Zambia Copper Exploration Update

RNS Number : 2685Z

Xtract Resources plc

16 May 2019

 

For immediate release

 16 May 2019

Xtract Resources Plc

("Xtract" or the "Company")

Zambia Copper Exploration Update

The Board of Xtract Resources Plc ("Xtract" or the "Company") is pleased to provide an update on exploration works on the copper / gold  small scale mining license number 8370-HQ-SML ("Licence") located at Kajevu, Kasempa, North Western Province in The Republic  of Zambia ("Matrix Project"), as well as its Eureka project on the copper-gold small scale mining licence number 22134-HQ-SML (" Eureka Licence") located in the Central part of The Republic of Zambia ("Eureka Project").

Highlights

·    Exploration work commenced on Matrix Project

·    Soil sample results suggest that quartz-hematite breccia zone may be copper-mineralised for over 600m westwards from previous open pit mine

·    Accompanying elements particularly potassium indicate larger zone of alteration up to 2.5km long

·    Contract signed for magnetic survey to delineate sub-surface extent of alteration/mineralisation

·    Eureka visited and large data bank acquired for analysis

·    Conclusion from visit and data interrogation to be digitised with a view of selecting targets

Colin Bird, Executive Chairman said: "This is a very good start to our preliminary exploration programme and I am particularly pleased with the relatively high potassium trend potential indicating alteration. The apparent mineralised zone is quite wide and the magnetic survey currently under way will hopefully further assist in targeting our proposed drilling programme. A further visit to the Eureka project and an archive search made it very clear that Eureka is drill-ready. The proposed digitising of all information will greatly assist the targeting of drill-holes".

Summary of work completed

Preliminary exploration work by Xtract commenced on the Matrix Project in April 2019 where previous bedrock sampling and small-scale mining confirmed the presence of strong copper-gold mineralisation (as previously announced on 11 February 2019). A Southern / Central African based consulting and services company, GeoQuest Limited, was commissioned to carry out a soil sampling survey on a 100 x 50m grid. 789 samples were collected and sieved on site, where they were analysed using a hand-held XRF spectrometer for a range of elements, including copper and associated minerals, but excluding gold which cannot be accurately detected by this methodology.

Results returned values up to 177ppm Cu close to the vicinity of the copper-gold mineralisation in the former open pit, above an anomalous threshold of 25ppm Cu. It was noted that anomalous values extend for over 600m to the west as far as the licence boundary. This coincides with the mapped extension of the IOCG-type quartz hematite breccia zone which has been mined in the open pit. The soil geochemistry provides encouragement that the zone may be copper-bearing in the unmined area to the west where near-surface leaching appears to mask mineralisation.

Accompanying elements, including iron and potassium, show a marked east-west trend over a strike of up to 2.5km which may reflect a more extensive alteration zone surrounding the main mineralised structure.

In the southeast sector of the licence, some further trends were discernible from the geochemical data, while it appears that the small mineralised artisanal pit in this area may be part of a separate structure to that worked in the main pit.

At the Eureka Project the Company has acquired an extensive historic exploration database and is currently compiling and reviewing the data to guide future exploration, with a primary focus on the two areas of high grade copper-gold mineralisation already identified.

Further information is available from the Company's website which details the company's project portfolio as well as a copy of this announcement: www.xtractresources.com

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of EU Regulation No. 596/2014 on market abuse. The person who arranged for the release of this announcement on behalf of the Company was Colin Bird, Director.

Enquiries:

Xtract Resources Plc	Colin Bird, Executive Chairman	[phone] www.xtractresources.com
Beaumont Cornish Limited Nominated Adviser and Joint Broker	Roland Cornish Michael Cornish Felicity Geidt	[phone] www.beaumontcornish.co.uk
Novum Securities Limited Joint Broker	Colin Rowbury	[phone]

Qualified Person:

Information in this announcement relating to the exploration works has been reviewed by Edward (Ed) Slowey, BSc, PGeo, a consultant to Xtract. Mr Slowey is a graduate geologist with more than 40 years' relevant experience in mineral exploration and mining, a founder member of the Institute of Geologists of Ireland and is a Qualified Person under the AIM rules.  Mr Slowey has reviewed and approved the geological content of this announcement.

Qualified Person:

In accordance with AIM Note for Mining and Oil & Gas Companies, June 2009 ("Guidance Note"), Colin Bird, CC.ENG, FIMMM, South African and UK Certified Mine Manager and Director of Xtract Resources plc, with more than 40 years experience mainly in hard rock mining, is the qualified person as defined in the Guidance Note of the London Stock Exchange, who has reviewed the technical information contained in this press release.

TECHNICAL GLOSSARY

The following is a summary of technical terms:

"alteration zone"	a zone exhibiting change in mineralogical composition of a rock commonly brought about by reactions with hydrothermal solutions
"breccia/brecciated"	rock fragmented into angular components
"Cu"	Copper
"exploration"	method by which ore deposits are evaluated
"hematite"	a mineral composed of ferric iron oxide
"IOCG (iron oxide copper-gold) deposits"	mineral deposits that typically occur at the margins of large igneous bodies which intrude into sedimentary strata, often forming pipe-like, mantle-like or extensive breccia-vein sheets within the host stratigraphy
"leaching"	The dissolving, by a liquid solvent, of soluble material from its mixture with an insoluble solid; dissolving soluble minerals or metals out of the ore
"mineralisation"	process of formation and concentration of elements and their chemical compounds within a mass or body of rock
"ppm"	abbreviation for the expression of concentration, parts-per-million
"quartz"	a mineral composed of silicon dioxide, SiO2
"soil sampling"	systematic collection of soil samples at a series of different locations in order to study the distribution of soil geochemical values.
"XRF spectrometer"	instrument to determine the chemistry of a sample by measuring the fluorescent (or secondary) X-ray emitted from a sample when it is excited by a primary X-ray source

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