REG - Empire Metals Ltd - Gindalbie Project Update

Empire MetalsAnnouncement

24/02/2022 07:18

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RNS Number : 6892C  Empire Metals Limited  24 February 2022

 

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Empire Metals Limited / AIM: EEE / Sector: Natural Resources

24 February 2022

Empire Metals Limited ('Empire' or the 'Company')

 

Tribute Agreement Signed and Drilling Commenced at the Highly Prospective
Gindalbie Gold Project

 

Empire Metals Limited, the AIM-quoted resource exploration and development
company, is pleased to announce that the Company has now signed a binding
Tribute Agreement ('Agreement') with Maher Mining Contractors Pty Ltd ('Maher
Mining') for the Gindalbie Gold Project ('Gindalbie'), located near historic
gold mining town of Gindalbie, and adjacent to Empire's Eclipse Gold Project
('Eclipse').  The Company has now commenced an exploratory drilling campaign
aimed at testing several priority targets around historical mine workings.

 

Highlights:

·      The Agreement gives Empire the exclusive right to explore,
develop and mine within a granted area on Maher Mining's 100% owned mining
lease M27/158, which sits adjacent to the eastern border of the Eclipse
licence area and extends the current area for exploration targets by over 200%
to a total of 943ha.

·      Several historical mine shafts are located within the granted
area, and the ground in close proximity to these shafts has been subject to
recent near surface exploration which has generated a number of high-grade
gold targets from shallow RAB and RC drilling.

·      The main trend containing the Company's Eclipse and Jack's Dream
deposits aligns with several of the old workings to the southeast including
the Golden Puzzle, Laurel and Bulletin mines. Other, sub-parallel north-west -
south-east striking trends have been identified which include the Homeward
Bound and South Gippsland #3 mines.

·      Under the Agreement Empire will pay Maher Mining A$250,000 for an
initial 6-month exploration term. An additional A$250,000 is payable to Maher
Mining if Empire elects to extend the exploration period by a further 18
months. Minimum expenditure commitments during the two stages of exploration
are A$250,000 for each period by Empire.

·      Empire has commenced an RC drilling programme at Gindalbie with
the main objective of testing for high-grade gold lodes within the transition
and fresh rock, immediately below or adjacent to several of the historic mine
shafts (and the small pit at Bud's Find).

·      The programme consists of 16 RC holes for 1,610m, drilled on the
back of the RC drill campaign at Eclipse, which commenced on 15 February 2022.

 

Shaun Bunn, Managing Director, said: "The signing of the Tribute Agreement and
commencement of drilling at Gindalbie represents a significant milestone in
our development plans for Empire. We are continuing to build up a
comprehensive portfolio of exploration projects and mining opportunities here
in Australia and with the likelihood of finding additional high-grade gold
mineralisation at Gindalbie, we see the potential to significantly add to the
scale of our gold mineral inventory at Eclipse.

"A diamond core drilling programme is planned for Eclipse to build up a better
understanding of the structural controls and improve the geological model,
expected to commence early March. By building a better understanding of the
structural geology at Eclipse, and by identifying highly prospective targets
along the mineralised trends traversing the Gindalbie project area, we will be
able to develop a comprehensive and targeted exploration plan for both the
Eclipse and Gindalbie projects with a view to moving rapidly to a development
phase."

Gindalbie Gold Project Background

The Gindalbie Gold Project lies adjacent to Empire's high-grade Eclipse Gold
Project, a 303ha mining lease located near the historic gold mining town of
Gindalbie, situated 55km north-east of Kalgoorlie (refer Figure 1). Empire
Metals currently holds a 75% interest in the Eclipse Gold Project, together
with an option to acquire the remaining 25% interest.

 

Figure 1. Location Map - Location of Eclipse Gold Project (red), which
contains the old Gindalbie townsite, and mining lease ML 27/158 (blue) which
contains the Gindalbie Gold Project.

 

Gindalbie was an active gold mining centre around the turn of the last century
with most gold production being in the period 1887 to 1913, with some in the
late 1930s to early 1940s.  Total recorded production up to the end of 1913
was 44,622 tonnes of ore for 40,643 oz Au (at an average grade of 28.33 g/t
Au).

The Gindalbie Gold Project consists of the granted area contained within
mining lease M27/158, which sits adjacent to the eastern border of the Eclipse
licence area, and extends the exploration targets an additional 2km along the
Eclipse lodes trend, plus a further 1km to the north and 3km to the south
(refer Figure 2).  The "granted" area covers 643 ha of highly prospective
ground containing a number of historic gold mines located along a series of
northwest-southeast striking mineralised trends.

 

Figure 2.  Granted area within ML27/158 showing major mineralised
sub-parallel trends and location of several of the significant old mine shafts

 

The main trend containing the Eclipse and Jack's Dream deposits aligns with
several of the old workings to the south-east including Golden Puzzle and
Bulletin.

 

 

 

 

Initial Exploration Programme

Empire has commenced an RC drilling programme at Gindalbie with the main
objective of testing for high-grade gold lodes within the transition and fresh
rock, immediately below or adjacent to several of the historic mine shafts
(and the small pit at Bud's Find). The programme consists of 16 RC holes for
1,610m, drilled on the back of the RC drill campaign at Eclipse, which
commenced on 15 February 2022.

The programme has as initial targets five distinct mineralised areas, selected
based on the location of historical workings, soil geochemistry mapping and
previous RAB/RC drill results, being Homeward Bound, Laurel-Bulletin, South
Gippsland #3, Golden Puzzle and Bud's Find (Figure 3.)

 

Figure 3. Plan view of location of planned drill collars and previous
significant drilling intercepts.

 

The principal targets of the RC drilling are shear-hosted lodes which, as
observed at Eclipse and elsewhere within the Gindalbie region, tend to strike
300-340 degrees with sub-vertical to steep SW dips. Some bucky extensional
quartz veining may be centred on the shear zone and these have oblique
orientations as observed from the near surface workings.  This type of
veining may or may not be important economically although important to note
that these structures were partially mined at Gippsland South #3. At Eclipse
however, these bucky vein structures have given low values (<0.5g/t Au) in
the diamond core and hence this drilling is seeking to intercept more
continuous laminated quartz lodes within the shears.  At Eclipse, and also
observed at Buds Find pit, there are centimetre scale shear parallel quartz
veinlets, which are associated with silicification and strong alteration in
fresh rock, and these appear to host the high-grade gold mineralisation.
Another key indicator is arsenopyrite, which may occur in association with the
high-grade gold mineralisation.

The following cross-sections illustrate the key structures targeted:

 

Figure 4. A cross-section view of Homeward Bound showing planned RC drilling
in relation to historical drilling intercepts.

 

Figure 5. View of cross-section at Bud's Find, showing location of drilling in
relation to historical drilling intercepts.

 

Key Terms of the Tribute Agreement

Empire has entered into a Tribute Agreement with Maher Mining, giving Empire
the exclusive right to explore, develop and mine within a granted area on
Maher Mining's 100% owned mining lease M27/158, subject to the following key
terms:

Ø In consideration of Empire paying an amount of A$250,000 Empire shall have
an initial period of six months to explore within the 'Granted Area' of the
tenement and will commit to an expenditure of not less than A$250,000 during
that period (the 'Exploration Period').

Ø Empire can elect to extend the Exploration Period by a further 18 months
(the 'Extended Period') to carry out further exploration and complete mining
studies, subject to paying Maher Mining A$250,000 and committing to a further
expenditure of not less than A$250,000 during the Extended Period.

Ø If, within the Extended Period, an economically mineable resource is
established, as determined by a Pre-Feasibility Study (as that term is defined
in the JORC Code 2012), then Empire may elect to mine the relevant part or
parts of the Granted Area upon the terms and conditions set out in the Tribute
Agreement.

Ø If, at the end of the Extended Period, further exploration and mining
studies are required to complete a Pre-Feasibility Study then Empire has the
option to extend the Extended Period by up to 12 months, subject to paying
Maher Mining the amount of A$250,000.

Ø If Empire elects to commence mining operations and subject to all statutory
approvals being met, then Empire will:

·    pay Maher Mining the amount of A$500,000 within ninety (90) days of
the granting of a mining permit;

·    grant Maher Mining a 2% net smelter royalty on all gold and other
commodities produced;

·    guarantee to pay Maher Mining an additional 2% on gross sales price
for any gold production sold between A$2,400/oz and A$2,799/oz, increasing to
3% on gross sales price for any gold production sold at A$2,800/oz or above;
and

·    guarantee to spend not less than A$250,000 on exploration per annum
on the Granted Area over the subsequent four (4) years;

in consideration for the rights to all ores mined during the granted term of
the mining licence, due to expire 3 November 2034.

 

Competent Person Statement

The technical information in this report that relates to the Gindalbie Gold
Project has been compiled by Ms Louisa Stokes, an employee of Eclipse
Exploration Pty Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Empire. Ms Stokes is a
Member of the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. Ms Stokes is
employed in the role of Exploration Geologist and has been planning the
exploration activities for the Eclipse-Gindalbie project areas. Ms Stokes 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 Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves'. Ms
Stokes consents to the inclusion in this release of the matters based on her
information in the form and context in which it appears.

 

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, as incorporated into UK law by the European Union (Withdrawal) Act
2018, until the release of this announcement.

 

**ENDS**

 

For further information please visit www.empiremetals.co.uk
(http://www.empiremetals.co.uk)   or contact:

 

 Shaun Bunn                                                         Empire Metals Ltd                                                                             Company                                                                 Tel: 020 7907 9327
 Greg Kuenzel                                                       Empire Metals Ltd                                                                             Company                                                                 Tel: 020 7907 9327
 Ewan Leggat                                                        S. P. Angel Corporate Finance LLP                                                             Nomad & Broker                                                          Tel: 020 3470 0470
 Adam Cowl                                                          S. P. Angel Corporate Finance LLP                                                             Nomad & Broker                                                          Tel: 020 3470 0470
 Damon Heath                                                        Shard Capital Partners LLP                                                                    Joint Broker                                                            Tel: 020 7186 9950
 Susie Geliher                                                      St Brides Partners                                                                            PR                                                                      Tel: 020 7236 1177
                                                                    Ltd
 Selina Lovell                                                      St Brides Partners                                                                            PR                                                                      Tel: 020 7236 1177
                                                                    Ltd

 
 

About Empire Metals Limited
Empire Metals is an AIM-listed (LON: EEE) exploration and resource development company with a project portfolio comprising gold interests in Australia and Austria.
The Company strategy is to develop a pipeline of projects at different stages in the development curve. Its current focus is on the high-grade Eclipse Gold Project in Western Australia, with the goal to expand through the addition of further projects in the region to develop a viable and compelling portfolio of precious metals assets.
Empire also holds a portfolio of three precious metals projects located in an historically high-grade gold production region comprising the Rotgulden, Schonberg and Walchen prospects in central-southern Austria.
The Board continues to evaluate opportunities through which to realise the value of its wider portfolio and reviews further assets which meet the Company's investment criteria.

 

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