Alba Mineral Resources plc reported “discrete grains of gold” and a “significant” proportion of sulphides at level 4 of lower Llechfraith in Clogau-St David’s gold mine, North Wales.
BULK SAMPLING
Of 40 samples collected, the company fed 25 into its processing plant to produce so far heavy mineral concentrates.
A majority of the concentrates, containing the sulphides and gold, have been sent to an independent laboratory for assay.
“While the presence of sulphides is a positive, it is not in itself an indication of gold content or grade, so the assay results will need to be awaited,” said Alba.
The company has also filed its notification to proceed with the planned bulk sampling of the Llechfraith target.
Alba will in the meantime finalise the development layouts to access the Llechfraith target payshoots at depth.
The company’s other activities include completion of the airborne geophysical survey over key regional gold targets on the Dolgellau project.
Alba’s consulting geophysicists are currently verifying the data set before interpretation.
Notification has also been submitted to conduct a trenching programme on the waste tip at the site before a planning application is submitted.
Executive chairman George Frangeskides added that No.4 level’s overall good condition would allow progress to detailed planning and layout of bulk sampling below the level.
“In that regard, we have also now completed a substantial sampling programme on No.4 level.
“The sampling of the existing development will provide us with valuable information to assist in the precise siting of the development layout for the bulk sampling below No.4 level.
“While it is certainly a positive that we have seen a significant sulphide content in the samples tabled in our processing plant to date, we will need to await the publication of the assay results from our first batch of heavy mineral concentrates in the coming days.”