Wishbone Gold Plc / Index: AIM / Epic: WSBN / Sector: Natural Resources
26 March 2013
Wishbone Gold Plc ('Wishbone Gold' or the 'Company')
Granted Two Highly Prospective Gold Licences in NE Queensland
Wishbone Gold, an exploration and acquisition company focussed on precious metals, is pleased to announce that, further to the announcement of 17 September 2012, it has been granted two highly prospective gold licences, covering a total area of approximately 23,600 hectares, adjacent to its Wishbone II licence in north-east Queensland. The granting of these new licences, known as Wishbone III and Wishbone IV, consolidates the Company's position in the established gold region of north-east Queensland, and is in line with the Company's strategy to expand its portfolio of viable gold prospects to create shareholder value.
Wishbone IV
The larger of the two licences, Wishbone IV, is contiguous to Wishbone II to the east and to the north. Wishbone IV covers an area of 20,000 hectares and includes the east-west trending Alex Hill Shear Zone and associated areas containing NE and NW trending faulted structures, and related splay faults. The area is located along the same major trend held by Resolute Mining, Ltd ('Resolute Mining'), located approximately 15km to the west of Wishbone II, where substantial gold mineralisation at depth was recently discovered at the Welcome Deposit, producing some "exceptional first pass diamond drill intercepts" including drill holes showing 18m @ 3.92g/t gold from a depth of 215m, 19m @ 4.52g/t from a depth of 359m, 113m @ 7.7g/t gold from a depth of 316m and 50m @ 3.87g/t gold from a depth of 298m. Resolute Mining is undertaking additional diamond drilling to test the vertical and lateral extents of this potential new deposit and also reported in 2012 that several other Mount Wright-style targets in the district are ready for ground geophysical work and/or drilling. For additional information, see page 33 of the Wishbone II Competent Person's Report which can be found at http://i2massociates.com/downloads/WishboneIIJuly10-2012Ver1.10.pdf.
Wishbone III
The Wishbone III licence, which covers some 3,600 hectares, is adjacent to the Wishbone IV licence to the north, and is located along the Flinders Highway and Queensland Railway. Wishbone III is primarily an untested prospective geophysical target for shallow mineralisation below alluvium. Both licences have easy access to major highways with maintained roads, and existing tracks to support aggressive exploration programmes.
The Board, supported by data and guidance from its primary consultant Terra Search Pty Ltd, is confident that these new licences, in addition to Wishbone Gold's existing licences in Queensland, which include Wishbone II (29,600 hectares) and White Mountain (4,800 hectares), are highly prospective and warrant further structured exploration for intrusive-related and epithermal-style mineralisation involving gold and other metals. The numerous shows of polymetallic mineralisation, the widespread surface geochemical anomalies, combined with the favourable age of the rocks and the recent gold discoveries in nearby holdings suggest the likely presence of highly mineralised shear zones within several known intersecting mineralised faults and veins. For additional information on the White Mountain licence, which is located approximately 220km by road west-northwest of Wishbone II, please refer to the White Mountain Competent Person's Report which can be found at http://i2massociates.com/downloads/WhiteMtJuly10-2012Vers1.9.pdf.
Richard Poulden, Executive Chairman of Wishbone Gold plc, said,"The granting of these two new licences expands our total portfolio to over 58,000 hectares in the highly prospective and producing region of north-east Australia. Most importantly, securing these two key licences has enabled us to consolidate our exploration presence around a key strategic gold-bearing bluff on Wishbone II, which will be the focus of our appraisal efforts moving forward. With this in mind, the Company has initiated an exploration program for the current year across all its properties to include ground magnetic surveys with a view to establishing drill targets."
This announcement has been reviewed by Michael D. Campbell, Chief Geologist for I2M Associates, LLC in Houston, Texas, and independent consultant to Wishbone Gold plc. He is a Fellow in the Society of Economic Geologists (SEG), a Registered Member in the Society of Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration (SME), and a Fellow in the Geological Society of America. He is also a Licenced Professional Geologist in the States of Texas, Washington, Wyoming, Mississippi, and Alaska, and is a Certified Professional Geologist in the American Institute of Professional Geologists (AIPG) and a Certified Professional Hydrogeologist in the American Institute of Hydrology (AIH), among other societies and associations. Mr Campbell meets the definition of a "qualified person" as defined in the AIM Note for Mining, Oil and Gas Companies.
The geological opinions are based in part on the advice provided by Wishbone Gold's primary consultant, Terra Search Pty Ltd. in Townsville, Qld. and with the independent technical oversight provided by I2M Associates, LLC in the USA.
**ENDS**
For further information please contact:
Richard Poulden |
Wishbone Gold plc |
Tel: +44 7714 168 167 [email protected] |
Edward Mansfield Patrick Castle |
Shore Capital & Corporate Ltd Shore Capital & Corporate Ltd |
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7408 4090 Tel: +44 (0) 20 7408 4090 |
Chris Rourke |
Beaufort International Associates Limited |
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7382 8387 |
Guy Wheatley |
Beaufort International Associates Limited |
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7382 8387 |
Frank Buhagiar Susie Geliher |
St Brides Media & Finance Ltd St Brides Media & Finance Ltd |
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7236 1177 Tel: +44 (0) 20 7236 1177 |
