GGP plans to enter new market with Cobalt Project

RNS Number : 7415H

Greatland Gold PLC

12 June 2017

 

12 June 2017

Dissemination of a Regulatory Announcement that contains inside information according to REGULATION (EU) No 596/2014 (MAR).

Greatland Gold plc

("Greatland" or "the Company")

Greatland Gold plans to enter new market with Panorama Cobalt Project

Greatland Gold plc (AIM:GGP), the precious and base metals exploration and development company, is pleased to announce it has made application for licences covering a large cobalt exploration property in the Pilbara Region of northern Western Australia.

Highlights

·     Greatland has applied for two adjoining exploration licences, covering 130 square kilometres, in an area that Greatland considers to be highly prospective for cobalt (the "Panorama Cobalt Project");

·     The Panorama Cobalt Project, located approximately 200 kilometres south east of Port Hedland, occupies a dominant and strategic position across what is potentially the largest coherent cobalt in streams anomaly in Western Australia;

·     Stream sediment sampling data gathered by Anglo American Corporation in the early 1970s outlined a 25 kilometre long by 10 kilometre wide area of highly anomalous cobalt, but very little exploration work on the project has been carried out since;

·     Greatland will provide further updates to investors as targets are refined and field operations commence.

Strong future growth in the demand for electric cars, renewable energy storage and portable devices such as smart phones and laptops could lead to a dramatic acceleration in the global demand for cobalt. In September 2016, the CRU Group, a commodities research and consultancy firm, estimated that global consumption for refined cobalt is set to reach 100,000 tonnes in 2017 and that demand for cobalt will grow at an average rate of 5% per annum for the next 10 years.

Gervaise Heddle, Chief Executive Officer, commented:  "Cobalt is a vital component in many of the new technologies that are set to reshape the future of the global energy market. Half of the current global supply of cobalt comes from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in Africa and cobalt projects with the ability to scale to meet future global demands are rare, particularly in safe jurisdictions such as Australia.

"We believe that the Panorama Cobalt Project is highly prospective for a large, near surface deposit in an area that has been almost completely ignored by mineral explorers for cobalt for the past forty years. I would like to offer my sincere thanks to Greatland's technical team for their excellent work in identifying, what we believe, could be a considerable opportunity."

Lodgement of the two new licence applications has been confirmed by the Western Australia Mines Department. It should be noted that applications for exploration licences in Western Australia take approximately six months to be granted, but this varies widely depending upon the specific circumstances. Shareholders should be aware that there is no certainty that the exploration licences will be granted. However, the Directors are of the view that it is likely that these licences will be awarded to the Company.

Further information and maps relating to the Panorama Cobalt Project will be made available shortly on the Company web site at www.greatlandgold.com/projects 

Panorama Cobalt Project

Greatland has made application for two adjoining exploration licences in the Pilbara Region of northern Western Australia. The two licences total an area of 130 square kilometres and cover a large area prospective for cobalt mineralisation.

A systematic stream sediment sampling programme was completed over the broader Pilbara Region by Anglo American Corporation in the early 1970s. Samples were collected at a nominal 2km spacing and results from these samples have outlined a large cluster of high cobalt in streams. Stream sediments samples consistently returned over 50ppm cobalt, peaking at over 70ppm cobalt (against a background of less than 5ppm cobalt). The area covered by the anomalous cobalt is potentially the largest coherent cobalt in streams anomaly in Western Australia being more than 25 kilometres long and up to 10km wide covering an area of approximately 200 square kilometres. Greatland's licence applications cover the bulk of the cobalt anomaly.

Geology of the area is predominantly greenstone and granite of the Archean Pilbara Craton in northern Western Australia. The definitive source of the cobalt is not yet known however it is likely to be localised in folding and faulting of the bedrock sequences; similar to other known styles of mineralisation in Archean greenstones elsewhere in the Pilbara displaying drill intercepts with high cobalt of up to 0.99%.

Historically the Pilbara Region is recognised for its gold and base metal mineralisation but apart from the work by Anglo American in the early 1970s very little subsequent exploration work has been carried out within the Panorama project area leaving the cobalt mineralisation untested. The large area of the cobalt in streams anomaly suggests a significant mineralising event has occurred.

Further work on the project will include a review of airborne aeromagnetics and integration of geological and geochemical data. Resultant targets will be subject to geological reconnaissance, soil sampling and rock chip sampling during Q3 2017.

The addition of these licences is in line with the Company's strategy to assess precious and strategic metal opportunities.

Further information on the Panorama Cobalt project will be made available shortly on the Company web site at www.greatlandgold.com/projects

Competent Person:

Information in this announcement that relates to exploration results is based on information compiled by Mr Callum Baxter, a director of Greatland Gold plc, who is a member of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and Australian Institute of Geoscientists. Mr Baxter has sufficient experience relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity which has been undertaken to qualify as a Competent Person as defined by the 2012 Edition of the Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves (the JORC Code) and under the AIM Rules - Note for Mining and Oil & Gas Companies. Mr Baxter consents to the inclusion in the announcement of the matters based on their information in the form and context in which it appears.

Enquiries:

Greatland Gold PLC

Callum Baxter/Gervaise Heddle

Tel [phone]

Email:  [e-mail]

www.greatlandgold.com

SPARK Advisory Partners Limited (Nominated Adviser)

Mark Brady/Sean Wyndham-Quin/James Keeshan

Tel [phone]

SI Capital Limited (Broker)

Nick Emerson / Andy Thacker

Tel  [phone]

Luther Pendragon (Media and Investor Relations)

Harry Chathli/Ana Ribeiro/Alexis Gore

Tel [phone]

Notes for Editors:

Greatland Gold plc is London listed (LON:GGP) natural resource exploration and development company with a current focus on gold and nickel exploration projects.  

The Company has six main projects; four situated in Western Australia and two in Tasmania.  All projects are 100% owned by Greatland or Greatland has the right to take 100% ownership.  

Greatland is seeking to identify large mineral deposits in areas that have not been subject to extensive exploration previously.  It is widely recognised that the next generation of large deposits will come from such under-explored areas and Greatland is applying advanced exploration techniques to investigate a number of carefully selected targets within its focused licence portfolio.

The Company is also actively investigating a range of new opportunities in precious and strategic metals and will update the market on new opportunities as and when appropriate.

 

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