REG - Alba Mineral Resrcs. - Clogau Gold Operational Update

Alba Mineral ResourcesAnnouncement

15/07/2024 07:00

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RNS Number : 3152W  Alba Mineral Resources PLC  15 July 2024

Alba Mineral Resources Plc / EPIC: ALBA / Market: AIM / Sector: Mining

15 July 2024

Alba Mineral Resources Plc

("Alba" or the "Company") 

 

Clogau Gold Operational Update

Alba Mineral Resources Plc (AIM: ALBA) is pleased to report on the progress of
ongoing works at the Company's 100% owned Clogau-St David's Gold Mine in north
Wales ("Clogau" or the "Mine").

Key Points

·      Waste Tip

o  All fines from Trenches 1 and 3 at historic Clogau waste tip ("Waste Tip")
have now been processed for their gold content.

o  16.4 grams produced from Trench 1 and 14.2 grams from Trench 3, equating
to back-calculated head grade for the -20mm fines material of 3.83 g/t from
Trench 1 and 2.68 g/t from Trench 3 (overall average 3.19 g/t).

 

·       Underground Operations

o  Underground safety and access works have been completed, including
installation of ladderways to provide access to No.5 Level.

o  Ongoing underground works have confirmed significant completed historic
development between No. 4 and No.5 Levels, ~20m in length, providing further
opportunity for sampling and access to payshoot.

o  No.5 Level dewatered and surveyed, with no further safety works
identified, though substantial amounts of ore and tailings from previous
mining will need to be removed (and assayed for gold content).

George Frangeskides, Executive Chairman, commented:

"I am pleased to report on ongoing operations at the Clogau Gold Mine. At the
Waste Tip, the latest results from our processing of a significant, 9.5 tonne
bulk sample of fines material from Trenches 1 and 3 combined have returned an
average back-calculated head grade for those fines of more than 3 grams per
tonne.  This is a highly creditable result for an on-surface waste tip and
gives us a lot of confidence in the exploitation of the Waste Tip as a whole.
We will continue and complete the remainder of our planned trenching and
processing programme before making a final decision on the wider exploitation
of the tip.

"As for our ongoing underground preparations, while we have discovered a lot
of left behind ore on No.5 Level, together with what looks like tailings from
past processing, which material will need to be removed to surface, on the
plus side it provides a potential further source of gold content. We are
pleased to report that we have so far found no other significant issues
requiring remedial works on No.5 Level.  Further updates will be provided in
due course."

 

Details

Waste Tip Processing

All of the fines collected from Trenches 1 & 3 at the Waste Tip have now
been processed for their gold content. The results are set out in Table 1.

Table 1

           Oversize Mass (Kg)  Fines (-20mm) Mass (Kg) (Dry)  Total In-Situ Mass (Tonnes)  Concs Mass Kgs (Dry)  Gold Produced (Grams)  Average g/t of -20mm fines from Trench
 Trench 1  11901               4284                           16.19                        9609                  16.4                   3.83
 Trench 3  14719               5299                           20.02                        14037                 14.2                   2.68
 TOTALS    26620.11            9583.24                        36.20                        23646                 30.6                   3.19

The Company is very pleased with the overall result indicated from this
processing, which has returned a back calculated average head grade for the
-20mm fines of 3.19 g/t.  While these latest results indicate an overall head
grade lower than the initial trench assay results reported on 15 May 2024,
which returned an average head grade of 6.0 g/t from Trench 1 and 17.22 g/t
from Trench 3, those results were based on sample sizes of only 66.04 kg and
60.63 kg respectively, being a far smaller sample size than the 9,583 kg
sample on which the latest average head grade of 3.19 g/t is based.

The Company will continue and complete the remainder of its planned trenching
programme before making a final decision on the wider exploitation of the tip
involving the submission of an application for planning permission.

 

Figure 1: gold results from Trenches 1 and 3 (images left and right
respectively).

 

Underground Bulk Sampling of the Llechfraith Target

The updated status of ongoing preparations for the underground bulk sampling
of the Company's primary gold target within the Mine, the Llechfraith Target,
is as follows:

-    Alba's underground works contractors have completed a further round of
safety and access works on No.4 Level, including installing ladderways to
enable the team to access No.5 Level for blasting.

 

-    No.5 Level has been dewatered and is now accessible.  An initial
survey has not identified any further safety or remedial works required on
No.5 Level, however there is a significant amount of material on No.5 Level,
comprising ore and what appear to be tailings from previous periods of mining
and processing at Clogau, which will need to be removed prior to the
commencement of blasting operations.  The material will also be sampled for
its gold content in due course.

 

The Company's ongoing underground operations have confirmed that extensive
historical development has been undertaken between No.4 and No.5 Level, with
the existence of a horizontal level between those levels running at
approximately 20 metres in length.  This level, which provides further
opportunities for sampling and access to the targeted payshoot, is not shown
in all of the old underground plans but can be seen in the historical section
drawing in Figure 2.

Figure 2: Historical section showing developed level between No. 4 and No. 5
Level.  This Level, which the Company is calling "4.5 Level", is labelled "5
metre Level" on the drawing. Following survey, the Company can confirm that
the dotted extension of that level shown to the west appears to be in place,
albeit that it is partially obstructed by ore, waste rock and other material
which will be removed to surface and sampled.

 

Figure 3: (left) part of new ladderway from No.4 Level down to No.5 Level;
(right) some of the blasted material on 4.5 Level left behind from previous
periods of mining (includes quartz vein right of photo)

Figure 4: Proposed bulk sampling works from No.5 Level of the Lower
Llechfraith workings, involving the development of two inclined raises (in
red) between Nos. 4 and 5 Levels. The development is designed to cross the
extension of an interpreted pay shoot which was intersected in the levels
above.

 

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of the UK
Market Abuse Regulation and the Directors of the Company are responsible for
the release of this announcement.

Forward Looking Statements

This announcement contains forward-looking statements relating to expected or
anticipated future events and anticipated results that are forward-looking in
nature and, as a result, are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, such
as general economic, market, financial and business conditions, competition
for and availability of qualified staff and contractors, regulatory processes
and actions, technical issues, new legislation, uncertainties resulting from
potential delays or changes in plans, uncertainties resulting from working in
a new political jurisdiction, uncertainties regarding the results of
exploration, uncertainties regarding the timing and granting of prospecting
rights, uncertainties regarding the timing and granting of regulatory and
other third party consents and approvals, uncertainties regarding the
Company's or any third party's ability to finance, execute and implement
future plans and programmes, and the occurrence of unexpected events. Actual
results achieved may vary from the information provided herein as a result of
numerous known and unknown risks and uncertainties and other factors.

Competent Person Declaration

The information in this release that relates to Exploration Results has been
reviewed by Mr Mark Austin. Mr Austin is a member of SACNASP (Reg. No.
400235/06), Fellow of The Geological Society and Fellow of the Geological
Society of South Africa. He has a B.Sc. Honours in Geology with 40 years'
experience.

Mark Austin has sufficient experience that is relevant to the style of
mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity
being undertaken to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2012
Edition of the 'Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration targets,
Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves', also known as the
JORC Code. The JORC code is a national reporting organisation that is aligned
with CRIRSCO. Mr Austin consents to the inclusion in the announcement of the
matters based on his information in the form and context in which they appear.

**ENDS**

For further information, please visit www.albamineralresources.com
(http://www.albamineralresources.com/)  or contact:

 Alba Mineral Resources plc                 +44 20 3950 0725

 George Frangeskides, Executive Chairman
 SPARK Advisory Partners Limited (Nomad)    +44 20 3368 3555

 Andrew Emmott
 CMC Markets plc (Broker)                   +44 20 3003 8632

 Thomas Smith / Douglas Crippen

 

 

 Alba's Projects & Investments
 Projects Operated by Alba                            Location   Ownership
 Clogau (gold)                                        Wales      100%
 Dolgellau Gold Exploration (gold)                    Wales      100%
 Gwynfynydd (gold)                                    Wales      100%
 Investments Held by Alba                             Location   Ownership
 GreenRoc Strategic Materials Plc (graphite - anode)  Greenland  34.72%
 Horse Hill (oil)                                     England    11.765%

 

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