GCIAlba Mineral Resources sees ‘substantial’ results at Dolgellau Gold Field
(ALBA ) has identified ‘substantial precious and base metal results’ in a number of high-priority exploration targets at its Dolgellau Gold Field Project in Wales.
The ongoing exploration programme at the Dolgellau Gold Field (DGF) has confirmed multi-commodity mineralisation at Hafod Owen Prospect and Carndochan Gold Mine.
Sampling at the Hafod Owen prospect confirmed in-situ gold mineralisation grading up to 1.5 g/t of gold (Au) and spoil tip samples grading 0.353 g/t Au and 6.76% of copper. Previous samples taken at Hfod Owen in May 2021 returned significant grades of up to 24.1 g/t Au.
At the Carndochan Gold Mine, assay results have returned high-grade gold-silver, with significant zinc-lead credits.The samples returned grades of up to 20.6 g/t Au, 27.1 g/t Ag and 1.175% of lead (Pb). The company highlighted that the Carndochan deposit is considered to be underdeveloped, being untested both at depth and along strike of the existing workings.
A new regional exploration target was identified at the Afon Gain Prospect. Two historic trial mining sites were sampled to return precious metal grades of up to 2.43 g/t gold & 33.7 g/t silver and base metal grades of up to 3.96% copper, 4.25% lead as well as 2.39% zinc.
Meanwhile, the Caerwych Prospect identified within the new licence expansion showed copper grades of up to 2.92% Cu and structural gold targets identified for follow-up work.
The Caerwych lode is hosted by the sedimentary rocks of the lower Gamlan Formation, underlying the economic package in which gold mineralisation is found elsewhere in the DGF.
‘Future work at Caerwych will focus on where this lineament and other sub-parallel NE-SW structures intersect the Clogau Shales, in order to assess whether these structures have the potential to host the high-grade mineralisation found elsewhere in the DGF,’ Alba noted.
Commenting, Alba's Executive Chairman, George Frangeskides, said the exploration programme “has not only yielded substantial precious metal grades, including 20.6 g/t gold and 27.1 g/t silver at the Carndochan Gold Mine, but, importantly, it has also generated strong base metal results, which greatly increase the Project's multi-commodity potential.”
He commented, “With grades for high demand metals of up to 3.96% copper, 4.25% lead and 2.39% zinc at the newly identified Afon Gain Prospect, we look forward to continuing to advance this multifaceted UK project and quantifying its full potential.”
At the Clogau-St David's Gold Mine, following recent constructive discussions with the regulatory authority, Alba is in the process of preparing certain supplementary information to enable a further consideration of the Company's application to dewater the Llechfraith Shaft.
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In October, Alba Mineral Resources said a previous soil sampling programme had identified the additional potential for gold mineralisation at and around the Clogau-St David’s gold mine.
Following geochemical analysis of 1,997 soil samples collected in 2018-19, 10 targets were defined around clusters of gold anomalies in a large area centred over Clogau’s Mine.
Six high-confidence targets were then refined from these 10 targets previously identified by Alba’a 2019 Soil Sampling Programme (“SSP”) via multi-element prospectivity modelling.
It explained: ‘Gold is known to be prone to the “nugget effect” during sampling programmes and this is especially prevalent in the style of mineralisation seen at Clogau. Therefore, incorporating additional elements into targeting workflows is important to pick up the traces of mineralisation in the absence of Au itself or in the case of low-level gold anomalism.’
To narrow the possible bedrock sources of the key targets identified by the geochemical survey programme, Alba is commissioning Wales-based UAVE Ltd to carry out a UAV-borne geophysical survey to map the magnetic properties of the subsurface below these targets.
If successful, Alba will then look to roll out the same drone-borne aeromagnetic surveys to a number of the other regional gold exploration targets within the Alba portfolio, allowing the team to explore for significant new resource opportunities in the Dolgellau Gold Field.
Alba noted that the survey will be undertaken once all relevant landowner consents are in place, a process currently underway, and that it hopes to undertake the first survey in 1Q22.
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