Q1 Update

RNS Number : 1431B

Hummingbird Resources PLC

12 April 2012

 

Hummingbird Resources plc

("Hummingbird Resources", "Hummingbird" or the "Company") (AIM: HUM)

First Quarter 2012 - more than doubling global gold Resource with multiple new targets discovered

Hummingbird Resources is pleased to announce an update on its exploration activities over the last quarter.

Highlights:

·     Maiden Resource of 2.05Moz gold announced at Tuzon taking global Resource to 3.8Moz

·     4,650m of extension drilling continued north from existing Tuzon Resource

·     Drill results and further Resource update pending for Tuzon

·     Exciting new cluster of gold-in-soil anomalies, in an 8km long zone, at Tiehnpo, 50km north east along strike from Dugbe F

·     Currently targeting an additional 20 anomalous early stage gold targets in Dugbe Shear Zone alone

·     7,860 soil samples taken lead to significant multiple target generation

·     Strong current cash position of US$17.5m at 31 March 2012

Dan Betts, CEO, commented today:

"Once again it is a testament to the geological team's efforts in Liberia that such a large volume of exploration work was achieved in the first quarter of 2012.  The highlight was the discovery of a maiden Tuzon Inferred Resource of over 2Moz of gold, only 2.6km from Dugbe F's 1.8Moz Inferred and Indicated gold Resource.  This has given Hummingbird Resources one of the fastest growing gold Resources in Africa.  What is more exciting for the team is the scale of new targets being discovered across the Dugbe Shear Zone, with multiple new targets for drilling, once the Tuzon extension drilling is completed.  The true scale of the potential of the Dugbe Shear Zone is only just becoming clear."

Click on the link below for a map of the Dugbe Shear Zone.

http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/1431B_-2012-4-11.pdf

Dugbe Shear Zone ("DSZ")

The DSZ licences total over 2,000km² and are the focus of Hummingbird's exploration work in eastern Liberia.  The licences cover 80 km of strike length of the major, regional scale Dugbe Shear Zone.  The Dugbe F and Tuzon gold Resources lie towards the western end of Hummingbird's DSZ licences.

Tuzon

·     In February 2012, Hummingbird announced a new 2.05Moz gold Inferred Resource at the Tuzon deposit (52.8 million tonnes at 1.21 g/t Au) - this figure was achieved in only four months of drilling, making Hummingbird's resource growth one of the fastest in Africa last year.  It brings Hummingbird's total Inferred and Indicated Resource at its Dugbe One Project area to 3.8 Moz (see Notes to Editor).

·     The Tuzon deposit is not yet closed off, and an additional 4,650m was drilled in 21 holes in Q1 2012, to follow an extension to the north. An updated resource will be calculated once the relevant drill assays are received.

·     Drilling so far has confirmed an extension to the north of up to 400m to the Tuzon deposit.  In this extension area the geometry of the deposit appears to change, adopting a western dip.

Joe Village

·     Sackor anomaly 4km west of Dugbe F - over 1,400m of trenching was completed, with 730 trench channel samples submitted for assay. Mineralisation seen so far indicates 'stacked' ore zones, somewhat similar to Tuzon.

·     Joe Village North West - 1,600 soil samples have been taken in Q1, and submitted for assay.  Clear anomalous trends are emerging, which appear to run east to west, forming a strike extension of Tawana Resources's large gold anomalies to the west.  Trenching has begun. 

·     Acquisition of remaining 20% minority interest in Joe Village licence, into which the Dugbe F deposit extends, for an acquisition cost of under US$3/ounce of existing gold Resource.  This acquisition agreement is conditional upon formal grant of Mineral Development Agreement currently under negotiation.

Nemo Creek

·     North west Nemo Creek grid area - 420m of trenching has been completed with 180 trench samples sent for assay.

·     Nemo Creek South West - 1,940 soil samples taken and submitted for assay. 

·     Nemo Creek Central - commencing a major 4,000 soil sample programme.

·     The above soil sampling programmes are the first part of a major 20,000 sample soil sampling programme planned over seven major target zones in the Nemo Creek licence in 2012. 

Tiehnpo

·     Tiehnpo is a major 10km x 6km target area lying some 50km east of Dugbe One.  It is an area of extensive artisanal gold workings, and was targeted by Hummingbird for a large 4,500 sample soil sampling programme over four separate grids.

·     In Q1 over 3,000 soil samples have been taken from the Sardiaken and Joqueken grids, all of which have been submitted for assay.  Soil sample results received to date indicate a swarm of north east trending gold anomalies, totalling over some 8km in strike length and 1km in width.   This is a very exciting find, as it represents another virgin and potentially significant discovery for Hummingbird in a completely new area.

·     Initial scout trenching is already underway, and a major trenching programme for Q2 and Q3 2012 will be designed to target the many gold anomalies.

Juazohn Shear Zone ("JSZ")

Hummingbird currently holds 2,100km² of licences on or near the major, regional scale Juazohn Shear Zone.  Work during this past quarter has focused on the relatively recent acquisitions of Zwedru and Ke Town.  1,250 stream sediment samples had previously outlined anomalous target areas for follow up on these licences, and work in Q1 2012 focused on follow up stream sediment sampling work.

Zwedru

·     Zwedru is a large 1,000km² licence and is still at the stream sediment sampling stage.  Initial stream sediment sampling delineated a number of anomalous gold zones which are a strike extension of a major gold zone seen on Hummingbird's Zia and Kana Hills licences. 

·     During Q1 over 130 follow up stream sediment samples were taken on the Zwedru licence.  The results from these will help in the planning of follow up soil sampling programmes.

Ke Town

·     Like Zwedru, Ke Town is still at the stream sediment sampling stage.  In Q1 some 40 follow up stream sediment samples were taken, the results of which will help in the planning of follow up soil sampling programmes

Dube Shear Zone

Hummingbird currently holds over 1,800km² of licences which straddle the Dube Shear Zone, another major, regional scale crustal lineament within the Birimian in eastern Liberia.  Like Ke Town and Zwedru, these are relatively recently awarded licences. Previously some 1,600 stream sediment samples had outlined a number of anomalous gold target zones for follow up.  During Q1 2012, fieldwork programmes focussed on follow up stream sediment sampling work to better define the anomalous areas.

Plibo

·     A number of encouraging stream sediment anomalies form a swarm in the north east part of the 375km² Plibo licence.  During Q1 2012, a further 100 stream sediment samples were taken to better define these anomalies. The results from these have helped the planning of follow up soil sampling programmes due to commence imminently.

Tawake

·     Tawake is an exciting licence area in that it lies on the junction of two major shear zones (Dugbe and Dube), contains numerous artisanal gold workings, and also has evidence of significant acid intrusive activity (granodioritic intrusives are thought to be the source of the hydrothermal gold on the DSZ). 

·     During Q1 2012, a further 140 stream sediment samples were taken to better define these anomalies. The results from these will help in the planning of follow up soil sampling programmes.

David Pelham has reviewed and approved the technical information contained within this announcement in his capacity as a qualified person, as required under the AIM rules.  David Pelham is Technical Director of the Company and is a member of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining.

ENDS

Enquiries:

Hummingbird Resources plc

Daniel Betts, Chief Executive Officer

Thomas Hill, Chief Financial Officer and Company Secretary

Robert Monro, Head of Business Development [phone]

Liberum Capital Limited

Nominated Adviser and Joint Broker

Tom Fyson / Richard Bootle [phone]

Mirabaud Securities LLP

Joint Broker

Peter Krens [phone]

Yellow Jersey PR Limited

Financial PR

Dominic Barretto

[phone]

Harry Fielder

[phone]

Notes to Editors

Hummingbird Resources plc is an AIM quoted mineral exploration company incorporated in England and Wales and headquartered in London. Since its establishment in November 2005, the Company and its subsidiaries (the "Group") has been active in Liberia, West Africa, and is currently the holder of the largest area of mineral exploration ground in the highly prospective Birimian geological region of eastern Liberia.  The Group's total Resource is 3,817,000 ounces of gold (Indicated Resource of 1,373,000 ounces Gold and Inferred Resource of 2,444,000 ounces gold).

The Group has a NI 43-101 compliant gold Resource on its Dugbe F deposit of 43.01 million tonnes at 1.276 g/t Au to give 1,765,000 ounces of gold using a lower cut-off grade of 0.5 g/t Au and no upper cut-off grade (Indicated Resource of 1,373,000 ounces of gold at 1.28 g/t Au and an Inferred Resource of 392,000 ounces of gold at 1.23 g/t Au).   The Group now has in addition to this a Maiden Inferred Resource on its Tuzon project of 52.8 million tonnes at 1.21 g/t Au to give 2,052,000 ounces gold using a lower cut-off grade of 0.5 g/t Au and an upper cut-off grade of 7.0 g/t Au. Tuzon lies 2.6km to the east of the Dugbe F deposit.  The exploration has been based on sound geological premises and has been executed in an efficient and practical manner according to best industry practices.

The Group currently holds exploration licences covering approximately 7,000 square kilometres in total, which constitutes a significant proportion of eastern Liberia containing the Birimian sequence.

For more information, please visit www.hummingbirdresources.co.uk

 

END

 

 

TSTLFLFFLZFXBBV