REG - Chesterfield Res Plc - Drilling Update

Chesterfield ResourcesAnnouncement

23/02/2022 07:00

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RNS Number : 4847C  Chesterfield Resources PLC  23 February 2022

 

   Chesterfield Resources / EPIC: CHF / Market: LSE / Sector: Mining

 

23 February 2022

 

Chesterfield Resources drills further significant gold-rich and polymetallic
mineralisation in Cyprus on three targets. Key 12km long mineralised trend
identified at Troodos West

 

Chesterfield Resources is pleased to report further assay results from its
2021 diamond drilling at its Troodos West project in Cyprus. Not only has the
drilling significantly enhanced the prospectivity at three target areas,
Orchard, Evlim and Evlim South, but it has also established a 12km geological
trend that is now considered key to controlling several mineralised systems,
with the potential for further discoveries along the structure. The "Westline
Trend" will now be the focus of the company's 2022 exploration campaign that
is to commence very shortly.

 

·    Significant zone of gold-rich polymetallic semi-massive sulphide
mineralisation within a broader zone of gold-silver-copper-zinc mineralisation
discovered at the Orchard target.

 

·    Highlights of assay results from Orchard include:

-     21OR01: 5.70m @ 2.27g/t Au, 6.32g/t Ag 0.42% Cu, 5.99% Zn and 4.05%
CuEq(1) within a zone of 24.05m @ 1.69g/t Au, 5.85g/t Ag, 0.11% Cu, 1.48% Zn
and 1.73% CuEq(1)

 

·    Highlights of assay results from Evlim include:

-     21EV08: 21.90m @ 1.60g/t Au, incl. 2.40m @ 5.41g/t Au

 

·   Highlights of Assay Results from Evlim South:

-     21EV07: 14.00m @ 1.12g/t Au & 10.35g/t Ag

-     21EV10: 12.85m @ 0.84g/t Au & 5.07g/t Ag

 

·    The drilling at Orchard was testing coincident geophysical and
geochemical anomalies located on a prospective regional mineralising trend.
Mineralisation remains open in all directions.

 

·    The drilling at the Evlim and Evlim South was targeting an extension
to the gold mineralisation intercepted in the 2018 and 2020 drilling. The
results indicate that the near surface gold mineralisation continues out to
the west, south and southwest at depth.

 

·    There is strong evidence that the Orchard, Evlim and Evlim South
systems form a gold-rich polymetallic mineralised trend extending over 12km
that links these encounters with the Westline system announced in December.
This has been named the "Westline Trend".

 

·    A work programme of detailed fieldwork and further step-out drilling
is planned with the focus on testing for an extension to the polymetallic and
gold mineralisation intercepted and the identification of further targets on
the Westline Trend.

 

·    Graphics of the systems and drilling and the 12km Westline Trend will
be posted on the company website today

 

Said Executive Chairman Martin French "We now have final assays and an
excellent suite of results from our 2,078m diamond drill programme of late
2021. In December we announced a highly encouraging strike on a gold/silver
system at target area called Westline. Now we have strong sets of results from
three additional targets, with a Polymetallic zone at target Orchard, while
further extensions of gold systems were successfully drilled at Evlim and
Evlim South.

 

What is particularly exciting is that there is now strong evidence that these
strikes are all on the same mineralised trend that extends down to the
Westline system discovery, some 10km further south. The trend, which has been
named the Westline Trend, is some 12km long overall and links our five most
prospective target areas. Our operations team will be arriving back in Cyprus
in two week's time and there will now be a major exploration focus along the
Westline Trend to identify more targets further linking the five identified by
the 2021 campaign. More information and graphics of this will be uploaded onto
our website later today in a new "Westline Trend" section.

 

The Westline Trend also comprises strong intercepts drilled in 2018 at target
area Evloimeni. Below we have tabulated the best holes from each of the five
target areas along the Westline Trend. Gold equivalent grades range from
1.63g/t to 8.04g/t, while when expressed in copper equivalent grade, these
range from 1.00% to 4.94%."

 

Table 1. Summary of the best intercepts in each of the five target areas along
the Westline Trend (the holes at Orchard, Evlim and Evlim South are those
newly assayed, while the hole at Westline was announced in December). Depths
are reported as downhole values.

 

 Target       Hole ID    From    To      Interval  Au      Ag      Cu    Zn    CuEq(1)  AuEq(1)

                         (m)     (m)     (m)       (g/t)   (g/t)   (%)   (%)   (%)      (g/t)
 Orchard      21OR01     172.35  196.40  24.05     1.69    5.85    0.11  1.48  1.73     2.82
              Including  185.50  191.20  5.70      2.27    6.32    0.42  5.99  4.05     6.58
 Westline     21WL03     98.70   120.10  21.40     1.75    19.97   0.08  0.40  1.46     2.37
              Including  100.20  103.50  3.30      6.55    90.35   0.11  0.28  4.94     8.04
 Evlim        20EV03     147.90  159.50  11.60     2.53    8.94    0.65  0.97  2.63     4.28
 Evloimeni    18EV02     8.75    38.55   29.80     1.10    2.75    0.28  0.07  1.00     1.63
 Evlim South  21EV07     59.00   73.00   14.00     1.12    10.35   0.08  0.78  1.13     1.84

 

(1)   Assumptions used in USD for the copper and gold equivalent
calculations were metal prices of Au @ $1897/oz, Ag @ $23.97/oz, Cu @
$4.50/lb, Zn @ $1.64/lb and recovery is assumed to be 100% as no metallurgical
test data is available.

It is noteworthy that the two other main explorers on the island, Caerus
Resources and Venus Minerals have also had surprisingly gold-rich encounters,
with Venus (our neighbour with whom we shared our drill) announcing results
just last week. On the Westline Trend, it is quite possible that the gold
zones are indicating that there are proximal copper rich deposits nearby.
Copper rich zones in Cyprus VMS systems tend to be smaller and more highly
concentrated, while the gold zones have a much broader footprint, and so
encountered more readily. The zone discovered at Orchard, for example, was
polymetallic, with particularly strong shows of gold and zinc, but copper and
silver were also present. However, the gold and silver encounters are highly
promising in their own right.

 

The drilling at Orchard was testing coincident geochemical and geophysical
anomalies, obtained from the 2021 gravity and AMT surveys, adjacent to a
large, regional structure. A single diamond drill hole, in 2018, had targeted
the same structure and intercepted encouraging alteration (18AS01 - 1.10m @
3.06g/t Au, 29.20g/t Ag, 0.11% Cu, 1.14% Zn & Pb 1.84% from 78.40m) but
with additional geophysics it was determined that this drill hole may have
stopped short of testing a deeper zone of mineralisation. With increased
targeting confidence coming from the 2021 geophysical campaigns, drill hole
21OR01 was designed to test deeper and intercepted three separate gold-rich
polymetallic mineralised zones, including from 185.50m depth a 5.70m thick
zone of semi-massive sulphides grading 2.27g/t Au, 6.32g/t Ag 0.42% Cu, 5.99%
Zn within a broader 24.05m thick mineralised interval.

 

The mineralisation in 21OR01 consists of semi-massive sulphides
(sphalerite-pyrite-chalcopyrite) hosted by an intensely quartz-carbonate-clay
altered pillow basalt breccia and is interpreted to be a stratabound zone of
mineralisation with potential for significant extensions. Follow-up work on
the many collected data sets is currently being undertaken to identify
potential extensions of this gold-rich polymetallic mineralisation.

 

Drilling at the Evlim South and Evlim target followed on from the encouraging
gold results in the 2020 and 2018 diamond drilling. A significant focus was
placed on targeting extensions to this known gold mineralisation. The drilling
stepped out to the west, south and southwest and identified that the historic
near surface gold mineralisation from previous programmes continued at depth
in these directions. Mineralisation is associated with polymetallic quartz
veining and zones of silica clay alteration within pillow basalts.

 

The addition of these latest encouraging drill results provides further strong
evidence of a significant gold-rich polymetallic mineralised trend of over
12km extending from the historic Limni mine in the northwest, through the
Evlim and Orchard target areas, to the Westline target area in the
southeast.  An extensive 2022 field work programme is being designed to
further test this underexplored mineralised trend in addition to further
drill-testing of the gold-rich polymetallic mineralised zones at Orchard and
Westline.

 

These results coupled with the encouraging results from the Westline target
have provided several exciting targets for follow up field work and diamond
drilling in 2022. In particular, it is believed that these thick gold-rich
polymetallic sulphide zones intercepted at Westline and now Orchard are
lateral gold-rich zones that can transition into copper-zinc-gold-silver rich
cores of VMS-style sulphide deposits such as found at the Skouriotissa and
Mavrovouni mines in Cyprus.  The 2022 exploration programme will be focused
on defining and drill-testing the most prospective massive sulphide targets in
the vicinity of these gold-rich polymetallic zones at Westline and Orchard.
 

 

Table 2: Significant intersections from the 2021 diamond drilling at Orchard,
Evlim and Evlim South. Depths are reported as downhole values.

 Target       Hole ID    From    To      Interval  Au      Ag      Cu    Zn

                         (m)     (m)     (m)       (g/t)   (g/t)   (%)   (%)
 Orchard      21OR01     122.50  129.20  6.70      0.73    52.50   0.01  0.55
              and        172.35  196.40  24.05     1.69    5.85    0.11  1.48
              Including  185.50  191.20  5.70      2.27    6.32    0.42  5.99
              and        207.75  220.10  12.35     0.75    3.45    0.11  0.76
 Evlim        21EV08     134.00  155.90  21.90     1.60    3.47
              Including  138.80  148.30  9.50      2.50    4.56
              Including  145.90  148.30  2.40      5.41    2.41
 Evlim South  21EV07     56.00   97.35   41.35     0.54    4.87
              Including  59.00   80.50   21.50     0.85    7.86
              Including  59.00   73.00   14.00     1.12    10.35
              21EV10     52.55   65.40   12.85     0.84    5.07

 Note: These mineralised intervals are interpreted to be approximate true
thicknesses

 

Sampling and Assaying Procedures

 

Core samples are processed using industry standard practices at the ALS Rosia
Montana and ALS Loughrea Laboratories, including a 30 g fire assay (Au-AA25)
for gold and ME-MS41 for copper and other elements. ALS are an internationally
accredited global analytical service provider. HQ and PQ size core samples
were split longitudinally in half using a diamond saw. One half was retained
in the core tray for reference and the other half sent for assay.

 

Each batch of samples sent to ALS began and ended with a blank and a certified
reference material (CRM). The blank is used to check for backgrounds and
interference and the CRM is used to check for data accuracy and precision. In
addition to the above, a CRM is inserted approximately every 30th sample and a
blank approximately every 50th sample. Duplicates are also submitted
approximately every 50th sample with the half core section being split into
two quarter core samples, both being submitted for assays to check for data
reproducibility. Additional random quality assurance and quality control
(QAQC) samples were also inserted during sampling. As a minimum, in any batch
of samples sent to ALS for analysis, 10% are for QAQC purposes. Within the
2021 drilling campaign over 11% of samples were sent for QAQC purposes and all
of these passed the internal thresholds set by the company.

 

Qualified Person

 

The information in this announcement that relates to exploration results is
based on information compiled by Dave Cliff, who is a Member of the Institute
of Materials, Minerals and Mining and a Chartered Engineer. He has reviewed
this announcement and consents to the inclusion in the announcement of the
matters based on his information in the form and context in which it appears
being consistent with the adoption of the JORC reporting code

 

Placement  admission

 

The company is pleased to announce that 10,000,000 shares from the recent
placement have now been admitted for trading, and 5,000,000  investor
warrants and 73,714 broker warrants are to be issued

 

About Chesterfield Resources

Chesterfield Resources is a copper focussed exploration company centred around
a newly-acquired large exploration project in Labrador Canada, together with
its existing project in Cyprus.

 

The exploration technical team is led by two highly experienced industry
geologists Neil O'Brien, formally SVP Exploration & New Business
Development, Lundin Mining, and Dave Cliff, previously Head of Exploration
Europe, Rio Tinto.

 

The company has also acquired a major backer. In December 2020, Polymetal
International, the FTSE100 mining group, made a 23% investment in
Chesterfield via a placing of new shares, as strategic backing for the
company's project in Cyprus.

 

In Canada, the Adeline copper project is located within the western half of
the Central Mineral Belt, a 260 km long metal-rich belt located in Central
Labrador, eastern Canada. The Adeline property is comprised of five contiguous
mineral licenses totalling 29,725 ha (297.3 km2), covering the full extent of
the Seal Lake basin, an approximate 40km long by 10 km wide geological
structure which contains some 250 copper prospects.  The project is close to
the regional service hub of Goose Bay.

 

The Seal Lake basin has seen extensive regional exploration over the years
resulting in a rich exploration database. Trenching and channel sampling has
established the presence of laterally continuous high-grade copper beds.
However there has been relatively little drill testing, largely due to the
lack of road access. Where sulphide mineralisation becomes more concentrated
the grades are extremely high, commonly 10-30% Cu due to the high tenor of the
principal copper minerals, chalcocite and bornite.

 

The company has recently completed the compilation and re-analysis of all
historic regional exploration datasets with the latest geophysical modelling
and visualisation software tools. It has assembled a team of expert
consultants who have decades of experience in this belt.

 

An initial field season, which has just been completed, focussed on both
previously identified, as well as new prospect areas. This is expected to
generate a significant pipeline of quality drill targets to test for
significant extents of bedded copper-silver mineralisation. The company is
currently progressing project planning and permitting applications.

 

In Cyprus the company holds the largest mineral exploration licence area of
any operator on the island.

Cyprus is regarded as a prospective copper-zinc-gold-silver exploration
location. It is a member of the EU, and its legal system is based on English
common law. Chesterfield identified a value-creative exploration opportunity
due to minimal exploration activity on the island in the last 48 years since
the invasion by Turkey in 1974 that put a halt to what had been a very
active mining industry.

 

While copper is the main exploration target, it is noteworthy that gold was
not historically exploited in Cyprus. Gold has been encountered in several
locations in the exploration target area and is an important part of the
exploration objective. This also includes a waste dump opportunity that will
be appraised, called Limni South Gold and an encouraging, potentially enlarged
mineralised zone described above.

 

The company announced high grade polymetallic results from its 2020 drilling
campaign and embarked in 2021 on an enlarged integrated geophysics, percussion
and diamond drilling exploration campaign. The company has now completed its
diamond drilling campaign for 2021 and has reported a significant gold
mineralised system at its Westline target. In addition, the company has
recently announced assays of new polymetallic mineralisation at Orchard and
encouraging gold mineralisation at Evlim. This has established the
identification of a significant 12k long geological trend which links a number
of mineralised systems. The company's forthcoming 2022 exploration campaign
will focus on this trend and the possibility of further discoveries along it.

 

Chesterfield Resources is committed to world-class environmental standards in
all of its operations that are focussed on the exploration for copper, which
is an essential metal to developing clean technology projects worldwide. The
company hopes to develop industry and opportunities for the benefit of Canada
and the Republic of Cyprus.

 

 

Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) Disclosure

 

Certain information contained in this announcement would have been deemed
inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of Regulation (EU) No
596/2014 until the release of this announcement.

 

**ENDS**

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

 

Chesterfield Resources plc:

Martin French, Executive Chairman
                Tel: +44(0) 7901 552277

 

Panmure Gordon (UK) Limited (Joint Broker):        Tel: +44 (0)207 886
2500

John Prior & Hugh Rich

 

First Equity Limited (joint Broker):

Jason
Robertson
      Tel: +44 (0) 207 330

 

 

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