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LONDON (Alliance News) - Sunrise Resources PLC Monday said it is progressing the development of all of its projects in Nevada, US, but said work on its Australian projects has been deferred due to bad weather and flooding.
The miner said independent testing at the County Line Diatomite project has produced "high-value" filtration-grade flux calcined diatomite, an industrial raw material comprised of the hollow and lattice-like silica skeletons of aquatic algae. Diatomite is mainly used in the filtration of beer, wine, fats and fruit juices and as an industrial filler.
"I am delighted with the recent testwork results from the County Line Diatomite deposit. This is a real breakthrough that underlines the commercial potential of this large deposit," said Executive Chairman Patrick Cheetham, who added that diatomite demand is currently outstripping supply.
The company will now carry out further testwork in May on samples from below the surface and to identify areas that might support early production from the project.
At the Bay State silver mine, also in Nevada, the company said it will apply for a Notice Level Permit to allow the company to drill five diamond drill holes, totalling about 1,000 metres of drilling, to test two vein systems, the 320 metre Chihuahua and 150 metre Lincoln veins.
The company will also contract a specialist mine access company to access and sample the Chihuahua vein along the main development beyond the rock fall that has so far prevented access for underground sampling. This work is scheduled to take place at the end of April, said Sunrise.
It is expected that the vein sampling and drilling will allow for an initial evaluation of the silver resource potential of the Bay State project.
At the Garfield gold and copper project, 122 soil samples have been collected which will lead to the company defining drill targets. At the Junction gold project, rock sampling has shown grade results of around 4.56 grammes of gold per tonne, but said the known mineralisation at the project does not seem to extend as expected. Soil sampling at the Junction project will be carried out to determine the size of the potential resource there.
Away from the US, Sunrise said work on its diamond and gold projects in Australia was deferred in April due to heavy rains, flooding and road closures. The company did not reveal when work would continue on the projects.
Sunrise shares were untraded on Monday morning, last trading at 0.287 pence per share.
By Joshua Warner; joshuawarner@alliancenews.com; @JoshAlliance
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