Ground Gravity Surveys Commence - Paterson Project

RNS Number : 7855V

Greatland Gold PLC

07 November 2017

 

 

7 November 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")

Ground Gravity Surveys Commence at Paterson Project

Havieron Ground Survey to Define Drill Targets for 2018 Drill Campaign

Further to the announcement of 13 October 2017, Greatland Gold plc (AIM:GGP), the precious and base metals exploration and development company, is pleased to announce that ground gravity surveys have commenced at its Paterson project.

Highlights:

·     Ground gravity surveys have commenced at the Havieron target with initial station spacing of 200m x 200m, and at the Scallywag target with a station spacing of 400m x 200m;

·     Objective of the tightly-spaced ground gravity survey at Havieron is to provide data that can be modelled with modern 3D inversion techniques to better define drill targets;

·     Results from the ground gravity surveys and the previously completed Mobile Metal Ion ("MMI") sampling campaign are expected by the end of this month.

The Paterson project covers more than 385 square kilometres in the Paterson region of Western Australia and includes the Havieron licence, the Paterson Range East licence, and the recently acquired Black Hills licence. Limited historical drilling was conducted by Newcrest at Havieron during the 1990s where six holes were drilled, all of which intersected significant hematite alteration and gold plus copper anomalism. Thick lower grade zones of gold and copper have been intersected and gold grades within these peak at 15.4g/t and copper to 2.5%. The Scallywag target hosts several magnetic anomalies over an area of approximately 6km by 4km with potential to host gold and/or copper mineralisation.

Gervaise Heddle, Chief Executive Officer, commented:  "The ground gravity survey at Havieron represents an important step towards defining drill targets for a drilling campaign currently scheduled for early 2018.

"We believe that the Paterson region, host to Newcrest's Telfer gold mine, is highly prospective for multiple large mineralised systems, as demonstrated by our further commitment to the region with the acquisition of the Black Hills gold project announced yesterday."

A regional map showing the Havieron and Paterson Range East licences with regional targets and adjacent landholdings can be found at: http://greatlandgold.com/paterson/

Overview of Paterson Project (Havieron, Paterson Range East and Black Hills)

The Company's Paterson project now comprises the Havieron and Paterson Range East licences, and the Black Hills licence, located in the Paterson region of northern Western Australia. The three licences collectively cover more than 385 square kilometres prospective for iron-oxide-copper-gold ("IOCG") deposits and Telfer style gold deposits.

The Paterson region hosts several large gold and copper deposits such as Telfer (27M oz) and Nifty (2MT copper). The region has been subject to more recent exploration which has outlined several other deposits including Magnum (Au), Calibre (Au), O'Callaghans (Cu) and Maroochydore (Cu).

The region is remote, however infrastructure is good with several operating mines, roads, formed tracks and rail networks nearby which branch out from the regional industrial hub of Port Hedland 500km to the west.

The Paterson Province is the northern portion of the Proterozoic Paterson Orogen. More recent exploration throughout several Proterozoic Orogens within the western parts of the Australian continent has resulted in the discovery of the large Tropicana gold deposit (7.9M oz) and the large Nova nickel-copper deposit (10MT). Globally these Proterozoic Orogens are highly prospective for large deposits, and are often under-explored.

Alteration and mineralisation of those targets which have been drill tested at Havieron and Paterson Range East display similarities to IOCG-type deposits. Examples of these are the large Olympic Dam and Ernest Henry deposits in central and eastern Australia.

Geophysical data has outlined the Havieron target as covering approximately 1,000m x 1,000m. Depth to top of target is around 400m with these depths easily achieved with modern drilling equipment. Only six drill holes have been completed to date, all of which intersected significant hematite alteration and gold, plus copper anomalism. Thick lower grade zones of gold and copper have been intersected and gold grades within these peak at 15.4g/t and copper to 2.5%. Current drill hole spacing is broad and the core of Havieron therefore represents an immediate resource definition drilling target.

Following a review of regional geophysical and geochemical data over the Paterson project approximately fifty IOCG targets have been identified in the broader region, with around half in ground held by Greatland. The setting of these licences is on the western margin of a Proterozoic basin which ranges in depth from less than 100m below surface to more than 400m below surface. Basement rocks of the basin are predominantly calcareous rich sandstones intruded by several late stage granitic bodies exploiting basin margin faults which have also provided a focus for ore fluids. Historically, several of these targets have been subject to initial first-pass work and show promise at hosting mineralisation as seen at Havieron. The geophysical signature of these targets is very similar to that at Havieron. Basement rocks do not outcrop and Greatland intends to employ modern geophysical and geochemical methods to define targets prior to drill testing. The Scallywag target was identified from this regional review and hosts several magnetic anomalies over an area of approximately 6km x 4km with potential to host gold and/or copper mineralisation.

The Black Hills licence, E45/4512, lies 30 km east of the large Telfer gold mine (27m oz). Black Hills is a granted exploration licence that covers 25 square kilometres and sits adjacent to the Company's Havieron exploration licence. The Black Hills licence is regarded as having high potential to host further gold deposits similar to Telfer.

There has been a reasonable amount of historical exploration work at Black Hills with several discrete zones of mineralisation identified over 5km of strike. Rock chip samples have returned up to 90g/t gold, and commonly 20g/t gold, with free (visible) gold in places. Drill intercepts include 4m at 7.0g/t from 25m, 5m at 2.3g/t from 25m, 2m at 3.4g/t from 23m and 2m at 1.29g/t from 10m. Historical drill spacing appears quite broad with holes at least 400m apart, some up to 600m.

Gold prospects identified to date extend from Black Hills into the north western parts of the Havieron licence. Proterozoic sandstone and carbonate rocks of the Yeneena Group formations are present, including the Telfer Formation, in a domal structure which is the equivalent geology to that of the large Telfer gold deposit (27m oz) located 30km to the west.

Prospectivity of the Paterson Province is widely recognised with several large industry participants present. These include Rio Tinto, Newcrest and Antipa. Greatland's licences lie adjacent to Rio Tinto and Antipa.

MMI sampling and ground gravity over the Havieron target are being carried out with initial sample and station spacing of 200m x 200m. Additionally ground gravity is being carried out at the Scallywag target at a station spacing of 400m x 200m. Reprocessing of a 50m line spaced aeromagnetic survey over the Havieron and Scallywag targets has been completed. MMI sampling is complete and ground geophysical activities have commenced. Modern geophysical 3D inversion techniques will greatly assist siting of drillholes into the Havieron mineralisation. If MMI results are deemed satisfactory then this technique can be reliably and cost efficiently deployed to screen the many prospective regional targets identified by the Greatland technical team (as announced 17 Aug 2017). Currently, we expect results from MMI sampling and ground gravity to be available during November 2017.

Additional information on the Havieron and Paterson Range East licences can be found 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/James Keeshan

Tel [phone]

SI Capital Limited (Broker)

Nick Emerson

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, nickel and cobalt 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.

 

END

 

 

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