Alba Mineral Resrcs. - Operational Update
Released
Released
Announcement PDF
RNS Number : 1489Q
Alba Mineral Resources PLC
16 October 2023
Alba Mineral Resources Plc / EPIC: ALBA / Market: AIM / Sector: Mining
16 October 2023
Alba Mineral Resources Plc
("Alba" or the "Company")
Operational Update
Clogau Mine and Dolgellau Gold Exploration Project
Alba Mineral Resources Plc (AIM: ALBA) provides the following update regarding the ongoing
operations at the Clogau-St David's Gold Mine ("Clogau" or the "Mine") and across the Dolgellau
Gold Exploration Project ("DGEP" or the "Project") in north Wales.
Key points
Clogau Gold Mine
·
Emergency abstraction ongoing with Lower Llechfraith remaining fully dewatered down to
Level 3, thereby protecting the safety and access works recently installed there.
·
Applications progressing for formal variations to the discharge and abstraction permits and
European Protected Species Licence ("EPSL").
·
Acoustic test blasting and sampling to be undertaken in order to ensure that future
exploration activities are within agreed noise levels.
Dolgellau Gold Exploration Project
·
Field exploration undertaken at Caerwych Gold-Base Metal Prospect.
·
Airborne geophysical survey now fully permitted by Civil Aviation Authority ("CAA") and
scheduled to commence in w/c 30 October 2023.
Details
Clogau Gold Mine
As announced in the Company's last operational update on 18 September 2023, the Company has
implemented emergency abstraction measures within the reflooded Lower Llechfraith workings at
Clogau in order to safeguard the safety and access works installed there by the Company. This
ongoing abstraction exercise has been successful in dewatering the flooded workings back down to
and including Level 3. The Company intends to continue its emergency abstraction operations
pending the grant of the increased abstraction and discharge thresholds applied for in August.
While the Company is not yet able to advise of the likely timeline for the determination of its
applications, the Company has responded fully to all requests received to date from the appointed
NRW case officers for both applications, including submitting a detailed addendum to the previous
Hydrogeological Impact Appraisal ("HIA"). The Company has also submitted an application for a
licence modification to the existing European Protected Species Licence ("EPSL") to enable the
current bat exclusion measures to be kept in place post 31 October so that, once the workings have
been fully dewatered, the Company may proceed with its envisaged exploration activities at Level 4
of the Lower Llechfraith workings during the winter period.
Upon obtaining the revised approvals, the Company expects to proceed to a successful completion
of the dewatering process.
Following the dewatering of Level 3 by emergency abstraction, the Company has accessed Level 3
in order to inspect the safety and access works installed there and ensure that their integrity has
not been compromised by the recent reflooding. Further, as access to Level 4, the main focus of
Alba's future exploration activities within the Lower Llechfraith workings, has yet to be secured, the
acoustic testwork which the Company has committed to NRW to carrying out will now be
undertaken at Level 3. This will provide the Company with noise data from activities such as
blasting and sampling in order to ensure that the Company's future exploration activities on Level
4 are within the noise limits agreed with NRW, with or without further noise mitigation measures.
Figure 1: Lower Llechfraith workings showing general location of test activities planned being blasting (red
circle) and sampling (yellow polygon).
Dolgellau Gold Exploration Project ("DGEP")
Following the grant of the north-west extension to Alba's licence areas over the DGF in 2021 (see
Figure 2, area outlined in red, top left), Alba has recently conducted follow-up field reconnaissance
at the historic Caerwych mine site, where notable copper grades of up to 2.92 % Cu and structural
gold targets were previously identified.
Historical mining activity is present in the region, with several workings centred around a series of
NE-SW trending structures (Figure 3). Mining activity has largely been within the Gamlan
Formation, underlying the Clogau Shales, with the focus of historic production being on base
metals. Several samples have been taken by Alba from spoil tips and outcropping veins in order to
confirm historic grades, with the Company now awaiting multi-element assay results (see Figure 3
for sample locations).
Figure 2: Alba licence areas (red). Regional targets Afon Gain, Hafod Owen & Caerwych (magenta).
The lode at Caerwych showed signs of chalcopyrite mineralisation, particularly in association with
wall-rock contacts with the host sedimentary rocks of the Lower Gamlan Formation.
The Caerwych lode also lies within a notable topographic lineament that visibly extends for several
kilometres to the NE and is thought to cross through the Clogau Shales and intrusive units, both
critical controls on ore formation at Clogau St. David's (Figure 3).
Future work at Caerwych is
planned and will focus on tracing this lineament and other sub-parallel NE-SW structures further
NE to where they intersect the Clogau Shales, to assess whether these structures have the
A picture containing map Description automatically generated
potential to host high-grade gold
and base metal mineralisation.
Figure
3:
locations
2023
taken
Caerwych
from
sample
within
Alba
licence area in the Dolgellau Gold Field
(red). Caerwych lode mineralisation is
associated
with
NE-SW
structures
(black lineaments).
A map of a mountain range Description automatically generated
A collage of a landscape Description automatically generated
Figure 4: Photos taken from
Oct 2023 Caerwych field
work: A) Spoil tip located
along
NE-SW
trending
structure;
B)
Historic
Caerwych adit.
Regarding the planned
geophysical survey by
unmanned aerial vehicle
(or "UAV") over some of
the
Company's
key
regional gold targets, the
CAA has now provided its
formal approval to the
survey area. As a result,
the Company's contractors
are preparing to mobilise
to
start
for
the
commencement
of
surveying,
subject
to
weather conditions, in the
week
commencing
30
October 2023.
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.
Forward Looking Statements
This announcement contains forward-looking statements relating to expected or anticipated future events
and anticipated results that are forward-looking in nature and, as a result, are subject to certain risks
and uncertainties, such as general economic, market and business conditions, competition for qualified
staff, the regulatory process and actions, technical issues, new legislation, uncertainties resulting from
potential delays or changes in plans, uncertainties resulting from working in a new political jurisdiction,
uncertainties regarding the results of exploration, uncertainties regarding the timing and granting of
prospecting rights, uncertainties regarding the timing and granting of regulatory and other third party
consents and approvals, uncertainties regarding the Company's or any third party's ability to execute and
implement future plans, and the occurrence of unexpected events.
Actual results achieved may vary from the information provided herein as a result of numerous known
and unknown risks and uncertainties and other factors.
**ENDS**
For further information, please visit www.albamineralresources.com or contact:
Alba Mineral Resources plc
+44 20 3950 0725
George Frangeskides, Executive Chairman
SPARK Advisory Partners Limited (Nomad)
+44 20 3368 3555
Andrew Emmott
CMC Markets plc (Broker)
+44 (0) 20 3003 8632
Thomas Smith / Douglas Crippen
Alba's Projects & Investments
Projects Operated by Alba
Location
Ownership
Clogau (gold)
Wales
100%
Dolgellau Gold Exploration (gold)
Wales
100%
Gwynfynydd (gold)
Wales
100%
Investments Held by Alba
Location
Ownership
GreenRoc Mining Plc (mining)
Greenland
42.97%
Horse Hill (oil)
England
11.765%
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