Clogau-St David's Gold Mine Update

RNS Number : 9984K

Alba Mineral Resources PLC

08 January 2021

 

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Alba Mineral Resources plc

("Alba" or the "Company")

Clogau-St David's Gold Mine Update

Alba Mineral Resources plc (AIM: ALBA) is pleased to provide an update on the Company's Clogau-St David's Gold Mine ("Mine").  

Key Points

· Surface drilling has recommenced

· Processing of small bulk sample at a third-party processing facility has validated the Company's process flowsheet and confirmed the production of a 20.7 grams per tonne gold concentrate

·     The Company's dedicated pilot processing plant is expected to be operational in the week commencing 11 January 2021 and to continue throughout Q1 2021

George Frangeskides, Alba's Executive Chairman, commented : "We are very pleased to report that the independent bench-scale testing has validated our process flow-sheet for Clogau ore, as well as confirming the production of a gold concentrate with good recoveries of gold to concentrate.  This gives us great encouragement as we near the commencement of operation of our own dedicated pilot processing plant."

"Surface drilling has restarted after the Christmas break.  While drill hole LL004 encountered difficult ground, this is part and parcel of exploration drilling.  As announced on 21 December 2020, we now move onto the planned deeper holes, LL005 and LL006, to test the depth extent of the new vein system which we believe we have identified in holes LL001-003, each of which intersected significant quartz veins some 30 metres below the deepest previously worked zone at the Llechfraith mine area."

Surface Drilling

The Company's Phase 1 Surface Drilling campaign at the Mine has recommenced.  Drill hole LL004 was drilled to 62.4 metres, but due to difficult ground conditions encountered, the end of the hole was called before the hole had intersected the expected quartz zone.  The Company's drilling contractors are currently preparing the drill collar for LL005.  The trajectory of LL005 will be steeper (-55°) to obtain a deeper lode intersection around 20 metres below the intersections obtained in LL001-003.

Pilot Processing Plant

Final minor adjustments and tests are being carried out in respect of the Company's pilot gold processing plant, and the Company accordingly expects to be able to commence processing the ~36 tonne bulk sample collected in September-October 2020 in the week commencing 11 January 2021.

A small amount of bulk sample material was sent by the Company to an independent laboratory for bench-scale testing, in order to validate the process flowsheet which has been designed by the Company for ore having the particular characteristics of Clogau ore.  The Company is pleased to report that the bench-scale testing was successful.  In particular:

· good gold recoveries were achieved, with 78.06% of the total gold content being captured in the Gravity concentrate plus Concentrate 1 of the Gravity tailings fractions; and

· a gold concentrate was produced, grading 20.7 grams per tonne.

The Company is pleased to confirm, therefore, that the independent bench-scale testwork undertaken has confirmed that a gold concentrate can be produced from the bulk sample with good recoveries of gold to concentrate.

Processing of the bulk sample at the Company's pilot processing plant is expected to be ongoing throughout much of Q1 2021.  The Company does not expect to be in a position to release results until all processing has been completed and the results have been verified.

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of EU Regulation 596/2014.

Forward Looking Statements

This announcement contains forward-looking statements relating to expected or anticipated future events and anticipated results that are forward-looking in nature and, as a result, are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, such as general economic, market and business conditions, competition for qualified staff, the regulatory process and actions, technical issues, new legislation, uncertainties resulting from potential delays or changes in plans, uncertainties resulting from working in a new political jurisdiction, uncertainties regarding the results of exploration, uncertainties regarding the timing and granting of prospecting rights, uncertainties regarding the timing and granting of regulatory and other third party consents and approvals, uncertainties regarding the Company's or any third party's ability to execute and implement future plans, and the occurrence of unexpected events. 

Without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, uncertainties also exist in connection with the ongoing Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic which may result in further lockdown measures and restrictions being imposed by Governments and other competent regulatory bodies and agencies from time to time in response to the pandemic, which measures and restrictions may prevent or inhibit the Company from executing its work activities according to the timelines set out in this announcement or indeed from executing its work activities at all. The Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic may also affect the Company's ability to execute its work activities due to personnel and contractors testing positive for COVID-19 or otherwise being required to self-isolate from time to time.

Actual results achieved may vary from the information provided herein as a result of numerous known and unknown risks and uncertainties and other factors.

Competent Person Declaration

The information in this release that relates to Exploration Results has been reviewed by Mr Mark Austin. Mr Austin is a member of SACNASP (Reg. No. 400235/06), Fellow of The Geological Society and Fellow of the Geological Society of South Africa. He has a B.Sc. Honours in Geology with 38 years' experience.

Mark Austin 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. The JORC code is a national reporting organisation that is aligned with CRIRSCO. Mr Austin consents to the inclusion in the announcement of the matters based on his information in the form and context in which they appear.

Glossary

Lode:  a deposit of metalliferous ore that fills a fissure.

Quartz Veins:   a distinct sheet-like body dominantly composed of quartz hosted within a rock formation.

For further information, please contact:

Alba Mineral Resources plc George Frangeskides, Executive Chairman	[phone]
Cairn Financial Advisers LLP (Nomad)  James Caithie / Liam Murray	[phone]
ETX Capital (Broker) Thomas Smith	[phone]

Alba's Project and Investment Portfolio

Project (commodity)	Location	Ownership
Mining Projects
Amitsoq (graphite)	Greenland	90%
Clogau (gold)	Wales	90%
Gwynfynydd (gold)	Wales	100%
Inglefield (copper, cobalt, gold)	Greenland	100%
Limerick (zinc-lead)	Ireland	100%
Melville Bay (iron ore)	Greenland	51%
TBS (ilmenite)	Greenland	100%
Oil & Gas Investments
Brockham (oil)	England	5%
Horse Hill (oil)	England	11.765%

 

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DRLUBARRASUARUR