Commencement of Drilling at Magura Neagra and P...

Vast Resources plc / Ticker: VAST / Index: AIM / Sector: Mining

19 November 2018

Vast Resources plc
(“Vast” or the “Company”)

Commencement of Drilling at Magura Neagra and Piciorul Zimbrului

Vast Resources plc, the AIM-listed mining company with operating mines in Romania and Zimbabwe, is pleased to announce that surface exploration drilling has commenced at the Magura Neagra and Piciorul Zimbrului prospecting licences (collectively Zagra) in northern Romania in which Vast has a minimum 90% interest.  A detailed update on Zagra was given in the Company’s announcement of 17 October 2017.  Drilling at Zagra was part of the Company’s planned expenditure as detailed in the Open Offer announcement of 21 November 2017, and reference was made to the planned drilling programme in Q4 2018 in the Strategic Report contained in the Company’s Annual Report announced on 28 September 2018.

Overview

• 4,000m surface diamond drilling campaign commenced at Zagra
• Previous exploration has demonstrated both licences' prospectivity for polymetallic mineralisation:
  • Previously reported estimates by the Romanian state exploration company, IPEG Cluj, have indicated an exploration target (non-JORC compliant) of up to 3,000Mt of ore to a depth of 600m, at grades ranging from 0.4% copper ("Cu") and 0.3g/t gold ("Au") up to 0.8% Cu and 0.5g/t Au at Magura Neagra
  • Six veins associated copper and gold mineralisation previously identified at Piciorul Zimbrului through underground development
• Drilling campaign expected to be complete by the end of December 2018
• All core samples will be submitted to the ALS laboratories located in Rosia Montana for copper, lead, zinc, molybdenum, gold and silver assays

Commenting, Andrew Prelea said, “Magura Neagra and Piciorul Zimbrului are important components of our evolving and expanding global inventory of resource assets.  Although further behind in the development curve when compared to the already producing nearby Manaila mine, or our near term production assets at Baita Plai and brownfield Blueberry, the licences are highly compelling by virtue of the historic assessments conducted by the previous state exploration company which pointed to both licences demonstrating sufficient size and scale to warrant a comprehensive exploration campaign.  I look forward to advancing these assets over the coming months as we begin to get an impression of the resource potential of Magura Neagra and Piciorul Zimbrului and continue in our strategy to become a mid-tier producer in the region.

“Talks are advancing with institutional investors and the completion of the prospecting drilling campaign is essential to ensure securing the Exploration Licence in H1 2019.  This is a vital step to concluding the transaction.”

Further Information

Located in the Zagra-Telciu area in Bistrita-Nasaud County of Romania, the 21km² Magura Neagra licence and the 10km² Piciorul Zimbrului licence are adjacent to one another and are approximately 110km from Vast’s producing Manaila Polymetallic Mine by road.

Magura Neagra Polymetallic Licence

Initial drilling is being undertaken within the Magura Neagra licence area, targeting sets of polymetallic veins together with areas of disseminated sulphide mineralisation.  The mineralisation is associated with areas of intense silicification and is hosted within silicified sandstones spatially related to a quartz diorite.

Historical prospecting activities undertaken by the state exploration company IPEG Cluj during the period 1986-1993, identified five polymetallic veins ranging in widths from 0.30m-5.00m, together with an 800-metre-long zone of disseminated sulphide mineralisation which was intersected in an underground drive accessed by means of a surface adit (Gallery 47).  The underground drives are developed from elevations ranging between 972m amsl-1,340m amsl representing a vertical extent or exposure of 368m. 

A spatial analysis of the vein system, areas of intense silicification and occurrences of disseminated mineralisation may indicate the possible presence of a porphyry copper type mineralising system together with mineralised veins containing gold, silver, molybdenum, lead and zinc.

Porphyry style copper mineralisation appears to be associated with the vein systems, and with areas of intensely silicified sandstones with disseminated sulphide impregnations.  Initial estimates, by the Romanian state exploration company IPEG Cluj, related to the porphyry style mineralisation, have indicated an exploration target (non-JORC compliant) of up to 3,000Mt of ore to a depth of 600m, at grades ranging from 0.4% copper ("Cu") and 0.3g/t gold ("Au") up to 0.8% Cu and 0.5g/t Au.  The exploration team surmised that at a 10% conversion ratio from exploration target to a mineral reserve, the reserves may total 300Mt of ore and place it above the current operations of Cuprumin at Rosia Poieni.

The current drill campaign will comprise 2,000 metres of diamond drilling which will focus on the five previously identified veins at Magura Neagra.

Piciorul Zimbrului Polymetallic Licence

Previous exploration activities, conducted by IPEG Cluj, the former state exploration company, included 1,200m of underground development and underground diamond drilling, along with 862m surface diamond drilling and geological mapping over an area of 4.0km².  Several trenches and pits totalling 238m and 3,484m³ were excavated on surface.

This work identified a total of six veins, with associated copper and gold mineralisation along an underground drive developed for 820m at an elevation of 835m above mean sea level ("amsl").

A further two veins with associated polymetallic mineralisation were investigated with an additional two veins exhibiting gold, silver, and antimony mineralisation, which were encountered in the underground development at an elevation of +950m amsl.

All the veins are hosted within Paleocene sandstones and the full extent of the veins has not been defined. Mention is made in literature of exploration activities undertaken in 1981 for disseminated porphyry copper in the silicified sandstones.

The current drill campaign will comprise 2,000 metres of diamond drilling which will focus on the six previously identified veins at Piciorul Zimbrului.

Zagra is a ‘Joint Asset’ of which Andrew Prelea is entitled to a 10% interest as referred to in the Company’s announcement of 1 March 2018 following his appointment to the Company as a director.  As therein stated, in order to eliminate conflicts of interest it was and remains the intention of both the Company and Andrew Prelea to negotiate terms under which Andrew Prelea’s interests in the Joint Assets are exchanged for special option rights to acquire shares in the Company subject to approval by shareholders of the Company at a General Meeting.

General

The Company’s quarterly production summary and operating update for the quarter ended 30 September 2018 will be announced shortly.

Qualified Person

The information in this report that relates to Exploration Targets, Exploration Results, Mineral Resources or Ore Reserves is based on information compiled by Mr Craig Harvey, the Chief Operating Officer for Vast and a full-time employee and Director of the Company.  Mr Harvey is a Competent Person who is a Member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists and of the Geological Society of South Africa, a Recognised Professional Organisation included in a list that is posted on the ASX website from time to time.

Mr Harvey 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 Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves'. Mr Harvey consents to the inclusion in the report of the matters based on his information in the form and context in which it appears.

**ENDS**

For further information, visit www.vastresourcesplc.com or please contact:

Vast Resources plc Andrew Prelea (Chief Executive Officer)	www.vastresourcesplc.com [phone]
Beaumont Cornish - Financial & Nominated Adviser  Roland Cornish  James Biddle	www.beaumontcornish.com [phone]
Brandon Hill Capital Ltd – Joint Broker Jonathan Evans	www.brandonhillcapital.com [phone]
SVS Securities Plc – Joint Broker  Tom Curran Ben Tadd	www.svssecurities.com  [phone]
St Brides Partners Ltd Susie Geliher Juliet Earl	www.stbridespartners.co.uk  [phone]

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014 (“MAR”).

Notes

Vast Resources plc is an AIM listed mining and resource development company focussed on the rapid advancement of high-quality brownfield projects and recommencing production at previously producing mines in Romania and Zimbabwe.

Vast Resources currently owns and operates the Manaila Polymetallic Mine in Romania, which was commissioned in 2015, and is focussed on its expansion through the development of a second open pit operation and new metallurgical complex at the Carlibaba Extension Area.  The Company’s Romanian portfolio also includes interests in two brownfield development projects; the Baita Plai Polymetallic Mine (80% interest), which has a reported 1,800,000-tonne copper-silver-zinc-lead-gold-tungsten-molybdenum ore body at 6% copper equivalent (Russian Reserves and Resources Reporting System) within the mining licence area; and the Blueberry Project (29.41% interest), a 7.285km² brownfield area of prospectivity in the Golden Quadrilateral of Romania located in the immediate vicinity of the now closed Baia de Aries mine.

The Company also has interests in a number of projects in Zimbabwe including a controlling 25 per cent. interest in the producing Pickstone-Peerless Gold Mine, a 23.75% economic interest in the Eureka Gold Mine, and an 86.67% interest in a SPV which has a due diligence access agreement and pre-agreed joint venture terms on a diamond concession within the Marange Diamond Fields, widely considered to be one of the richest sources of alluvial diamonds globally.