Alba Mineral Resources kick-starts surface trenching this week
(AIM: ALBA ) said surface trenching activities will kick-start this week over the first of the group’s 10 regional gold targets over the Dolgellau Gold Field (DGF).
The company has outlined that conditions relating to the planning permission for this first phase of surface trenching have been satisfied and the key contractors have now been engaged.
The trenching is scheduled to commence this week and will target the first of 10 separate new gold targets over the Dolgellau Gold Field which have previously been identified by Alba.
Alba reported back in 2019 results from a regional geochemical soil sampling programme which resulted in 10 significant anomalies being identified away from all known major mines and gold mineralisation being confirmed over about a 6-mile section of the DGF.
The company was subsequently granted planning permission for this trenching programme in September this year and it has been working since to satisfy the conditions to planning.
Alba said up to eight trenches have been planned in this first phase, each varying in length from 40-90m for a total of 575m, with each trench being 1m wide and up to 2m deep.
Once exposed, the quartz veining and other structures from the trenches, those of which are pictured below, will be sampled, and those samples sent to a laboratory for assaying.
Geology map showing location of Phase 1 trenches within Dolgellau Gold Field (light purple) and proximity to Clogau-St David’s Gold Mine (in blue)
(SOURCE: ALBA Resources)
Depending on the results achieved in this first phase of trenching, further applications will be submitted to the local planning authority to approve additional phases of trenching over the other gold targets which Alba has identified in the DGF, the company noted.
"This work is particularly exciting as it involves the excavation and sampling of virgin areas of bedrock which have never previously been subjected to examination for their gold content,” said Alba's Executive Chairman, George Frangeskides, on this first phase.
Shares in Alba Mineral Resources have increased by over 200% since the beginning of September 2020 to open 5.00% lower this afternoon at 0.475p following the news.
Reasons to Follow Alba Resources
Alba Mineral Resources is a well-diversified mineral exploration and development company which owns and operates mining projects in Greenland, Wales and Ireland. Its strategy is to identify and secure undervalued assets with a diversified commodity mix where there is potential for discovering further unexploited resources alongside the existing mine site.
Positive Newsflow from Assays and JORC Resource
Despite losing field time to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Alba said it is in a position to execute one of the most significant underground work programmes seen for several decades at its Clogau gold mine in Wales, just as the commodity is reaching all-time highs in value.
Alba will now move into the formal assaying of all the drilled and sampled material at Clogau, the start of its first phase of regional surface trenching programme and preparations for the surface drilling campaign.
Alba said its mining projects remain on ‘a sound footing’, with JORC resources at both Thule Black Sands and Melville Bay, and plans to drill a maiden JORC resource at Amitsoq in 2021.
Alba said it does not expect the campaign at Clogau to be affected by Welsh Government coronavirus restrictions which were implemented from 23 October to 9 November 2020.
Transition from Exploration to Production in Greenland and Wales
Other ‘significant’ progress has also been made in recent years towards Alba’s ultimate goal of achieving commercial production at one or more of its sites, including at the Thule Black Sands in Greenland, the Amitsoq project in Greenland and the Horse Hill well in Surrey.
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