Galantas expands into Scotland with Gairloch VMS project

Galantas Gold Corp has acquired exclusive rights to explore and develop the gold-bearing volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) deposit at Gairloch in Wester Ross, northwest Scotland.

GAIRLOCH

The project adds to the company’s existing Cavanacaw gold mine asset in Omagh, Northern Ireland.

The 217 km² mineral licence, on land owned by the Gairloch Estate, covers the Gairloch schist belt which is a Paleoproterozic volcanic arc terrane on the northwest coast of Scotland.

The Canadian company holds all the mineral rights other than gold and silver, and has an application pending with Crown Estate Scotland for an option to a lease agreement for the gold and silver.

The project hosts the Kerry Road deposit, surveyed from 1977 to 1982 by Consolidated Goldfields Ltd, which remains underexplored.

HISTORICAL EXPLORATION

Consolidated Gold drilled 87 drill holes for 9,189m to identify the deposit, reportedly open along strike and at depth.

Work stopped in 1982 due to low metal prices, until GreenOre obtained the licence in 2018 and drilled a single short hole.

Galantas added that there was district-scale potential with an outcrop, tested by the British Geological Survey, 10km from historical drilling returning 4 g/t Au, 1.5% Cu and 2.3% Zn.

“Elevated levels” of cobalt were also identified in stream sampling and in outcrop up to 410 g/t.

TERMS

Galantas paid an initial £347,000 representing the first five years of lease.

If the exploration phase continues past the fifth year, the company will pay £69,400 index-linked per lease year, with the first payment in year six.

The lease agreement lasts 30 years with the option of renewal for a further 20 years. Galantas may terminate the agreement with 18 months’ notice.

The company has separately agreed to buy the historical drill and exploration database for C$420,000 (£252,153) in Galantas common shares and £50,000 cash.

POTENTIAL

Chief executive Mario Stifano added that the company’s drill programme aimed to unlock the “first substantial volcanogenic massive sulphide deposit in Scotland.

“The host rocks at Gairloch appear to be geologically similar to those in the Trans-Hudson Orogen in Manitoba and Saskatchewan which contain the prolific Flin-Flon and Snow Lake VMS mining camps.

“Along with our high-grade gold Omagh project in Northern Ireland, Galantas has secured two emerging underexplored districts with potential to add significant shareholder value.”