Greatland Gold PLC (AIM:GGP) Rudall Exploration Results

Greatland Gold plc (AIM:GGP; Greatland or Company) is pleased to announce the results of its 2022 drilling programme at the 100%-owned Rudall project in the Paterson Province of Western Australia. 

The Ramses target is located within the Rudall tenement, 20km southeast of Greatland’s flagship Havieron gold-copper project.  The single drill hole testing the Ramses target was supported by a Western Australian Exploration Incentive Scheme (EIS) grant (see RNS Announcement titled “Greatland awarded a drilling grant for Paterson province exploration project” dated 10 May 2022).

Highlights

§ Hole RAD002 intersected 18.25m @ 22.0g/t Au from 924m (uncut) to end of hole (EOH) at 942.25m, including 1m @ 393g/t Au from 926m .  Significantly, anomalous copper, silver, bismuth and arsenic assays were recorded within the broad, altered intersection

§ The hole ended due to drilling limitations and mineralisation is open at depth

§ Structural and geochemical work and a future downhole electromagnetic survey are required to refine the potential for mineralisation to extend into shallower positions within the system

Greatland Managing Director, Shaun Day, commented:

“Our recent drilling at Rudall has delivered a significant and high-grade result.”

“While recognising the high-grade intercept is at depth, the strong gold mineralisation and supporting pathfinder geochemistry in consistently altered and veined basement sediments continues to highlight the outstanding prospectivity within Greatland’s tenement package and the Paterson Province in general.”

“These results, together with our continual improvement in understanding of the covered basement geology, stratigraphy and structure, increase our confidence in the prospectivity of the region, and our ability to vector towards intrusion related and other styles of mineralised systems on our extensive ground holdings.”

Overview of the 2022 Rudall Programme

The Ramses target, within the Rudall project (Figure 1), was identified as a potential Havieron-style body from interpretation and re-modelling of regional airborne magnetic and gravity data. Following the granting of EIS funding for drill testing, a small, ground moving loop electromagnetic survey utilising an Abitibi-RMIT (ARMIT) sensor probe was completed prior to drilling in an attempt to detect a conductive body.  Results were inconclusive due to the thickness of cover. To further refine the drill target, the magnetic anomaly was forward modelled by Adelaide Mining Geophysics ( Figure 3 ). Modelling estimated cover to extend to a depth of between 300m and 700m over a 500m wide vertical roughly cylindrical body.

Diamond drill hole RAD002 was drilled to a depth of 942.25m to ensure success in penetrating through the cover into the Proterozoic basement and magnetic target zone.

Table 1 : 2022 Ramses target – drill hole collar data

Figure 1 : Paterson Province – Greatland tenements (including Greatland’s Rudall tenement), aeromagnetic imagery and mineral occurrences

Figure 2 : Ramses aeromagnetic target, ground electromagnetic grid and drilling on aeromagnetics.

Ramses Target

Drilling intersected the Permian Canning Basin sediment contact unconformity at a depth of 566m downhole (approximately 557m vertical).  The underlying target Proterozoic Yeneena sedimentary stratigraphy consisted of generally sub-horizontally bedded, fine-grained sandstones interbedded with variably calcareous, silty sandstone to limestone rich sedimentary units.

A second, angular unconformity was noted within basement rocks at 924m downhole, where barren, sub-horizontally bedded, dark, fine-grained carbonaceous shaley siltstones overlay the pale green-brown, silica-carbonate-sericite altered and mineralised sandstone package ( Figures 3 and 4 ).  Bedding in the mineralised unit below 924m displays open folding with a maximum dip of 67^o about an E-W fold axis, with a sub-vertical axial planar foliation.  Two cross-cutting vein sets, the first dipping 21^o towards the south and a steep set dipping ~70^o towards 240^o (SSW) were noted in the altered sandstones which appear linked to the gold mineralisation and alteration.  The presence of iron oxide-stained sediments at such great depth indicates potential uplift and exposure to air and water at some earlier stage.

Table 2 : RAD002 – significant assays

Note: Au Intersections at 0.1g/t Au COG with maximum 4m internal waste; Au grade uncut.  If the peak Au grade of 393g/t Au is cut to 10g/t Au; the interval becomes 18.25m @ 1.04g/t Au.

Figure 3 : Schematic cross section 473400E looking east

The entire sandstone sequence below the interpreted unconformity was altered and mineralised, ( Figure 4 and Table 2 ), including several narrow intervals of significantly anomalous multi-element pathfinder elements such as bismuth, arsenic, silver and copper (Appendix 1). 

Subsequent laboratory screen fire assay check analyses for gold confirmed the single metre, high-grade assay and overall mineralised intersection tenor.  No bias between the fine fraction and coarse fraction assays in the screen fire results was noted, giving a high degree of confidence in the initial results.

Figure 4 : RAD002 – Angular unconformity, breccia – quartz vein contact at 924m; into the mineralised and oxidised calc-arenite sedimentary sequence

Next Steps

The presence of steep dipping veining within the mineralised zone increases the potential that the mineralisation extends to the top of the basement at approximately ~550m below surface. For context, the Havieron deposit occurs at ~420m below surface.

To test this, further structural and geochemical work along with a downhole electromagnetic survey of hole RAD002 to identify any off-hole conductors, will refine the potential for the mineralisation to extend to a shallower position within the basement.

 Contact

For further information, please contact:

Greatland Gold plc

Shaun Day, Managing Director  |  [email protected]