Greatland commences drilling at Scallywag prospect

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19 August 2020

Dissemination of a Regulatory Announcement that contains inside information according to REGULATION (EU) No 596/2014 (MAR)

Greatland Gold plc

("Greatland" or "the Company")

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Greatland commences drilling at Scallywag prospect

 

Exploration campaign in the Paterson region will initially focus on drill testing high-priority targets within the Scallywag prospect area including Kraken, Blackbeard and London

 

Further to the announcement of 30 June 2020, Greatland Gold plc (AIM:GGP), the precious and base metals exploration and development company, is pleased to provide an update on its exploration activities in the Paterson region (excluding the Havieron Farm-in area).

 

Highlights of Exploration Activities in the Paterson (excluding the Havieron Farm-in)

 

Drilling

·      Drilling has commenced at the Scallywag prospect area (100% beneficially owned by Greatland) in the Paterson region following receipt of relevant cultural heritage approvals.

·      The drilling campaign will initially focus on high-priority targets within the Scallywag prospect area including Kraken, Blackbeard and London.

·      Once the initial phase of drilling is complete at Scallywag, the Company expects to drill additional high-priority targets on its Paterson Range East and Black Hills licences including Goliath, Los Diablos and Parlay.

 

AEM Survey

·      Airborne Electromagnetic ("AEM") survey has commenced, covering 1,033 line kilometres across the western portion of Greatland's Paterson project.

·      The survey aims to identify conductive responses related to massive sulphide mineralisation across western parts of the Havieron and Paterson Range East licences, and the whole of the Black Hills licence.

 

Gervaise Heddle, Chief Executive Officer of Greatland Gold plc, commented: "We are very excited to be moving forward with systematic drill testing of high-priority targets in the Paterson region. These targets were identified by previous geophysical and geochemical surveys across our Paterson licences, and many of these targets display similar geophysical characteristics to our nearby Havieron gold-copper deposit, where ongoing drilling under a Farm-in with Newcrest has returned a series of outstanding results."

 

Background to the Paterson Project

 

The Company's Paterson project comprises three granted licences (Havieron, Paterson Range East, and Black Hills) and one licence application (Rudall), located in the Paterson region of northern Western Australia. The four licences collectively cover more than 450 square kilometres and are prospective for Telfer and Havieron style gold-copper deposits.

 

Drilling will initially focus on high-priority targets within the Scallywag prospect area including Kraken, Blackbeard and London. Once the initial phase of drilling is complete at Scallywag, the Company expects to continue with drilling of additional high-priority targets on its Paterson Range East licence including Goliath and Los Diablos, and Parlay on its Black Hills licence.

 

In addition to the drill programme, a high-resolution helicopter borne electromagnetic survey utilising NRG's Xcite^TM Airborne Electromagnetic ("AEM") system has commenced. The AEM survey comprises 1,033 line kilometres covering the western parts of the Havieron and Paterson Range East licences and complete coverage of the Black Hills licence. Flight line spacing will be 200m, closing to 100m spacing where increased resolution is required. The AEM survey aims to identify conductive responses related to the accumulation of massive sulphide mineralisation as observed at the Company's Havieron gold-copper deposit.

 

The Paterson region is currently one of the most active exploration areas in Australia. Recent discoveries by Greatland (Havieron) and Rio Tinto (Winu) demonstrate the potential of the region and highlight the lack of historical exploration, particularly over the extensive areas under cover. As well as hosting several large gold and copper deposits such as Telfer and Nifty, more recent exploration has outlined several other deposits including Magnum (Au), Calibre (Au), O'Callaghans (W, Cu) and Maroochydore (Cu). The region is remote, however, infrastructure is good with several operating mines, roads, formed tracks and rail networks nearby which branch out from the regional industrial hub of Port Hedland 500km to the west.

 

In March 2019, Greatland entered into a Farm-in Agreement with Newcrest Operations Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Newcrest Mining Limited (ASX:NCM), to explore and develop Greatland's Havieron gold-copper discovery in the Paterson region of Western Australia. Newcrest has the right to earn up to a 70% interest in a 12-block area within E45/4701 that covers the Havieron target by spending up to US$65m. Newcrest may acquire an additional 5% interest at the end of the Farm-in period at fair market value. To date, Newcrest has completed Stage 2 and progressed to Stage 3 of the Farm-in Agreement, and holds a 40% Farm-in interest in the 12-block area.

 

During the Farm-In period, Newcrest will have a right of first refusal over three of Greatland's Paterson licences (Black Hills, Paterson Range East and the remainder of the Havieron licence). The right of first refusal does not extend to the Rudall licence (E45/5533).

 

Additional information on the Paterson project, including maps showing regional targets, can be found at: www.greatlandgold.com/paterson

 

 

Enquiries:

 

Greatland Gold PLC

Gervaise Heddle/Callum Baxter

Tel: +44 (0)20 3709 4900

Email:  [email protected]

www.greatlandgold.com

 

SPARK Advisory Partners Limited (Nominated Adviser)

Andrew Emmott/James Keeshan

Tel: +44 (0)20 3368 3550

 

Berenberg (Joint Corporate Broker and Financial Adviser)

Matthew Armitt/Jennifer Wyllie/Detlir Elezi

Tel: +44 (0)20 3207 7800

 

Hannam & Partners (Joint Corporate Broker and Financial Adviser)

Andrew Chubb/Matt Hasson/Jay Ashfield

Tel: +44 (0)20 7907 8500

 

SI Capital Limited (Joint Corporate Broker)

Nick Emerson/Alan Gunn

Tel:  +44 (0)14 8341 3500

 

Luther Pendragon (Media and Investor Relations)

Harry Chathli/Alexis Gore/Joe Quinlan

Tel: +44 (0)20 7618 9100

 

 

Notes for Editors:

 

Greatland Gold plc is a London Stock Exchange AIM-listed (AIM:GGP) natural resource exploration and development company with a current focus on precious and base metals. The Company has six main projects; four situated in Western Australia and two in Tasmania.

 

In March 2019, Greatland signed a Farm-in Agreement with Newcrest Operations Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Newcrest Mining Limited (ASX:NCM), to explore and develop Greatland's Havieron gold-copper deposit in the Paterson region of Western Australia. Newcrest has the right to earn up to a 70% interest in a 12-block area within E45/4701 that covers the Havieron target by spending up to US$65 million.

 

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.