Update on Loch Tay Gold Project Acquisition
Prior to publication, the information contained within this announcement was deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014 ("MAR"). With the publication of this announcement, this information is now considered to be in the public domain.
Erris Resources plc / EPIC: ERIS.L / Market: AIM / Sector: Mining
15 January 2020
Erris Resources plc
("Erris Resources" or the "Company")
Issue of Option Notice to Acquire 80% of Loch Tay Gold Project
Erris Resources, the European focused mineral exploration company with a portfolio of projects is pleased to announce that it has successfully concluded its due diligence for the Option Agreement (the "Option Agreement") signed with GreenOre Gold plc ("GreenOre") on 9 December 2019. Erris Resources has today issued the Option Notice to GreenOre and will proceed with the exploration work to acquire 80% of the Loch Tay gold project (the "Loch Tay Project" or the "Project") in Perthshire, Scotland. Full details of the Option Agreement can be found in the Company's announcement of 10 December 2019.
Overview
· Project area comprises 237 sq. km of highly prospective ground within the Grampian Gold Belt, located 43km east of the new Cononish gold mine
· Initial results received from the due diligence work at the two priority target areas:
o Glen Almond - two high-grade narrow vein samples from separate veins grading 10g/t Au or greater
o Ardtalnaig - sample from historic mine dump returned 9.39g/t Au, 8.37g/t Ag, 1.75% Pb and 8.98% Zn
· The early success in locating new outcropping high-grade gold mineralisation at Glen Almond is very encouraging
· Recent mapping and prospecting have significantly expanded the footprint of the mineralisation and alteration at Ardtalnaig with newly identified mineralisation in outcrop located in bedrock in a burn 2km south-southeast and along trend of the historic workings at Ardtalnaig
· Erris now has the option to earn 80% of the Loch Tay Project by defining a minimum inferred resource of 250,000 ounces gold, to be defined by an Independent Competent Person, within four years of the date of the Option Notice
o The ownership of the licence shall then be allocated as to 80% Erris Resources and 20% GreenOre and any subsequent funding shall be on a pro-rata basis
Erris Resources CEO, Anton du Plessis, said, "We are pleased that we can report a satisfactory completion of the due diligence review and proceed with the Option Agreement with GreenOre to advance the highly prospective gold targets in the Loch Tay licence. New results received and further fieldwork carried out when weather permitted over the past month have been very successful in expanding the gold potential of the Project's key targets, Ardtalnaig and Glen Almond.
"Located in a well-mineralised district, our focus is now on advancing the Project to initial drill-testing, targeting 250,000oz gold, which is a similar scale to the Cononish resource where a gold mine is expected to be in production soon. The current mapped footprint of mineralisation and alteration certainly shows this potential. I would like to thank our shareholders for their continued support following the announcement of the Option on the Scottish project and I look forward to updating them with further developments."
Further Information - Additional Results from Ardtalnaig and Glen Almond Targets
Initial sampling by GreenOre and Erris Resources identified the Ardtalnaig and Glen Almond targets as having excellent gold potential based on the initial sample results and the presence of historic workings, mineralised outcrops and alluvial gold occurrences. New rock sample data received over the past month has supported this with some significant new results received and more mineralised outcrops discovered.
Ardtalnaig Target: In the Ardtalnaig area, mapping has expanded the area of felsites which are a favourable host for structurally controlled mineralisation while new mineralised outcrops and float occurrences have been sampled. A sample taken during an Erris Resources due diligence trip returned 9.39g/t Au, 8.37g/t Ag, 1.75% Pb and 8.98% Zn from sphalerite and galena bearing granular quartz in a dump next to the main historic working. Mineralised boulders containing galena in quartz vein stockworks have been located high on the mountain well above the outcropping historic workings suggesting that there is significant vertical extent to the mineralised structures while other mineralised boulders 2km to the east of the main workings returned up to 4.67g/t Au and 6.4% Pb. The Company has successfully located mineralised structures along trend of the main workings 2km south-southeast of the Ardtalnaig workings.
Glen Almond Target: The Glen Almond target, located 6.6km south of Ardtalnaig, also returned encouraging results and the area warrants further exploration especially when considering that outcrop is generally confined to stream beds or burns. To date, results have been received for 13 samples taken in the Glen Almond area. A selective first pass grab sample from a 5-10cm quartz vein within a 1m altered zone returned 10.25g/t Au by fire assay. The aqua regia digest with ICP-MS analysis gave a result of 15.1g/t Au suggesting the presence of coarse gold. A second sample from another 5-10cm extensional quartz vein returned an initial result of >10g/t Au, a fire assay result of 2.32g/t Au and a result of 19.4g/t from aqua regia digest with ICP-MS analysis. This again suggests the presence of coarse gold which is consistent with the presence of alluvial gold grains and nuggets in the Almond River. At another location in the stream bed, a sample consisting of chips across a 1.5m zone of silicified and weakly pyritised schist with quartz veinlets returned 0.12g/t Au suggesting that there are more mineralised structures in the area. Such veins could be a source for the 10-gram nugget and the 77 fine gold grains which were panned at a downstream site in July 2019 by a research team from the University of Leeds. The early success in locating new outcropping high-grade gold mineralisation is very encouraging as the Company prepares to explore the area.
Outlook
At the end of December 2019, the Company held approximately €1.5 million in cash and maintains a disciplined approach to expenditure on its 100%-owned projects. The Board and Management continue to review projects in low risk jurisdictions internationally that fit its investment criteria in order to identify new valuable assets for the Company. In addition, the Company will continue to seek consulting opportunities and partners for other projects in its portfolio.
The technical information in this announcement has been compiled on behalf of Erris Resources by Aiden Lavelle. Aiden Lavelle (BSc (Hons), MSc, MIGI, P.Geo) is Erris' chief operating officer. Mr Lavelle has sufficient experience relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration, and to the activity which he is undertaking to qualify as a Competent Person in accordance with the guidance note for Mining, Oil & Gas Companies issued by the London Stock Exchange in respect of AIM Companies, which outlines standards of disclosure for mineral projects. Mr Lavelle consents to the inclusion in this announcement of the matters based on his information in the form and context in which it appears.
*ENDS*
For further information visit www.errisresources.com or contact:
|
Anton du Plessis /Aiden Lavelle |
Erris Resources plc |
+353 (0) 94 902 8481 |
|
David Hart/Liz Kirchner |
Allenby Capital (Nominated Adviser) |
+44 (0) 20 3328 5656 |
|
Erik Woolgar |
Shard Capital (Joint Broker) |
+44 (0) 20 7186 9952 |
|
Zoe Alexander/Andy Thacker |
Turner Pope Investments (TPI) Ltd (Joint Broker) |
+44 (0) 20 3657 0050 |
|
Isabel de Salis/Beth Melluish |
St Brides Partners (Financial PR) |
+44 (0) 20 7236 1177 |
Notes
Erris Resources plc (EPIC: ERIS.L) is an AIM quoted, European focused, discovery driven consulting and exploration company, supported by the Canadian mining major, Osisko Gold Royalties, which has a 18.9% interest in the Company. The Company has a portfolio of gold projects in Scotland, Sweden, Finland and Norway and zinc and base metals assets in Ireland, which it is looking to further build on. Led by a highly qualified team with extensive corporate and sector experience, Erris's strategy is to create shareholder value through commercial discovery of base or precious metal assets in proven mineral districts and in favourable European jurisdictions.
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