Initial Sample Results – Copper Tailings Project

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 as it forms part of UK domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018. With the publication of this announcement via a Regulatory Information Service, this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain.

 23 July 2024

European Green Transition plc

("European Green Transition", "EGT" or "the Company")

Encouraging Preliminary Sample Results from Copper Tailings Recycling Project

European Green Transition (AIM: EGT), a company developing green economy assets in Europe which aims to capitalise on the opportunity created by the green energy transition, is pleased to announce what it believes are encouraging results from samples taken from its Copper Tailings Recycling Project at Limni in Cyprus.

Highlights

·    The first stage of diligence on the Cyprus Copper Tailings Recycling Project at the past-producing Limni copper mine has delivered encouraging results across 68 samples.

·    Acid soluble copper ranging from 0.41% to 0.92% found in crusts clearly demonstrates the presence of copper in water at surface.

·    Results also indicate potential upside for gold, with samples of up to 1.48 g/t Au recorded from waste near the edge of the pit.

·    EGT will now progress to the next stage of diligence as part of its option agreement (as announced on 29 April 2024) to develop a copper tailings recycling project through low-cost water treatment and tailings development, with subsequent potential for solar development.

Aiden Lavelle, Chief Executive Officer of European Green Transition, said:

"The first stage of diligence at the Limni site has yielded encouraging results, indicating the potential for recovering a meaningful amount of copper, in addition to newly identified gold potential at the site which offers further upside for the project. Dry sulphate crust samples returned grades of acid soluble copper ranging from 0.41% Cu to 0.92% Cu and averaging 0.756% Cu. We were also pleased to find indications of gold in rock chip samples taken from the pit edge, with results up to 1.48 g/t providing additional upside value.

"As a next step, we will now progress to the next stage of diligence as part of our 12-month option agreement. This will include further rock sampling, water sampling, and analysis of the potential for solar development at the site."

Sample Results

Results have been received from the first stage of EGT's diligence process, which included a total of 68 samples collected during fieldwork in May and June 2024. Three different sample types were collected at Limni. These include five sulphate crust samples from the surface of the pit where water often lies during the wet season, nine rock chip samples collected from the edge of the pit with visible or oxidised sulphides, and 54 surface samples of pit infill material.

Results for the five sulphate crust samples from the surface of the pit confirm that copper-enriched solutions are remobilising copper from the tailings and depositing it at surface when the water evaporates in the dry season. The samples were taken in a line across a normally wet area of the pit with sample spacing of c.9-15m. The average acid soluble copper grade of the five samples was 0.756% Cu with a range of 0.41% Cu to 0.92% Cu. Zinc and cobalt were also elevated in these samples with an average of 0.25% Zn and 250 ppm Co by aqua regia digestion. Sulphur was greater than 10%, explaining the observed acid mine drainage which is evident through the outflow of blue metal-enriched water and blue sulphosalts found at the site.  

The nine rock chip and grab samples were collected from waste material at the edge of the pit. Five of the samples were taken from a 200m x 100m area to the south of the pit and four to the northwest of the pit. The five samples from the south of the pit had an average grade of 0.89g/t Au and 0.12% Cu with a maximum of 1.48g/t Au. The four samples from the northwest of the pit were all anomalous with two samples grading 0.15g/t Au and 0.19g/t Au. The gold mineralised samples are hosted in gossanous basalt with variable jarosite, hematite and kaolinite alteration. These results indicate that there is excellent and unquantified potential for gold mineralisation around the Limni pit, both in waste and potentially hard rock gold-pyrite zones on the periphery of the volcanic massive sulphide deposit ('VMS').

The 54 pit surface samples were collected from 27 stations with 50m spacing along four separate east-west lines across the pit. At each station, a sample was collected from the surface (0-15cm depth) and also from 15-30cm depth. The results of these samples show mixed results for copper, gold, and zinc, and it was observed that the material at the surface is generally mixed low-sulphide waste which is likely not fully representative of the tailings beneath due to the presence of coarse clasts. This material was placed as a cap over the backfilled tailings and as part of the next phase of diligence, EGT plans to obtain a more representative sample of the tailings beneath the cap. The average copper grade in these 54 samples was still elevated at 0.18% Cu with a maximum value of 0.38% Cu by aqua regia digestion. The acid soluble copper grade was more variable with 14 values c. 0.1% Cu and an average of 0.07% Cu for the 54 samples. All samples were anomalous in gold, with 14 samples >800ppb Au including four grading c. 0.1 g/t Au (1,000 ppb) supporting the Directors' view there is potential for gold upside as part of this project.

Figure 1: Satellite image of the Limni pit showing location and grade of samples collected. Refer to the map key for grade. 

Implications

These results confirm that copper is mobilising within groundwater in the pit, adding weight to the potential for copper recovery from the pit groundwater using standard extraction wells i.e. in situ recovery which would have a very low surface impact and potential near-term revenue generation. The Company will consider further testing to quickly advance this concept and progress to the next stage of diligence.

The model for VMS deposits has advanced significantly since the Limni mine closed in 1978 and gold has been found associated with zinc and pyrite around other exploration sites in Cyprus and within the Limni District. In modern VMS deposit models, gold may be associated with pyrite stockworks and with argillic alteration either within the core of the deposit or on the periphery of the sulphide mounds. The gold grade of the historic Limni mine is unknown and there is no production data for gold at the site. Further work is warranted to determine the gold potential of the project.

The site and surroundings also offer an excellent long-term potential to establish a solar power facility following the completion of the tailings recycling project. This optionality provides EGT with potential further upside from the project. EGT would intend to partner with an existing solar power operator with the expertise and track record of developing a solar facility, with EGT maintaining a long-term revenue stream, should this be viable.

Sample Information, Quality Assurance / Quality Control

All samples were securely bagged, cable tied, boxed, and shipped from Cyprus by courier to ALS Romania. The samples were analysed by ALS for gold using a 50g gold fire assay package (Code Au-AA24) and for acid soluble copper by a sulphuric acid leach with atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS), (Code Cu-AA05). The pit floor samples and rock samples were analysed for multielements using ALS package ME-MS41 while the sulphate crust samples were analysed by a four-acid leach (Code ME-ICP61). ALS Minerals routinely includes standards, blanks and duplicates in the sample stream and monitors the results which are reported to EGT. Standards and blanks were not submitted by EGT with this first pass batch of samples due to unavailability in the field at the time of sampling, however, values are in line with those expected given the history of the site and nature of the sampled material. The duplicate samples from surface and 15-30cm depth on the pit floor are generally consistent with each other, with just four of the sample pairs showing significant deviation of >22% between samples.

Competent Person

All scientific and technical information in this announcement has been prepared under the supervision of and reviewed and approved by EurGeol Aiden Lavelle, M.Sc., P.Geo., EGT's Chief Executive Officer. Mr Lavelle has sufficient experience relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration, and to the activity which he is undertaking to qualify as a Competent Person in accordance with the guidance note for Mining, Oil & Gas Companies issued by the London Stock Exchange in respect of AIM Companies, which outlines standards of disclosure for mineral projects. Mr Lavelle consents to the inclusion in this announcement of the matters based on his information in the form and context in which it appears.

-ENDS-

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Notes to Editors

 European Green Transition plc (listed on the AIM London Stock Exchange under the ticker "EGT") is a business operating in the green economy transition space in Europe. EGT intends to capitalise on the opportunities created by Europe's transition away from fossil fuels to a green, renewables-focused economy. The Company plans to expand its existing portfolio of green economy assets through M&A, targeting what it believes to be distressed and undervalued projects. EGT sees substantial opportunities to deliver value from its M&A pipeline, which includes critical material, wind, solar, processing and recycling projects.

EGT's highly experienced leadership team has a strong track record of building successful public companies through the acquisition of distressed assets. EGT plans to replicate this approach, creating a sustainable and profitable business while generating shareholder returns.

The Company's current portfolio of green economy assets includes the Olserum Rare Earth Project in Sweden. The Olserum project is one of Sweden's projects of "National Interest" and has the potential to become Europe's first operating REE mine. EGT has taken an exclusive option over a copper tailings recycling project in Cyprus with the potential to generate meaningful amounts of copper, and with the site and surroundings offering an excellent long-term location to establish a potential solar power facility. EGT has taken a further exclusive option to develop a peatland carbon sink programme and in turn generate carbon credits at Altan in Donegal in the northwest of Ireland. EGT owns additional projects in northern Sweden and Germany which have defined and tangible upside with potential to realise near-term inflection points in a cost effective manner. EGT's objective is to build a profitable business while aiming to monetise some of its assets through sale or partnership with larger industry players or European end users. The team is focused on success while remaining committed to its defined ESG strategy, ensuring excellent development practices across all projects in addition to regular local community engagement.