Power Metal Resources PLC (LON:POW) the London listed exploration company seeking large-scale metal discoveries across its global project portfolio announces an exploration update from its 100% owned Tati Gold Project (“Tati” or the “Project”) located on the Tati Greenstone Belt (“TGB”) near Francistown, Botswana. The 2023 exploration programme including geophysics, trenching, soil sampling as well as reverse circulation (“RC”) and/or diamond drilling was launched on 26 January 2023 and the announcement providing further information may be viewed through the following link:
Highlights
– Ground geophysics and trenching have been completed with available results presented herein. A longer than usual rainy season led to the delay in the commencement of the planned infill soil geochemical sampling programme. However drier conditions have now persisted long enough for the Company to launch this next phase of work, which is expected to commence shortly.
– Detailed geological mapping of the recently completed trenches has confirmed the geological setting in the Cherished Hope Mine area which is highlighted by gold mineralisation which is concentrated within quartz reefs (massive veins, veinlets and silicified zones) hosted within predominantly diorite units.
– Analysis of ground magnetic geophysics results have highlighted the location of multiple post-mineralisation dolerite dykes which are known to persist throughout much of the TGB. Understanding the precise location of these dykes is paramount as exploration continues to progress at Tati.
– Following completion of the upcoming infill soil sampling programme – as well as the receipt of the soil assay results – next exploration steps, including planned reverse circulation and/or diamond drilling, will be finalised and communicated to the market.
Sean Wade, Chief Executive Officer of Power Metal Resources plc commented:
“I know shareholders have been keen to hear an update on Tati, and we are very pleased to be able to deliver that. We have made significant progress on this important project and we have further built our technical knowledge of the gold potential across the 8km gold-in-soil-anomaly. After the rainy season we now move into the next stage including the high-resolution infill soil sampling and, subject to review and interpretation of all results, exploration drilling. Economic processing of the tailings also remains a priority and we are actively exploring our options in that regard.
This work is being conducted in parallel with extensive other corporate and exploration activities across the Power Metal group and we anticipate regular news flow in the weeks and months ahead. Activity levels across the Company are able to accelerate, with the recently announced £2.7m financing providing considerable working capital to pursue our ambitious corporate growth objectives.”
FURTHER INFORMATION
Figure 1 – Tati Project Overview Plan Map:
Figure 2 – Tati Project Zoomed Trenching Plan Map:
EXPLORATION PROGRAMME OVERVIEW
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Exploration Work |
Latest Update |
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TRENCHING – COMPLETE A total of 431 metres of mechanised trenching has been successfully completed. Trenching was focussed along both the northwest and southeast strike-length extensions of the known outcropping gold mineralised quartz reef structures at Cherished Hope Mine. A total of 8 trenches were completed of which 3 targeted the northwestern strike-length extension and 5 targeted the southeastern strike-length extension. Trench samples, comprising 1m long composites taken along the side of the trench, were then sampled for gold (30g Fire Assay) at the ALS Laboratory in Johannesburg, South Africa. Detailed geological and structural mapping of the trenches was also completed.
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Further breakdown of trenching results are found in ‘Notable Trenching Results Section’. Northwest Extension (Trench 3, 4, 7): Overburden was determined to be between 0-1.5 meters in thickness and composed predominantly of a brown clay-rich unit overlaying a poorly sorted quartz pebble unit. The bedrock is dominated by a quartz rich diorite. Only one post-mineralisation dolerite dyke was identified within the northwestern trenches. Multiple silicified and quartz rich zones were successfully identified in the northwestern trenches. Several of these quartz-rich intervals returned elevated gold results including: seven 1m intervals in Trench 3 which returned >0.2g/t Au (up to 1.9g/t Au). Southeastern Extension (Trench 1, 2, 5, 6, 8): Overburden was determined to be between 0-3 meters in thickness and composed predominantly of a brown clay-rich unit overlaying a poorly sorted quartz pebble unit. The bedrock is dominated by a quartz rich diorite. Four post-mineralisation dolerite dykes were identified which crosscut the diorites at various locales. Multiple silicified and quartz rich zones were successfully identified including in Trench 8 where they were determined to be the most abundant (furthest southwest trench). Several of these quartz-rich intervals returned elevated gold results including: Two 1m intervals in Trench 1 returning >0.2g/t Au and two 1m intervals in Trench 5 returning >0.2g/t Au. In general, the southeastern strike-length extension of Cherished Hope is highly affected by the presence of post-mineralisation dolerite dykes. Ground magnetic geophysics results highlight that beyond the southeastern extent of the furthest southwest trench (8), there appears to be no further dolerite dykes present for some considerable distance. Notably, the quartz rubble horizon was sampled in Trench 1 which returned much stronger gold results than in any of the trench bedrock samples (17 2m samples were sent for analysis with 7 returning >0.2g/t Au as well as 3 returning >1g/t Au (up to 2.32g/t Au)). |
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GEOPHYSICS – COMPLETE A ground magnetometer geophysical survey was completed over the northwestern and southeastern strike length extensions of the Cherished Hope Mine.
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Post-mineralisation dolerite dyke swarms are found throughout much of the TGB. As a result, within many of the historical and currently operating gold mines in the TGB, mapping the precise location of these dykes (magnetic highs) is important as they often can cross-cut gold mineralisation. The 2023 ground magnetic results have successfully mapped the location and orientation of approximately six of these dolerite dykes within the survey area, including four which are proximal and/or within the Cherished Hope (“CH”) Mine area. The successful mapping of these dykes will allow for more precise and accurate drill hole siting should drilling be undertaken going forward within CH and the surrounding areas. |
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SOIL GEOCHEMISTRY – STARTING SHORTLY The planned high-resolution infill soil geochemical sampling programme is focussed on approximately 2km of strike-length along the approximately 8km long broad Au-in-soil anomaly identified at Tati. Soil samples will be collected along a grid which will be focussed to the northwest and southeast of the 2022 RC drilling area.
The high-resolution in-fill grids will focus on areas where at least two historical anomalies were identified within widely spaced soil sampling lines (on average 400m spaced lines and up to 700m line spacing). These two-point anomalies returned an impressive 2.15g/t Au and 0.84g/t Au. To date these anomalies have never been further investigated to determine the provenance of this gold mineralisation.
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Historical soil sampling completed over the majority of the Tati Project was undertaken by previous operators along generally 400m spaced lines at 40m sample spacing. This programme intends to infill the line spacing to between 100-200m by 40m so that the definition and location of already proven Au-in-soil anomalies is vastly improved. This work will then allow Power Metal to follow up with more focussed next exploration steps which could include further trenching and drilling of these new areas. By completing this work, a much larger percentage of the 8km long Au-in-soil anomaly can move to next exploration steps therefore increasing the overall attractiveness of the Project as well as the overall size of the mineralised footprint.
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REVERSE CIRCULATION (“RC”) DRILLING(1) The RC drilling will be driven by the results of prior work streams including the soil sampling. Further updates in regard to this will be announced in due course.
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RC drilling may be undertaken to test for the along strike and down dip extension of gold mineralisation intersected by trenching of the soil anomalies. In the Cherished Hope Mine area the goal is to demonstrate continuity in the major quartz reef structure width and gold grade as well as testing the currently open down-dip extension potential at depth. |
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DIAMOND CORE DRILLING(2) Diamond core drilling specifics will be dependent on results from prior work streams including soil sampling, trenching and RC drilling. Further updates in regard to this will be announced in due course.
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Diamond core drilling may be completed in order to drill test select portions of the Cherished Hope quartz reef structures. Diamond drilling provides full core rock samples, and therefore valuable information about structure, geology, and the nature of gold mineralisation. The information extracted from diamond drilling would allow the Company to gain a better understanding of the mineralised quartz reefs and surrounding wall rocks. |
Notable Trenching Results
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Trench ID |
Trench Length (m) |
From (m)* |
To (m)* |
Interval (m)* |
Grade (g/t) |
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Trench 1 |
31 |
23 |
25 |
2 |
0.32 |
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Trench 1 (rubble) |
32 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
0.33 |
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6 |
12 |
6 |
1.35 |
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18 |
20 |
2 |
0.45 |
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22 |
26 |
4 |
0.85 |
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Trench 3 |
52 |
31 |
32 |
1 |
0.43 |
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37 |
38 |
1 |
0.25 |
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44 |
49 |
5 |
0.74 |
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Trench 5 |
54 |
6 |
8 |
2 |
0.38 |
*Refers to lengthwise along trench (as opposed to depth).
KEY:
(1) RC drilling involves a “hammer” piston which repeatedly strikes the target rock. Simultaneously, a powerful drill-bit at the end made of tungsten rotates at high speed. This creates small chips of rock known as drill cuttings that are sucked up with a vacuum and transported to a cyclone at the surface through dedicated tubes. The drilling chips derived from each depth interval are collected in separate sample bags, and a representative sub-sample of each interval is submitted to the assay lab where the geochemical constituents and gold grade is analysed. In turn, the drill chips provide a representation of the rock types the hole encountered throughout its length, this data allows a geological log to be established.
(2) Diamond core drilling involves rotating a hollow drill bit embedded with diamonds into the ground to a certain depth before extracting the solid, intact core recovered for analysis.
QUALIFIED PERSON STATEMENT
The technical information contained in this disclosure has been read and approved by Mr Nick O’Reilly (MSc, DIC, MIMMM, MAusIMM, FGS), who is a qualified geologist and acts as the Qualified Person under the AIM Rules – Note for Mining and Oil & Gas Companies. Mr O’Reilly is a Principal consultant working for Mining Analyst Consulting Ltd which has been retained by Power Metal Resources PLC to provide technical support.
This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) 596/2014 as it forms part of UK domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (“MAR”), and is disclosed in accordance with the Company’s obligations under Article 17 of MAR.
For further information please visit https://www.powermetalresources.com/ or contact:
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Power Metal Resources plc |
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Sean Wade (Chief Executive Officer) |
+44 (0) 20 3778 1396 |
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SP Angel Corporate Finance (Nomad and Joint Broker) |
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Ewan Leggat/Charlie Bouverat |
+44 (0) 20 3470 0470 |
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SI Capital Limited (Joint Broker) |
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Nick Emerson |
+44 (0) 1483 413 500 |
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First Equity Limited (Joint Broker) |
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David Cockbill/Jason Robertson |
+44 (0) 20 7330 1883 |