Power Metal Resources PLC (LON:POW) the London listed exploration company seeking large-scale metal discoveries across its global project portfolio announces an update in relation to its joint-venture subsidiary New Ballarat Gold Corporation plc (“NBGC”), which is focused in the prolific Victorian Goldfields of Australia.
NBGC is a joint-venture held between Power Metal (49.9%) and its partner, London-listed Red Rock Resources plc (50.1%). NBGC has a 100% interest in Red Rock Australasia Pty Ltd (“RRAL”).
Highlights:
· Three further exploration licences, EL007330 (202km2), EL007294 (325km2) and EL007507 (9km2), have now been granted, bringing NBGC’s combined footprint in the Victoria Goldfields to 1,832km2.
· New license grants include EL007330 located northeast of Ballarat, Australia. Significantly, this newly granted licence covers the historical Ajax gold mine which historically produced 312,789oz gold at an average grade of 14.8g/t Au in the 1920s.1
Paul Johnson Chief Executive Officer of Power Metal Resources plc commented:
“The grant of EL007330 is a considerable step forward bringing the historical Ajax gold mine into the RRAL portfolio. This mine produced 312,789 ounces of gold at an average grade of nearly half an ounce per tonne.
Whilst the RRAL land footprint is considerable, with over 1,800k m2of now granted exploration licences, without question the grant of EL007330 including Ajax is highly significant.
In our view the RRAL business holds great potential, however, what is important is what we do to maximise that value through further exploration and corporate activities.
I expect it will be an interesting few months ahead for this project package within the Power Metal business.”
Highlights: EL007330 – Including Ajax Mine:
The historical Ajax gold mine comprises numerous shafts and workings found over several kilometres of combined strike length, which was historically mined to a vertical depth of approximately 400m. The down dip and along strike extensions of the main ore zones remain virtually untested by drilling. A small drilling programme completed in the 1990s by Continent Resources intersected multiple lode structures with highlight results up to 15.24g/t Au over 5.2m from 120.9m downhole – demonstrating the continuity of mineralised lode structure and associated high gold grades. The main mine shaft itself has since been backfilled and is currently not accessible.
A more detailed description of the historical Ajax gold mine is contained in the paper previously published on RRAL’s website with the file name: ‘Licence Report: EL007330 – Daylesford (Blue Angel)’ found below at:
https://www.rrrplc.com/projects-and-investments/gold/red-rock-australasia/
Work is currently under way to digitise the old mine workings into a 3D computer model in advance of a planned diamond drilling campaign which is expected to commence in late 2022 -targeting the along strike and down dip extensions of the Ajax mine’s main ore zones.
New Ballarat Gold Corporation:
NBGC holds a strong land position comprising fourteen (14) granted exploration licences for a total of 1,832km2, located entirely within the prolific gold fields of Victoria, Australia – principally surrounding the mining centre of Ballarat, Australia. Five (5) licences for a total of 493km2 are still in the application stage.
The company has carefully assembled its property portfolio to comprise a broad range from robust exploration targets to near term resource potential – all of which remain largely untested by modern explorers.
With the first tenement within the portfolio granted only in 2021, NBGC has already conducted detailed exploration on multiple targets to date. This includes diamond drill programmes designed to test the O’Loughlin’s (520m) and Mt. Bute (340m) prospects, which commenced December 2021. The final results from these drill programmes are still pending.