REG - Great Western Mining - Mill Update

Great Western MiningAnnouncement

23/04/2025 07:00

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RNS Number : 7285F  Great Western Mining Corp. plc  23 April 2025

GREAT WESTERN MINING CORPORATION PLC

("Great Western", "GWM" or the "Company")

 

MILL UPDATE

 

Great Western Mining Corporation PLC (AIM - GWMO, Euronext Growth - 8GW),
which is exploring and developing gold, silver and copper targets in the
Walker Lane belt of Nevada, USA, provides the following update on its Western
Milling joint venture.

 

·    Mill site construction substantially complete

·    Environmental permits in place and confirmed

·    State Mine Inspection clears path for start-up

·    Proposed upscaling for commercial gold production

 

Great Western chairman Brian Hall commented:  "The price of gold has never
been higher than it is today. The Western Milling Joint Venture began as a
very low-cost project to process its partners' own material and has achieved a
great deal with limited funds, despite frustrating delays.  Initial trial
production could begin at any time but, to become an effective and significant
revenue generator, we now consider that Western Milling's capacity should be
expanded with external finance and independent engineering and we are in
early-stage discussions to achieve this."

 

Great Western is a 50% party to the Western Milling LLC joint venture
("Western Milling") which has been created to construct and develop a mill for
processing gold and silver from mine waste and shallow ore deposits, based at
Sodaville, just south of Mina, Mineral County, Nevada and adjacent to state
highway 95.  Muletown Enterprizes LLC. ("Muletown"), a Nevada-based mining
contractor, holds the other 50% in Western Milling and owns the mill site and
the water rights, which it provides to the joint venture for a nominal rental.
The joint venture was formed primarily to process mine waste which is
available on claims held by Great Western and on patented land owned by an
affiliate of Muletown.

 

Construction of the mill site was substantially completed in late 2024
resulting in an impressive structure, on a site which will allow for expansion
of processing capacity beyond the needs of the joint venture partners for
their own material.  It has now been prepared for trial production, involving
a single gravity circuit.

 

On the advice of the Nevada State Inspector of Mines following a visit in
January this year, the mill is now ready to start trial production subject to
minor modifications and final hook-up.  Muletown has been responsible for a
competent construction job, although this has taken longer than originally
anticipated, in part due to incorporating features which would allow for
expanded operations at a later stage.  However, due to ongoing contractual
commitments, the small Muletown team has not had the capacity to begin
non-stop operations at the mill, while 'stop-start' operations would be
expensive and inefficient, yielding no meaningful returns for shareholders in
the short term.

 

Given the prevailing record price of gold, the absence of any other commercial
milling operation in the locality and a number of recent approaches from other
local claim owners with available material, the joint venture partners are
planning to expand the Western Milling project.  This will require some
third-party financing and the introduction of a specialised mine engineering
company with the relevant expertise and a proven track record to upscale the
mill and bring it on to full commercial production.

 

The Company is in early-stage discussions with financing parties and has
identified and received initial proposals from two mine engineering houses
with the right qualifications to manage this phase and subsequently monitor
commercial operations.

 

The Board of Great Western considers that third party financing and the
introduction of a dedicated, specialist team for the project will accelerate
the expansion of the mill's operational capacity to generate meaningful gold
revenues without further recourse to shareholders for this purpose, enabling
the Company to remain focused on its highly promising copper projects and gold
exploration prospects.

 

For further information:

 

 Great Western Mining Corporation PLC
 Brian Hall, Chairman                                              +44 207 933 8780
 Max Williams, Finance Director                                    +44 207 933 8780

 Davy (NOMAD, Euronext Growth Listing Sponsor & Joint Broker)

 Brian Garrahy                                                     +353 1 679 6363

 SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP (Joint Broker)

 Ewan Leggat/Adam Cowl                                             +44 203 470 0470

 Walbrook PR (PR advisers)

 Nick Rome/Joseph Walker                                           +44 207 933 8783

 

 

Notes to Editors

The Company has a large tract of acreage in Mineral County, Nevada. The area
consists of rugged, mountainous terrain, which means that large parts of it
remain under-explored. Mineral potential is hosted by the regional Walker Lane
Structural Belt, the largest structural and metallogenic belt in Nevada, yet
one of the least explored in recent times, with gold, silver and copper
currently produced in Mineral County.  Great Western has seven distinct
concession areas which offer the potential for exploiting (1) short term gold
and silver deposits and (2) long-term, world-class copper deposits.

 

Six of the Company's properties are in the west of Mineral County and the
seventh and most recent acquisition, the Olympic Gold Project, is in the east
of the county, some 50 miles from the main group.  All the Company's claims
are 100% owned. Claims at the Eastside Mine Group have been contributed to a
pooling agreement with Bronco Creek Exploration, Inc. and in addition the
Company participates in the Huntoon Mine Area Cooperation Agreement with
landowner-neighbour Crowne Point Resources with whom it shares resources.
Great Western's small exploration team is supported by locally based
consultants and contractors.

 

The state of Nevada is one of the world's most mining friendly
jurisdictions.  While tightly regulated and environmentally conscious, Nevada
welcomes the mining industry.  Great Western takes care to ensure that its
claims are maintained in good standing and all regulations observed.

 

There are numerous gold and silver prospects on the Company's acreage,
including extensive historic mine workings which offer the opportunity for
secondary recovery. The Company is party to a 50-50 joint venture known as
Western Milling LLC which is constructing a mill to process pre-mined material
for secondary recovery of gold and silver.

 

Furthermore, through extensive drilling over a five-year period, GWM has
established a Mineral Resource on its first target area known as M2, of 4.3
million tonnes at 0.45% copper, for 19,000 tonnes of contained copper metal.
This resource has been independently reported in accordance with JORC
guidelines.

 

GWM has also established an Inferred Resource Estimate of 31,000 tonnes
grading 1.6 g/t gold and 3.0 g/t silver in tailings associated with the OMCO
Mine at the Olympic Gold Project.  Additionally, exploration targets have
been independently reported as follows:

 

·    3,400 - 6,400 tonnes grading between 0.5 and 1.2 g/t Au and 1.2 and
2.1 g/t Ag in the substrate beneath the tailings volume at the Olympic Mine.

·    9,000 - 12,000 tonnes grading between 0.9 and 2.4 g/t Au and 2.0 and
5.1 g/t Ag in a coarse stockpile at Olympic Mine.

·    4,200 - 7,700 tonnes grading between 40 and 140 g/t Ag and 0.3 and
0.3 g/t Au in spoil heaps at Mineral Jackpot.

 

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