Guadalcanal Joint Venture Update

RNS Number : 3154C

Solomon Gold PLC

30 April 2012

 

30 April 2012

Solomon Gold Plc

("Solomon Gold" or the "Company")

(AIM code: SOLG)

Guadalcanal Joint Venture - Update

Drilling Commenced at Mbetilonga

Gold-Copper Porphyry System at Sutakiki

The Board of Solomon Gold is pleased to provide an update on exploration and 2012 planning activities for the Guadalcanal Joint Venture ('GJV') located in the Solomon Islands. The GJV is a joint venture between NVL Solomon Islands Limited (a subsidiary of Newmont Mining Corporation (NYSE:NEM) ("Newmont") and Solomon Gold plc ("Solomon Gold"). Newmont is funding the exploration activities and is earning a 70% position in the GJV.

The 2011 exploration program comprised activities across 4 of the 5 Prospecting Licenses ('PL'), with the focus being on the Sutakiki and Mbetilonga PLs. Expenditures by Newmont during 2011 were US$7.91 million. The proposed expenditure for the 2012 calendar year is US$4.92 million.

The location of the 5 Prospecting Licenses that comprise the GJV are shown in figures 1 and 2 below (see also the 'Latest News' section on the website, www.solomongold.com).

At the Mbetilonga Project, Newmont has advised that MBT008, the first diamond drill hole for 2012, at the Hambusimaloso Prospect, is now at a depth of approximately 400m, and subject to geological evaluation, is expected to be drilled to 700m.

The drill hole is targeting highly copper anomalous results from trenching, including 80m at 1.76% copper, and 30m at 0.88% copper, within a coincident 600m diameter copper-molybdenum-bismuth soil geochemical anomalous zone. Historical drill holes MBT001, MBT002, and MBT003, drilled by Solomon Gold in 2006, and located 200m to the south and 250m to the north, intersected up to 0.76% copper in what is believed to be a cover sequence with local supergene copper development. If success is delivered in hole MBT008 a second hole will be completed.

Exploration at the Sutakiki Project is also underway. This project is the site of the outstanding results in historical drilling by Solomon Gold at Taborora Prospect where hole SK001 intersected 354m at 0.5g/t gold and 0.13% copper. The Taborora Prospect is the subject of focused exploration as a follow-up to drilling completed by Newmont in 2011, where 2 diamond drill holes were completed. These holes intersected significant gold and copper including 259m at 0.28g/t gold and 0.11% copper from 362m to the end of hole at 621m in SUT001. Recently completed re-logging of hole SUT001 has identified an intensely K-feldspar altered tonalitic intrusive. Petrography has confirmed copper-gold mineralisation in association with prograde silicate facies alteration and porphyry style veining. These are significant developments and provide definitive evidence of the presence of a gold-copper porphyry mineral system at Taborora. This also supports current interpretations that drill targets exist at depth below the historical drilling, and potentially in adjacent positions as supported by interpretation of surface geology, historical drill holes and geophysics. Further geological mapping has been completed at several prospects within the Sutakiki Project and this is currently being interpreted.

On a regional scale at Sutakiki, during the first few months of 2012 Newmont has undertaken follow-up BLEG sampling and geological mapping of high priority catchments in the Sutakiki Project. This work covered an area of approximately 20 square kilometres.

Other exploration activities within the GJV tenements include preparation for a regional BLEG sampling program within the Central PL, and compilation and interpretation of hyperspectral analyses to map alteration mineral assemblages at the Kuma Project. This work is targeting definition of advanced argillic assemblages that may be related to high sulphidation mineralised systems

Solomon Gold is encouraged by these results and will provide further updates as data are received. Joint venture meetings are now being held quarterly and the Solomon Gold team is taking active interest in the development and implementation of the exploration program.

Figure 1: Location of Solomon Gold exploration licenses in the Solomon Islands

Figure 2: Location of the Guadalcanal Joint Venture Prospecting Licenses. The image is a 3-D image looking north towards the capital city of Honiara.

The above items are available on the Company's website;  www.solomongold.com

Qualified Person

Information in this report relating to the exploration results is based on data reviewed by Mr Malcolm Norris (B.Sc. Hons, MSc), the Chief Executive Officer of the Company.  Mr Norris is a Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy who has in excess of 25 years' experience in mineral exploration and is a Qualified Person under the AIM Rules.  Mr Norris consents to the inclusion of the information in the form and context in which it appears.

By order of the Board

Karl Schlobohm

Company Secretary

Contacts:

Mr Karl Schlobohm                                                                                                        Tel: [phone]

Solomon Gold Plc (Company Secretary)

[e-mail] 

Mr Ewan Leggat                                                                                                                Tel: [phone]

Fairfax I.S. PLC (Broker)

[e-mail] 

Mr Stephen Weir                                                                                                            Tel: [phone]

RFC Corporate Finance (Nominated Advisor)

[e-mail] 

Mr Dominic Barretto                                                                                                      Tel: [phone]

Yellow Jersey PR (PR & IR)

[e-mail] 

NOTES TO EDITORS

Solomon Gold's exploration projects are located in Queensland, Australia, Cascabel in northern Ecuador and the Solomon Islands. In Australia, they comprise the Rannes, Mt Perry, Cracow West and Normanby Projects. In the Solomon Islands they comprise the Fauro Project (located on Fauro Island), and the Guadalcanal Joint Venture with Newmont Mining Corporation.

At the Rannes project Solomon Gold has announced Inferred resources of 25.5 million tonnes at 1.0 g/t gold equivalent (gold + silver) for 812,000 ounces of gold equivalent (486, 935 ounces of gold and 13,014,294 ounces of silver; see announcement dated 30 November 2011 for details of the resource statement and gold equivalent ratios). The 2012 exploration program, including drilling to define new ore positions and grow the resource, has commenced.

Exploration continues at Mt. Perry, Normanby and Cracow West with drilling expected to commence in Q2 2012.

In April 2012, Solomon Gold and Cornerstone Capital Resources Inc. announced that they had signed a binding Letter of Intent whereby Solomon Gold may acquire up to 85% of Cornerstone's 100% owned 5,000 hectare Cascabel gold-copper-silver property in northern Ecuador.

The Cascabel project is located approximately 120 km north of Ecuador's capital, Quito, 20 km south of the Colombian border, and 75 km inland from the coastal city of San Lorenzo. The gold-copper porphyry project is located within the Andean western cordillera, host to numerous Tier 1 world class copper-gold deposits through Chile, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia.

In the Solomon Islands, final data from the 2011 exploration program on the Fauro project has been reviewed and plans for 2012 are being prepared. The 2012 Guadalcanal Joint Venture exploration program with NVL Solomon Islands Limited (a subsidiary of NYSE-listed Newmont Mining Corporation) has commenced and includes drilling on highly prospective gold-copper porphyry targets.

Solomon Gold's strategy is to be an integrated gold and copper explorer, developer and miner.

Solomon Gold's Board includes accomplished professionals with strong track records in the areas of exploration, mine development in Australasia and Melanesia, investment, finance and law.  Board and Management have significantly vested interests in the Company holding approximately 17.5% of its issued share capital.

Solomon Gold is based in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.  The Company listed on London's Alternative Investment Market in 2006, under the AIM Code 'SOLG' and currently has 313,381,934 shares on issue and 11,264,000 options exercisable at 50p on issue.  Further details concerning the Company's key projects and personnel can be found at www.solomongold.com.

 

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