Rambler’s Infill Diamond Drilling Program Continues to Demonstrate Improved Copper Mineralization in Planned Future Production Areas at the Ming Mine
London, England & Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada – Rambler Metals and Mining plc (AIM: RMM) (“Rambler” or “the Company”), a copper and gold producer, explorer and developer provides an update to its on-going 2021 underground diamond drill program at the Ming Copper-Gold Mine, Baie Verte, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.
HIGHLIGHTS
The team has completed 9,068 meters of the planned 15,200 meters infill drill program. The program is aimed at 4 key targets important to near-term mine production planning (Figure 1):
1. Lower Footwall Zone (LFZ) 510-535 level: drilled from the 411 level; drilling complete; assays in progress and reported on 7 May 2021;
2. LFZ 735-760 level: drilled from the 620 level; drilling complete; assays in progress and partial results reported on 2 August 2021 and in this press release;
3. Ming North Zone (MNZ) 785 level: drilled from the 785 level; drilling in progress; assays in progress and initial results reported in this press release;
4. Upper Footwall Zone (UFZ) below 790 level: planned to drill from the 620 level; scheduled in Q4 2021.
Diamond drill highlights not previously announced include:
Lower Footwall Zone: 735-760 Level Results drilled from 620 Level
· R21-620-08
o 35.7 metres at 1.68% copper, including 12.0 metres at 3.00% copper
· R21-620-09
o 4.0 metres at 2.40% copper (MNZ)
o 14.0 metres at 2.23% copper, including 6.0 metres at 3.12% copper
· R21-620-09b
o 2.0 metres at 2.57% copper (MNZ)
o 10.86 metres at 2.12% copper
o 24.0 metres at 2.44% copper, including 5.0 metres at 3.98% copper and 8.0 metres at 2.54% copper
Ming North Zone: 785 Level Results drilled from 785 Level
· R21-785-01
o 25.44 metres at 2.06% copper, including 8.44 metres at 3.26% copper
· R21-785-02
o 15.75 metres at 4.97% copper, including 10.75 metres at 6.51% copper
· R21-785-03
o 22.68 metres at 4.34% copper, including 9.68 metres at 6.01% copper
Gold assay results were not available at the time of this release. An update on gold assays will be provided once the information is returned from the independent laboratory.
Toby Bradbury, President and CEO, commented:
“We aimed our 15,200 m program at 4 key targets important to the confidence of near-term mine production planning. As announced on 7 May, 2 August, and now 25 August, we have completed drilling on two of these targets, started drilling on the third, and have planned drilling for the fourth. Copper assays have been received and announced to date on only a portion of the intercepts drilled, and no gold or silver assays have been received yet at all. These four target zones were scheduled for mining in the next 18 months based on Indicated level of confidence; with the intercept results to date, we anticipate not only that the targets will be upgraded to Measured confidence in new block models to inform final stope designs, but that size and possibly average copper grades will improve. Our confidence in the resource we will be mining in the near term is growing, and associated geotechnical data being obtained by the drilling will help us optimise the mining method while reducing operational risks.
Drilling is proceeding ahead of plan, and we may be able to exceed the goal of drilling a total of 15,200 metres by the end of the year.
As we proceed with our exploration program and receive copper and precious metal assays, we will update the market as material new assay information is received. Historic gold assays in the massive sulphide are of added interest.”
2021 Diamond Drill Program
The diamond drill program is over halfway through the planned 15,200m of drilling for the year, with 9,068 m completed to date.
· As previously announced on 7 May 2021, the LFZ 510-535 level infill drilling from the 411 level is complete and copper assays have been received;
· The LFZ 735-760 level infill program drilled from the 620 level is now complete with initial copper assays received and announced on three holes on 2 August 2021 and on another three holes in this press release;
· Drilling has started in the MNZ 785 level program which is being drilled from the 785 level, with initial copper assays announced in this press release;
· Drilling will start in Q4 2021 to infill several high-grade drill intersections on the UFZ below the 790 level and will be drilled from the 620 level.
Once the infill drilling of near-term mining areas is completed, the diamond drill program will be expanded to test extensions of LFZ and high-grade VMS mineralization at depth (see Figure 1 below).
All drilling reported in this release was completed by an independent contractor with NQ-sized diamond core (76 mm diameter). Rambler employs an Oriented Core tool, which provides valuable information in terms of the orientation of mineralised stringers, dip and dip direction of structure, lithology and foliation for future modelling and geotechnical interpretation. Logging and sampling of diamond drill core is completed on site by Rambler geologists, who ship samples daily using Rambler vehicles and drivers to Rambler’s Nugget Pond Lab for copper assay by standard x-ray fluorescence (“XRF”) methodology. 10% of all samples processed through the Company’s internal lab are sent for duplicate analysis to accredited external labs (SGS in Burnaby, British Columbia) using standard XRF methodologies as part of the QA/QC process. Sample pulps are shipped using commercial freight services to independent laboratories for gold assaying.
To view Figure 1: 2021 Ming Mine Drilling Program Target Areas, please click here: http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/6671J_1-2021-8-24.pdf
735-760 Level – Lower Footwall Zone Program (LFZ)
This underground drill program was drilled from the 620 level of the mine and was designed to confirm the geology and grades of upcoming production blocks on the 735 and 760 levels of the LFZ. Some inferred mineralization was also drill-tested along the edge of the known deposit to help better define the boundaries of future production areas within the 18-month mine plan.
The status of the 760 Level drilling program is as follows:
ü Drilling is now complete (5,518m completed out of a planned 4,800m as two additional holes were drilled);
ü Core logging and sampling is near 85% complete;
ü Including the previously released results on 2 August 2021, copper results have been received for 6 of the 18 holes drilled and logged; further assays are expected in due course.
The current Measured and Indicated Mineral Resource (announced 26 May 2021) for the LFZ averages 1.56% Cu, 0.62 g/t Au, and 3.61 g/t Ag. The intersections previously announced on 2 August 2021 together with the new assays announced in this press release, highlighted in Table 1 and shown in Figure 2, confirm the mineral resource estimate for the area. Better than expected assay values have been encountered in some areas. Medium to long term mining shapes will be evaluated against the new drilling once all results are received.
Table 1: Previously unreported composited assay intervals from the 735-760 level Lower Footwall Zone diamond drilling program
ABOUT RAMBLER METALS AND MINING
Rambler is a mining and development Company that in November 2012 brought its first mine into commercial production. The group has a 100% ownership in the Ming Copper-Gold Mine, a fully operational base and precious metals processing facility and year-round bulk storage and shipping facility; all located on the Baie Verte peninsula, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.
Rambler’s focus is to regain its production profile at 1,350 metric tonnes per day at 2% copper in the course of 2021 and evaluate expansion opportunities from that base.
Along with the Ming Mine, Rambler also owns 100% of the former producing Little Deer and Whales Back copper mines.
For further information, please contact:
Toby Bradbury
President and CEO
Rambler Metals & Mining Plc
Tel No: +44 (0) 20 8652-2700
Fax No: +44 (0) 20 8652-2719
