REG - Alba Mineral Resrcs. - Operational Update

Alba Mineral ResourcesAnnouncement

11/12/2024 08:30

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RNS Number : 6690P  Alba Mineral Resources PLC  11 December 2024

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

11 December 2024

Alba Mineral Resources Plc

("Alba" or the "Company") 

 

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") and on its completed site visits to its
optioned projects in Sweden and Tanzania.

Key Points

Clogau

·      Continuous drilling and blasting operations are ongoing at
Clogau, with 565 man-days having been completed in total since pre-blasting
operations began in early August.

·      Estimated 120 tonnes of ore to date removed to surface for
processing, combination of historic and newly blasted material.

·      Large amounts of visible sulphide mineralisation encountered in
blasted rocks.  The high level of sulphide mineralisation within the
projected payshoot considered good indicator of associated gold
mineralisation.

·      Visible gold also identified within blasted ore.

·      Blasting progress slower than anticipated due to large volume of
historic ore to be removed plus insufficient air pressure to rock drills
(since rectified by order of larger compressor).

·      Processing of test batches of blasted ore to commence shortly.
Investigations continue relating to appropriate plant upgrades to enable
faster processing of ore than current pilot plant can achieve.

·      Company's underground pump system has coped with huge increase in
rain caused by Storm Darragh. Main access road had been partly washed away but
was repaired over weekend to allow operations to continue without
interruption.

Optioned Projects

·      Site visits conducted by Alba at Finnsbo and Norrby Projects in
Sweden.

·      Sampling of highly interesting Finnsbo outcrop returned anomalous
results for both gold and REE, including grades of >10 grams per tonne
(g/t) gold and 2.36% TREO, in line with high-grade results previously reported
by Project owners and corroborating presence of visible gold identified during
site visit.

·      Site visits conducted to optioned gold licences in Tanzania. Full
report of consulting geologist awaited, together with assay results from
samples collected.

George Frangeskides, Executive Chairman, commented:

"Since our last update, our underground operations at Clogau have continued
around the clock.  Despite blasting operations being impeded by the sheer
volume of historic ore we encountered on Level 5, all of which had to be
painstakingly cleared out and removed to surface, we have nonetheless
collected some 120 tonnes of material for processing so far.

"The presence of significant amounts of visible sulphides in the blasted rock
is very encouraging, as is the identification of visible gold.  The
processing of test batches of the blasted ore through the Company's pilot
plant will be commencing shortly. The much larger exercise to process the bulk
sample in its entirety will have to await our determination of the appropriate
upgrades to allow for a much larger daily throughput of ore than our pilot
plant can currently handle. We are in ongoing discussions with our technical
consultants about this aspect.

"Site visits to our optioned projects in Sweden and Tanzania have been
successfully completed.  While we await assay results and a full field report
on the Tanzanian licences, the preliminary assay results for Sweden are
certainly highly encouraging and provide clear support for the high-grade gold
and rare earth results previously reported by the project owners. Further
updates in respect of our ongoing work on these optioned projects will follow
in due course."

Details

Clogau Update

Underground operations are ongoing at the Llechfraith Target, Alba's priority
target at Clogau, with further blasting having taken place at Level 5.

Since the commencement of pre-blasting operations in early August, following
the completion of the dewatering of Level 5, underground operations have been
continuous at the Company's primary gold target, the Llechfraith Target,
involving a team of up to seven people working a total of 565 man-days to
date.

So far, 146 bags of ore (with an estimated total weight of around 120 tonnes)
have been removed to surface for processing and assaying, comprising a
combination of newly blasted ore and ore from historic mining activities.

The volume of ore found in situ at Levels 4 and 5 from historic mining
operations continues to exceed what was anticipated, with in total some 65
tonnes having to be cleared out (a significant increase on the 25 tonnes
reported at the time of the last operational update RNS on 29 October 2024).
Although this has added significantly to the Company's timeline for the
completion of its planned bulk sampling exercise, this additional ore will be
processed for its gold content.

All blasting to date has been successfully completed, however progress towards
the first raise has not been as rapid as had been hoped for, a combination of
the need to clear out large amounts of historic ore (as above) and slower than
expected drilling rates partly due to unexpectedly insufficient pressure being
delivered to No.5 Level from the air compressor on surface. A larger
compressor has been on-hired and is expected to make a significant difference
to the drilling rate in the current rotation.

All blasting to date has been within the targeted structure. Rocks with large
amounts of visible sulphide mineralisation have been encountered (Figures 1
& 2). The high level of sulphide mineralisation within the projected
payshoot is considered to be a good indication of associated
gold mineralisation. Visible gold has also been identified within the blasted
ore (Figure 5). All blasted ore needs to be processed to ascertain its gold
content. As all mining personnel have been fully occupied with the drilling,
blasting and mucking out programme, the newly blasted ore has not yet been
processed through the Company's existing on-site pilot plant. The Company will
shortly be commencing the processing of test batches of blasted ore through
the pilot plant. Investigations continue relating to appropriate plant
upgrades to enable faster processing of ore than the current pilot plant can
achieve.

A huge increase in rain caused by Storm Darragh in the past few days has
caused a surge in the Afon cwm Llechen, the river running next to the Mine.
However, the Company's underground pumps have coped well and kept the water
level down below Level 5. The storm also washed away part of the main,
unsurfaced access road to the Mine, however the Company's contractors spent
the weekend repairing the road to ensure it was passable in time for the next
rotation of drilling and blasting, which has now commenced.

 Fig.1   Fig.2

Fig.3
Fig.4

Fig.5

         Figure 1: Exposed rockface on Level 5.

         Figure 2: Same rockface taken close-up to show visible sulphides.

         Figure 3: Sample from blasting on Level 5 with significant visible sulphides.

         Figure 4: Small section of the same sample shown in close-up to show visible
         sulphides.

         Figure 5: Sample with visible gold (within circled area).

 

Optioned Projects

Sweden

Site visits have been conducted at the Finnsbo and Norrby projects in Sweden.
This included visits to the outcrop at Finnsbo (Figures 6-9) where previous
sampling by the project owners has returned assay results of up to 3.5% Total
Rare Earth Oxides (TREO) (with overall grades ranging from 0.5% to 3.5% TREO),
with 37-38% of the TREO in each case being made up of high-value NdPrDy
(neodymium-praseodymium-dysprosium) oxides, as well as gold and copper grades
of up to 27g/t (with overall grades ranging from 7 to 27g/t) and 2.9% (with
overall grades ranging from 0.9% to 2.9%) respectively. See the Alba RNS of 6
November 2024.

 

Samples taken by Alba from broken rock blasted during previous operations at
Finnsbo have been found to contain visible gold (see Figure 8), subject to
confirmation by formal assay.  Samples have been sent to a third-party
laboratory for assay. While final assay certificates are awaited from the
independent assay laboratory, provisional gold and rare earth element (REE)
results provided by the laboratory from the two grab samples taken by Alba
from the Pop 2 blast are as follows:

 Project                 Sample Name  Lab Weight           (kg)            Lith type  Au            (g/t)             TREO             (%)              Notes

            Ticket No.
 Finnsbo 1  F828231      FINN2414     1.340                                Quartz     0.6                             0.43                              pop 2 rock
 Finnsbo 1  F828232      FINN2415     2.140                                Quartz     >10                             2.36                              pop 2 rock

 

Both samples returned anomalous results for both gold and REE, however sample
FINN2415 had stand-out grades of more than 10 grams per tonne (g/t) gold and
2.36% TREO, with 39% of the TREO being made up of high-value NdPrDy oxides. As
the gold result was above the maximum reportable grade for the assay protocol
selected (being 10g/t), the laboratory is running the assay again using a
different protocol to arrive at a precise gold content for the sample. The
high-grade gold assay would certainly appear to corroborate the field
observation (see Figure 5) of the presence of visible gold. The confirmation
of high-grade rare earth results is also highly promising.

 

Clockwise from top left: Figure 6: Finnsbo outcrop (approx. 50 m in length
extent); Figure 7: Sampling historical blast at Finnsbo outcrop; Figure 8:
Grab sample from Finnsbo outcrop showing visible gold; Figure 9: Section of
Finnsbo outcrop.

Tanzania

 

Site visits have been conducted in Tanzania over the gold licences and licence
applications currently under option to Alba.  Samples have been collected and
are with a third-party laboratory in Mwanza for assaying.

 

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**

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 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  34.34%
 Horse Hill (oil)                                     England    11.765%

 

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