Gold Mines of Wales - Update

RNS Number : 9569Y

Stellar Resources PLC

05 December 2014

 



Stellar Resources Plc

("Stellar Resources" or "the Company")

Gold Mines of Wales - Update

Independent Technical Review

Stellar Resources (AIM: STG) advises that GMOW (Operations) Ltd ("GMOW"), the operator of Stellar Resources gold joint venture in Wales, has advised that it has received an Independent Technical Review from SRK Consulting (UK) Limited ("SRK") for the 120 km² the exploration license issued by the Crown Estate, that covers the entire Dolgellau Gold Belt, North Wales, UK, and which focuses on the close surrounding area of the historic Clogau St Davids underground gold mine. The licence contains the historic Clogau St David's, Gwynfynydd, and Castell Carn Dochan Gold mines, mines renowned as being the source of royal gold. Stellar Resources, through its 49% investment in GMOW (Operations) Ltd, has an exclusive Option Agreement with the Crown Mineral Agents, acting for the Crown Estates, over the exploration license.

Highlights:

·        Data collation, digitisation and review of historical maps, plans and reports in relation to historical exploration and mining activities.

·        Review of the regional and local scale geology, including ground truthing and review of major controls on mineralisation to assist near-mine exploration target definition.

·        Review of regional geophysical data, resulting in over 20 new electro-magnetic ("EM") geophysical regional exploration targets for further gold potential.

·        3D geological and structural modelling of the Clogau deposit area, incorporating digitised data in the 3D environment for the first time, in addition to digitisation and 3D representation of historical underground workings.

·        Potential extensions of lode structures and new satellite lodes have been identified at the Clogau Gold mine.

·        Development of a clear and structured exploration programme for both near-mine (brownfields) and greenfields exploration targets within the exploration licence area into 2015 and beyond.

Donald Strang, The Company's Chairman, commented;

"The Welsh gold operating company has been working closely with the SRK Cardiff office for some time now, and this recent update from SRK clearly outlines a large number of priority targets that require exploration."

"We continue to work with SRK to finalise the detailed exploration programme and budgets for 2015 over the coming weeks and look forward to an active time in the field, as we assess both the near mine and regional opportunities for additional gold deposits in Wales."

Licence

The 'Exclusive Option Agreement' exploration licence held by GMOW, covers an area of some 120 km², and is located on the border of the Harlech Dome area of the Snowdonia National Park (Gwynedd country, North Wales), and includes a 2 km² area to the east incorporating the former Castell Carn-Dochan gold mine. The licence covers mountainous, partly forested ground which, inland of the coastal margin, is sparsely populated.

Historical Production - Dolgellau Gold Belt, Wales

Although gold was first formally identified in North Wales in the early 1840s, prior to the 1850's mining at Old Clogau and other mines in North Wales was focused on copper. It was not until 1865 that gold was found at the surface on what is now the Clogau Mine site, and the great gold rush of the 1860s saw significant gold operations start up within what is now described as the Dolgellau Gold Belt.

The main period of gold mining activity continued until 1911, comprising some 69 mine/trial sites, with 60 known or suspected to target gold and with some 19 producing gold. The main gold producers were the Clogau and Gwynfynydd mines, although the GMOW licence also includes the Castell Carn Dochan gold mine situated outside of the Dolgellau Gold Belt in much younger Ordovician host rocks and has a separate mineral genesis.

Total gold production of 130 thousand ounces (Hall, 1988) for the area has been reported although this figure is misleading with 20 to 30% gold loss during processing and potential unreported production (Dominy & Platten, 2012). Production records of mining activity are rare and present only for the larger mines while the accuracy of reported grade and tonnages are questionable. Historically, only rock material with visible gold was processed while the 'waste' was often used for road‐stone resulting with unknown, potentially significant quantities of finely disseminated gold being discarded.

Data Collation and Review

SRK has completed a full and comprehensive data and literature review including internal documents provided by GMOW as well as numerous public domain sourced material. Much of the historical work that has been conducted on the Dolgellau Gold Belt has occurred over intermittent phases by multiple parties involved in industrial activity and/or academic interest. GMOW provided their database, which included various historical workings and scanned mine plans of parts of the Clogau and Gwynfynydd Mines. All of the available data sources have been collated to allow the first 3D realisation of the Clogau mine. This 3-D model which includes both key structures controlling and localising the gold mineralisation, will be used going forward to guide exploration within the licence area.

Regional Geophysics

In 1972/3, Hunting Geology and Geophysics Ltd was awarded a contract for airborne magnetic, electro-magnetic ("EM") and radiometric surveys of the region. The survey flew a total of 1870 km of survey lines and was completed in June 1973. The EM method detects the presence of good electrical conductors and works best at identifying features at less than 200 m depth. The raw data was obtained from the British Geological Survey (BGS) and was processed and interpreted both in 2D and 3D by SRK to generate anomalies for gold at 200 ppm and 75 ppm thresholds. Once overlain onto the BGS 1:50000 surface geology map, potential exploration targets based on contoured gold anomalies and associated geological features and controls have been identified and ranked for further follow up exploration.

Geological Mapping and Interpretation

In addition to updating the geological and the Clogau Gold mine model, SRK was also tasked with identifying the geological and structural features synonymous with auriferous (gold bearing) reefs and combining these features with the available geophysical data to allow future exploration to be focused and prioritised on ranked high-priority gold targets, both near-mine and in virgin territory along the 25 km of strike of the Dolgellau gold belt.

SRK conducted a field mapping programme on the ground over an area of 3 km2 concentrating around the Clogau Gold mine, the largest gold producing mine, and focused their efforts on the potential for identifying lateral and vertical lode extensions in addition to auriferous satellite lodes parallel to the main structure.

Field mapping targeted the lithological contacts observed on the British Geological Survey (BGS) 1:50,000 geological map of the area, particularly in relation to the igneous intrusions, as well as to identify any potential satellite lodes from quartz vein exposures. Accurate mapping of these geological features was deemed essential as the two principal controls on gold mineralisation and gold ore-shoot formation are directly related to the local stratigraphy and structures.

It should be noted that the mineralisation within the licence area has a high nugget effect, resulting in a somewhat erratic distribution of gold grades and commonly low continuity of mineralisation, which presents a challenge in exploring, modelling and estimating the gold present without combined methods of exploration and detailed sampling of favourable geological structures for localising the presence of gold.

Exploration Target Generation

Exploration targets were split by SRK into either Clogau near-mine or regional categories. Near-mine targets were generated using the 3D geological model to highlight areas more prospective to host gold mineralization and was augmented with projections of veins from underground adit mapping and historical mine workings to guide exploration into adjacent and potentially offset deposits. Regional exploration targets were generated with the use of the Geophysical data, the BGS 1:50000 geological map and structural features identified as being concordant with the geological and structural understanding and controls for the gold mineralisation.

Regional-Scale Exploration Targets

Over twenty regional targets ("RT") have been identified and have been defined by geological parameters, such as presence of greenstone sills, EM anomalies and historical mine workings. These targets range in size but a number of targets go up to several square kilometers in size, along the 25 km of the strike of the Dolgellau Gold Belt. The EM anomalies within the Clogau Formation indicate areas which may not directly indicate the presence of mesothermal gold lodes but coupled with proximity to greenstone intrusions which exhibit a relationship with high-grade ore shoots, provides a focus for further exploration.

Both the Clogau and Gwynfynydd mine areas were investigated to better understand the relationship between geology, EM anomalies and historical mine workings. EM anomalies are present at both locations, although much stronger at Clogau, suggesting that, although this technique indicates mineralisation, in some instances it is not a prerequisite. This work has helped to better define the exploration signature for the gold exploration targets. The strong EM anomaly at Clogau extends along strike of the Clogau Formation towards the southwest in an area that exhibits less historical mining activities highlighting the potential for near-mine continuation of mineralisation.

Near-Mine Exploration Targets

At Clogau, the potential exists for lateral lode extensions and continuations of the lodes at depth in addition to satellite auriferous lodes. The western Llechfraith Adit workings are currently less developed with potential vein extensions above and below the current underground stopes. Other near-mine exploration targets are potential satellite lodes south of the main gold-bearing structures at Clogau. The Bryntirion Fault notably displaces the main lode and the separate Old Clogau lode is not seen or worked west of this fault. Based upon a similar displacement to the main lode there is an area to the south that could potentially host the displaced continuation of the Old Clogau Lode. This presents a high-priority exploration target worthy of follow-up work.

Exploration programme for 2015

In the light of the large number of regional and local-scale exploration targets generated by this recent review, the Company in consultation with SRK is currently developing a detailed exploration programme and budget for 2015 and beyond to assess the potential for the Clogau Gold mine and the overall Dolgellau Gold Belt. It is envisaged that this will be completed within a few weeks and will conclude with a clear and structured exploration programme of the licence area.

The exploration will comprise but not be limited to the following activities:

·        An underground 3D mine survey;

·        Geological and structural mapping at surface, incorporating top of bedrock sampling where possible;

·        Underground geological and structural mapping;

·        Underground Channel sampling;

·        3D Geological Modelling; and

·        Definition of drilling targets.

Qualified Person's statement

Michael G Povey C.Eng M.Sc B.Sc (Hons) (Mining Engineering) ACSM M. Aus IMM, is the General Manager of GMOW (Operations) Ltd and has reviewed and approved the information contained in this announcement. Michael holds a Mining Engineering Degree from the Camborne School of Minesin the UK and is a member of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy.

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Contact Details/Enquiries:

Stellar Resources plc Donald Strang, Chairman	[phone]
Cairn Financial Advisers LLP James Caithie / Paul Trendell Public Relations: Square 1 Consulting Ltd David Bick/Mark Longson	[phone] [phone]

 

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