16 October 2017
Dissemination of a Regulatory Announcement that contains inside information according to REGULATION (EU) No 596/2014 (MAR).
Greatland Gold plc
("Greatland" or "the Company")
Ernest Giles East - New Licence Application
Greatland looks to Expand its Strategic Landholding after Recent Exploration Results Identify Multiple Gold Targets at Ernest Giles East
Greatland Gold plc (AIM:GGP), the precious and base metals exploration and development company, is pleased to announce that it has applied for a new exploration licence to expand its landholding at the Ernest Giles gold project to more than 2,000 kilometres.
If the licence application is successful, the Eastern blocks of the Ernest Giles project ("Ernest Giles East") will total approximately 800 square kilometres, covering a large 90 kilometre long north-south trending sequence of rocks which represent an extension of the gold prospective Ernest Giles greenstone sequences.
The Ernest Giles gold project is currently under an agreement with Newmont Exploration Pty Ltd, a subsidiary of Newmont Mining Corporation (NYSE:NEM), providing them with access to the project tenements and exploration database, as well as the right of first refusal should Greatland wish to sell or joint venture the project, as stated in the announcement of 16th May 2017.
Highlights:
· Greatland hopes to significantly expand the Ernest Giles East gold project by applying for an additional exploration licence covering a further 200 square kilometres that, in the opinion of Greatland, is highly prospective for gold mineralisation;
· Mobile Metal Ion ("MMI") sampling recently identified several clusters of gold anomalies at Ernest Giles East, as announced on the 11th October 2017, with key clusters exhibiting a strike in excess of 9km long and up to 3km wide;
· Two of the clusters identified as high priority targets for follow up work lie adjacent to the border of Greatland's existing licence application (E38/3235, "Westwood North") and the new application (E38/3277 "Empress Springs").
Gervaise Heddle, Chief Executive Officer, commented:
"Recent MMI sampling carried out at Ernest Giles East, as announced earlier this month, highlighted the significant exploration potential of the Eastern blocks of the Ernest Giles project. If granted, the new licence area further strengthens Greatland's dominant position across the Ernest Giles greenstone belt. As demonstrated today, our first mover advantage in this new gold province, combined with our commitment to active grassroots exploration, allows us to identify and quickly secure new opportunities."
Overview of Ernest Giles Project
The Ernest Giles project is located in central Western Australia, covering an area of more than 2,000 square kilometres that includes over 230km of strike of gold and nickel prospective rocks. The area is covered by desert sands and sediments, making it virtually unexplored. The region is home to several successful exploration discoveries such as Tropicana (AngloGold ASX:AGG), which contains over 7 million ounces, and Yamarna/Gruyere (Gold Road Resources ASX:GOR/Gold Fields Ltd NYSE:GFI), with over 6 million ounces. The Company is targeting large +5m ounce deposits and clusters of several camp-type +1m ounce gold discoveries at Ernest Giles.
Earlier drill programmes by the Company at Ernest Giles intersected gold mineralisation and large alteration systems in wildcat drilling of blind structural targets defined by airborne geophysics. This was considered a major achievement for such a large prospective area with virtually no historical work.
In late 2016, the Company completed a comprehensive broad spaced Reverse Circulation "RC" drilling programme at Meadows in the south-east of the project area which tested several large areas based on work completed by the Company and earlier work by Western Mining Corporation. This RC drill programme comprised 23 holes for 5,581m. Holes were drilled on a broad spaced grid pattern of 1,600m x 800m.
Mineralisation was observed in 13 of the 23 holes and several holes exhibited gold anomalous zones over tens of metres, peaking at 0.78g/t gold with mineralisation at end of hole. Two large zones of mineralisation were identified; Western 6km x 1.5km and Eastern 2km x 1.5km. Additional 1m sampling of several intercepts was undertaken to confirm preliminary results and better define mineralisation with many significant gold results returned up to 2g/t. Results confirmed mineralisation is present over a large area at Meadows and suggest that Greatland has discovered a new gold province in this largely unexplored region.
In late 2014, the Company completed a restricted programme of MMI surface geochemistry over several target areas which were outlined from interpretation of detailed aeromagnetics. Sample spacing was at a nominal 800m x 200m. Results from this sampling were positive over the Meadows area (peaking at 68ppb gold), and at the Empress area. At Empress many samples returned +5ppb gold, which is quite high for MMI results, plus several above 40ppb gold peaking at 338ppb gold at the eastern extremity of three consecutive sample lines potentially outlining a significant anomaly 3km long by 1km wide which remains open to the east.
In May 2017, a detailed airborne survey was acquired over the northern sequences and the newly acquired Ernest Giles East block which includes a 600 square kilometres area covering an 80km long north-south trending sequence of rocks that represents a continuation of the gold prospective greenstone sequence.
In June 2017, a comprehensive ground gravity survey was completed over parts of the Western licences at a station spacing of 1,600m x 200m. Data was collected over the Empress, Wishbone and greater Meadows area. The ground gravity data integrated with airborne magnetics has highlighted several additional targets conducive to gold mineralisation at each of the areas surveyed.
During September 2017 Greatland completed its initial work over the Eastern block. The Eastern block, now covering 800 square kilometres, represents an extension of the gold prospective Ernest Giles greenstone sequences. Work included broad spaced ground gravity and first pass MMI sampling. Gravity work was completed on a station spacing of 1,600m x 200m while MMI samples were collected on 3,200m x 400m centres.
MMI results outlined multiple gold anomalies over approximately 60km of strike. Many anomalies present as clusters of elevated responses over several adjoining east-west sample traverses with peak responses up to 1.3ppb gold (against a background of 0.0-0.1ppb). Several anomalies exhibit a strike length in excess of 9km and up to 3km wide. Ground gravity and detailed airborne magnetics confirms the MMI anomalies lie subparallel to the regional geological strike or within cross cutting structures displaying demagnetisation of bedrock geology.
Several MMI anomalies at Ernest Giles East lie adjacent to the boundary of existing licence application (E38/3235 Westwood North) and an additional licence (E38/3277 Empress Springs) has been applied for to secure the prospective area outlined by the elevated MMI response and strengthen the Company's strategic land position. The new licence application covers approximately 200 square kilometres which increases the total area of the project to more than 2,000 square kilometres.
Greatland's recent successful efforts at Ernest Giles East have enhanced the potential of the Ernest Giles project to host several, very large, mineralised systems.
In May 2017, Greatland entered into an agreement with Newmont Exploration Pty Ltd, a subsidiary of Newmont Mining Corporation (NYSE:NEM) over the Ernest Giles project.
Additional information on the Ernest Giles project can be found on the Company web site at www.greatlandgold.com/projects
Competent Person:
Information in this announcement that relates to exploration results is based on information compiled by Mr Callum Baxter, a director of Greatland Gold plc, who is a member of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and Australian Institute of Geoscientists. Mr Baxter has sufficient experience relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity which has been undertaken to qualify as a Competent Person as defined by the 2012 Edition of the Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves (the JORC Code) and under the AIM Rules - Note for Mining and Oil & Gas Companies. Mr Baxter consents to the inclusion in the announcement of the matters based on their information in the form and context in which it appears.
Enquiries:
Greatland Gold PLC
Callum Baxter/Gervaise Heddle
Tel +44 (0)20 7747 9980
Email: [email protected]
www.greatlandgold.com
SPARK Advisory Partners Limited (Nominated Adviser)
Mark Brady/James Keeshan
Tel +44 (0)20 3368 3550
SI Capital Limited (Broker)
Nick Emerson
Tel +44 (0)14 8341 3500
Luther Pendragon (Media and Investor Relations)
Harry Chathli/Ana Ribeiro/Alexis Gore
Tel +44 (0)20 7618 9100
Notes for Editors:
Greatland Gold plc is London listed (AIM:GGP) natural resource exploration and development company with a current focus on gold and nickel exploration projects.
The Company has six main projects; four situated in Western Australia and two in Tasmania. All projects are 100% owned by Greatland or Greatland has the right to take 100% ownership.
Greatland is seeking to identify large mineral deposits in areas that have not been subject to extensive exploration previously. It is widely recognised that the next generation of large deposits will come from such under-explored areas and Greatland is applying advanced exploration techniques to investigate a number of carefully selected targets within its focused licence portfolio.
The Company is also actively investigating a range of new opportunities in precious and strategic metals and will update the market on new opportunities as and when appropriate.
