Alba Mineral Resources plc (AIM: ALBA) is pleased to announce that the second phase of the Company’s underground drilling programme at the Clogau-St David’s Gold Mine (“Clogau” or the “Mine”) has commenced.
Key Points
· The start of Phase 2 underground diamond drilling at Clogau-St David’s.
· This follows the successful 559m Phase 1 underground drilling programme completed in October 2020.
· Phase 1 intersected what Alba believes to be the westerly, 550-metre extension of the Clogau Main Lode, source of most historic production at Clogau-St David’s Gold Mine.
· The main focus of Phase 2 is to continue with the exploration and delineation of the Main Lode to the north.
· Phase 2 surface drilling is also progressing well, with two holes completed to date.
Alba’s Executive Chairman, George Frangeskides, commented:
“We are delighted to be drilling underground again, following our successful Phase 1 underground drilling campaign which concluded last October. Meanwhile, Phase 2 of our surface drilling continues to progress very well, with the first two completed holes intersecting the projected lodes as predicted by our internal geological model. The continuity of the lodes at depth is very encouraging news indeed.”
“This is the first time we have drilled simultaneously both from the surface and underground at Clogau-St David’s. That is a measure of our determination to maximise the progress we make during this spring/summer field season towards proving up zones for future gold production.”
Phase 2 Underground Drilling
Alba is pleased to announce the start of Phase 2 underground diamond drilling at the Clogau-St David’s Gold Mine in north Wales. This second phase follows the successful 559m drilling programme which was completed at the end of October 2020. In that programme, drill hole L002 intersected a quartz lode which returned a significant gold value of 1.79 g/t over a width of 0.25 metres. Alba has interpreted this intersection as belonging to the Jack Williams Lode, thus representing a projected 550-metre extension to the Main Lode.
This Phase 2 programme is scheduled to comprise 12 holes drilled from 3 platforms for a total of 1460m. The main focus of the programme is to continue with the exploration and delineation of the Main Lode to the north – see Figure 1 in the PDF version of this RNS. However, three holes will also be drilled to the south to test for a southern lode structure the surface expression of which is marked by soil sample anomalies. Figure 2 (in the PDF version of this RNS) is a 3D rendition of the drill programme with the expected intercepts marked in yellow. Details of the drillholes are set out in Table 1.
Alba will undertake the programme employing its Kempe U3-9BQ Pneumatic drill machine.
Table 1: Details of azimuth/dip and planned length/depth for each of the 12 planned drillholes. Depending on results and progress, these details may be adjusted in the field.
Update on Phase 2 Surface Drilling
The commencement of the second phase of the surface drilling programme at the Clogau-St David’s Gold Mine commenced on 12 April 2021 (see the Company’s RNS of the same date) and will consist of an 8-10 hole programme for around 2,000 metres in total. This phase of drilling is targeting the 550m Main Lode extension indicated by the underground drilling last year.
Initial intersections from the first two completed holes have been positive. Both holes (JW 001, final depth 240.3m, and JW 002, final depth 204.3m) intersected the projected lodes as predicted. JW001 intersected the Main Lode extension at 34m and the Grandfathers Lode extension at 190m. The Grandfathers intersection indicates that this lode extends for at least 60m downdip. See Figures 4 and 5 in the PDF version of this RNS.
JW002 intersected the Main Lode extension at 95m and the 710 Lode extension at 190m at about 40m below the Llechfraith Level. The continuity of the lodes at depth is very encouraging from the perspective of increasing possible resources in the future. Both lodes indicate a plunge toward the SW which is identical to the Llechfraith Lode drilled in Phase 1. The third Phase 2 hole, JW003, has now started drilling.
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.
