Alba Mineral Resources plc announced it has been awarded a six-year exploration licence, renewable by up to four years, to the Gwynfynydd gold mine in Gwynedd, North Wales.
The mine is the second largest producer of gold, after Clogau-St David’s gold mine, in the UK’s history.
The award means that Alba has now secured the exclusive exploration rights over the entire length of the Dolgellau gold belt.
Under agreement with The Crown Estate, Alba will also own all gold recovered from the bulk samples taken from Clogau-St David.
The licence covers a 20km² area between the northern and southern segments of the Dolgellau gold belt, which are already held by Alba.
Gwynfynydd has historically produced around 45,000 ounces of gold at a mining grade of 15 grams/tonne.
Commercial operations at Gwynfynydd stopped in 1999 when gold prices were around $300 per ounce.
Alba said that Gwynfynydd shared many geological and mineralogical characteristics of Clogau, enabling the company to roll out the same modern exploration and development methods.
CLOGAU-ST DAVID
Surface drilling at Clogau-St David’s is progressing, with drill hole LL001 completed for 183.5 metres and LL002 currently in progress.
The pilot processing plant is due for delivery and installation by December 2020.
Alba now also has a stand-alone bulk sampling lease which entitles the company to sell all gold recovered, subject to the payment of a royalty.
Executive chairman George Frangeskides said: “Alba has now reunited the two key mines in the Dolgellau gold field, Clogau and Gwynfynydd, meaning that we can now roll out our regional exploration programme, which identified no fewer than 10 new gold targets over our Clogau licence area, to the Gwynfynydd licence area too.”
The Dolgellau gold belt forms an arc approximately 26km long by 6km wide around the south-eastern and eastern margins of the Harlech Dome.