REG - Alba Mineral Resrcs. - Clogau Operational Update

Alba Mineral ResourcesAnnouncement

13/03/2025 07:15

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RNS Number : 4622A  Alba Mineral Resources PLC  13 March 2025

Alba Mineral Resources Plc / EPIC: ALBA / Market: AIM / Sector: Mining

13 March 2025

Alba Mineral Resources Plc

("Alba" or the "Company") 

Clogau Operational Update

Alba Mineral Resources Plc (AIM: ALBA) is pleased to provide this operational
report on the Company's Clogau-St David's Gold Project in Wales ("Clogau" or
the "Project").

Level 5 Blasting

In the first phase of the blasting programme at Clogau, a total of 123 tonnes
of ore was removed to surface, a combination of newly blasted ore and historic
material left behind or deposited during previous mining periods.

 

Processing and Refining

Since the completion of the first phase of blasting, the focus has been on
processing and refining.  From the processing of 11.6 tonnes of newly blasted
ore, 108.6 kg of concentrates have been sent to the Company's usual third
party refiner and all these concentrates have now been refined, recovering
11.58 grams of gold.  In that regard, it should be noted that the Level 5
blasting programme has not yet reached the proposed first incline raise (see
Figure 1). Therefore, the blasted material to date does not represent the
projected high-grade zone. The incline raises are designed to intersect the
projected payshoot, thereby maximising the prospects of recovering economic
grades and quantities of gold.

 

Figure 1: Section through Llechfraith showing the 5 Level development in
relation to the projected pay shoot. Blasting has taken place at the Drive
West and the Drive East. 4.5 Level drive is off-reef which means that Raise 1
can be commenced from closer to the current No.5 Level Drive West position.

 

As indicated in our last operational update, the Company has been making
improvements to the Company's pilot processing plant to improve the efficiency
and recovery of processing. The improvements have included:

-    Repositioning of the wave table in front of the shaking table,
involving the installation of a new concrete plinth for the wave table.

 

-    Installation of a trommel to screen out oversize and enable a
fine-grained delivery to the tables (Figure 2).

 

-    Modifications to the hammer mill screens in order to limit oversize
material.

 

Figure 2: Newly installed trommel.

 

Blasting Programme

Given the slower than anticipated progress of the first blasting programme, as
outlined in our announcement of 11 December 2024, following a further review
by our technical team it has been decided to reposition the first raise so as
to be able to commence it much sooner in the planned  blasting programme than
previously planned (see Figure 1).  Raise 1 can be commenced within 5 metres
from the current face position of the No.5 Level Drive West. This will result
in an earlier transect across the projected payshoot. The raise will be
developed at an angle of +50° so that it will be self-cleaning, eliminating
the need for time-consuming mucking out.

 

Revised Work Programme

Alba's planned ongoing work programme can be summarised as follows:

 

·      Firstly, complete the processing of the current surface
stockpiles comprising the balance of the Waste Tip trenching material and No.5
Level blasted and historical material, totalling around 145 tonnes.

·      Secondly, given the success of the Waste Pit sampling programme
to date, where bulk grades of up to 3 g/t gold were defined, complete the
Waste Pit trenching programme.

 

·      Thirdly, resume the underground development programme on No.5
Level to complete the planned 1-2 incline raises.

 

Appointment of Chief Mining Engineer

The Company is very pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Peter Bolt as
Chief Mining Engineer for the Clogau Gold Mine. Peter Bolt is a highly
experienced mining engineer, with a degree and PhD from Cardiff University. He
worked for a decade at SRK (UK) Ltd, becoming Principal Mining Engineer.
Between 2002-7 he worked as a director of AIM-quoted mining companies,
including managing the underground development programme at the Quintana Gold
Mine in Colombia. In 2007 Peter joined Continental Gold as VP Operations,
responsible for their exploration and development projects in Colombia,
including the Buritica, Machuca and El Limon mines. In recent years, Peter
worked as an independent consultant on mining projects in Europe and Africa
and was a consultant with WSP for 6 years. He has previously consulted to the
Company in relation to the Clogau Gold Project.

 

Figure 3: Peter Bolt and Mark Austin inspecting underground development (11
March 2025)

 

George Frangeskides, Executive Chairman, commented:

"We are delighted to welcome Dr Peter Bolt to our team. Peter has a wealth of
knowledge as a senior mining engineer, notably in relation to underground gold
mines and processing operations, and we have already begun to see the benefits
of that in terms of our formulation of a forward plan for Clogau.

"While the gold recovered to date from the processing and refining of the
newly blasted material from No.5 Level is modest, the first phase of the
blasting programme did not reach the proposed first incline raise and so the
blasted material to date does not represent the projected high-grade zone
within the Llechfraith Target, our primary gold target within Clogau. As such,
the gold grades in that key zone remain to be ascertained."

Forward Looking Statements

This announcement contains forward-looking statements relating to expected or
anticipated future events and anticipated results that are forward-looking in
nature and, as a result, are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, such
as general economic, market, financial and business conditions, competition
for and availability of qualified staff and contractors, regulatory processes
and actions, technical issues, new legislation, uncertainties resulting from
potential delays or changes in plans, uncertainties resulting from working in
a new political jurisdiction, uncertainties regarding the results of
exploration, uncertainties regarding the timing and granting of prospecting
rights, uncertainties regarding the timing and granting of regulatory and
other third party consents and approvals, uncertainties regarding the
Company's or any third party's ability to finance, execute and implement
future plans and programmes, and the occurrence of unexpected events. Actual
results achieved may vary from the information provided herein as a result of
numerous known and unknown risks and uncertainties and other factors.

Competent Person Declaration

The information in this release that relates to Exploration Results has been
reviewed by Mr Mark Austin. Mr Austin is a member of SACNASP (Reg. No.
400235/06), Fellow of The Geological Society and Fellow of the Geological
Society of South Africa. He has a B.Sc. Honours in Geology with 40 years'
experience.

Mark Austin has sufficient experience that is relevant to the style of
mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity
being undertaken to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2012
Edition of the 'Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration targets,
Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves', also known as the
JORC Code. The JORC code is a national reporting organisation that is aligned
with CRIRSCO. Mr Austin consents to the inclusion in the announcement of the
matters based on his information in the form and context in which they appear.

**ENDS**

Engage with Alba by asking questions, watching video summaries and reading
what other shareholders have to say. Navigate to our interactive Investor Hub
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https://albamineralresources.com/link/4r8ldr
(https://albamineralresources.com/link/4r8ldr)

 

For further information, please visit the Alba Mineral Resources plc investor
website (www.albamineralresources.com (http://www.albamineralresources.com) )
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Subscribe to our news alert service
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 Contact Details
 Alba Mineral Resources plc                 +44 20 3950 0725

 George Frangeskides, Executive Chairman
 SPARK Advisory Partners Limited (Nomad)    +44 20 3368 3555

 Andrew Emmott
 CMC Markets plc (Broker)                   +44 20 3003 8632

 Thomas Smith / Douglas Crippen

 

 

 Alba's Projects & Investments

 Projects Operated by Alba                            Location   Ownership
 Clogau (gold)                                        Wales      100%
 Dolgellau Gold Exploration (gold)                    Wales      100%
 Gwynfynydd (gold)                                    Wales      100%
 Investments Held by Alba                             Location   Ownership
 GreenRoc Strategic Materials Plc (graphite - anode)  Greenland  28.14%
 Horse Hill (oil)                                     England    11.765%
 Earn-in Projects                                     Location   Earn-in Rights
   Finnsbo (rare earths, copper, gold)                Sweden     Up to 100%
 Optioned Projects                                    Location   Further details
   Norrby (gold, other metals)                        Sweden     RNS 6/11/24
   Glava (copper, gold)                               Sweden     RNS 6/11/24

 

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