as available at the date of this announcement.

 

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