Last checked at 25 Nov 2013 07:00
Armadale, the AIM quoted investment company focused on natural resource projects in Africa, is pleased to announce positive assay results from the Company’s recent investment in the highly prospective, low-cost, Mpokoto Gold Project in the Katanga Province in the south of the Democratic Republic of Congo (‘Mpokoto’ or ‘the Project’). These results were returned from the final 20 holes of a diamond drilling programme undertaken in 2011 by the previous operators at Mpokoto and had not previously been released. The results were received after the current 380,000 oz Au resource estimate was established. The drilling programme was conducted to determine interpreted mineralisation geometries and test the continuity of mineralisation along strike and at depth.
Highlights:
Twenty (20) diamond drill holes for 1,516.4m were completed to test the continuity of mineralisation along strike and at depth 18 out of 20 holes confirmed near surface mineralisation and strike extent with strong potential to prove up future resource model/estimations Significant assays include: MPDD0064 returned 27.9m @ 7.8g/t Au from 75m (including 10.0m @ 15.0g/t) MPDD0063 returned 5.0m @ 3.9 g/t Au from 39.4m and 9.7m @ 1g/t from 12m MPDD0074 returned 15.2m @ 2.6 g/t Au from 1.9m MPDD0078 returned 12m @ 2g/t Au from 17m MPDD0070 returned 15.7m @ 1.8 g/t Au from 2m MPDD0071 returned 15m @ 1.4g/t Au from 23m MPDD0082 returned 4.5m @ 2.2 g/t Au from 51m Results were received after the current Indicated and Inferred resource estimated at 380,000oz Au from 7.2 million tonnes @ 1.65g/t Au at a cut-off grade of 0.5 g/t Au (75% Indicated category) – demonstrates the significant potential for resource expansion in line with the Exploration Target potential* of 10-24 million tonnes @ 1.5-1.8 g/t Au An initial high-level review of drilling data has been undertaken by a CSA Global Geological Consultants (“CSA”). Results from that review include: mineralisation is confined to the coarse-clastic conglomerate bed of interbedded sandstone and conglomerate sequence mineralisation occurs in tabular and laterally extensive stratigraphic horizons mineralisation dips at moderate angle to the south and southwest good potential to increase the mineralisation base, and new results will facilitate more confident planning of future work programmes. Project is anticipated to be a relatively low-cost heap leach operation – mineralisation benefits from simple metallurgy with operating costs estimated at US$700-900 per ounce\* Tetra Tech Consultancy estimate. The quantity and grade of the Exploration Target is conceptual and there has been insufficient exploration to define a Mineral Resource.
Justin Lewis, Director of Armadale, said, “These are highly encouraging assay results which continue to underpin Mpokoto’s prospectivity as a low-capex, low-opex gold project. With highs of 27.9m @ 7.8g/t Au, mineralisation that appears metallurgically simple and hence amenable to a low-cost heap leach operation, we remain focused on advancing Mpokoto up the development curve with a view to commencing full commercial production in 2015.
“In line with this development schedule, we are incorporating these results, together with other data, in an updated geological model, which we anticipate will lead to an expansion of Mpokoto’s current resource of 380,000oz Au, and I look forward to updating shareholders on our progress in due course.”
Further Information
A total of 20 diamond drill holes were completed for a total of 1,516.4m at Mpokoto by the previous operators of the Project, between June and November 2011. This exploration post-dated the mineral resource estimate that was conducted in early 2011 by Tetra Tech. The holes were drilled with the objectives of testing the interpreted resource geometry, delineating the continuity of the mineralisation, testing conceptual targets and refining the geological model in selected areas.
CSA have been engaged by Armadale in the capacity of independent technical advisors and Qualified Person’s (‘QP’) to undertake an initial high-level review of this drilling data. As part of this review, the drill holes were incorporated into the existing resource model, which confirmed that the 20 new drill holes were likely to contribute to an increased level of confidence in the preparation of future resource model/estimations. The report recommended the group consider an update of the resource model and use the additional data to build an updated 3D geological model to support the mineralisation model. This work is currently being undertaken and the group looks forward to being able to update shareholders in due course with regard to an updated mineral resource estimate in line with JORC 2012 guidelines.
Table 1: Table of all recent drilling results
| Hole ID | From | To (m) | Intersection | Remarks |
| MPDD0082 | 30.9 | 42.9 | 12m @ 1.4g/t | |
| 51.1 | 55.6 | 4.5m @ 2.2g/t | ||
| MPDD0081 | 2.9 | 7.1 | 4.1m @ 1.6g/t | Includes 1.2m @ 3.1g/t |
| 14.1 | 26.1 | 12m @ 1.2g/t | ||
| 35.0 | 36.5 | 1.5 @ 4.1g/t | ||
| MPDD0080 | 5.0 | 6.3 | 1.3m @ 0.8g/t | |
| 56.4 | 61.4 | 5.0m @ 0.5g/t | ||
| MPDD0079 | 1.9 | 5.5 | 3.6m @ 2.5g/t | Includes 1.2m @ 3.9g/t |
| 30.0 | 34.5 | 4.5m @ 1.6g/t | ||
| MPDD0078 | 17 | 29 | 12m @ 2.0g/t | Includes 1m @ 3.6g/t |
| 74 | 75.5 | 1.5m @ 3.9g/t | ||
| MPDD0077 | 1.6 | 4.3 | 2.7m @ 1.9g/t | |
| MPDD0076 | 10.9 | 13.0 | 2.1m @ 0.6g/t | |
| 34.8 | 40.6 | 5.8m @ 0.9g/t | ||
| 46.5 | 48.0 | 1.5m @ 3.1g/t | ||
| MPDD0075 | 13.9 | 17.7 | 3.8m @ 2.0g/t | |
| MPDD0074 | 1.9 | 17.1 | 15.2m @ 2.6g/t | Includes 0.5m @ 9.0g/t |
| MPDD0073 | 31.3 | 35.3 | 2.5m @ 2.0g/t | |
| MPDD0072 | 1.7 | 2.7 | 1.0m @ 0.7g/t | |
| MPDD0071 | 22.9 | 37.9 | 15m @ 1.4g/t | Includes 0.7m @ 4.2g/t |
| MPDD0070 | 1.9 | 17.6 | 15.7m @ 1.8g/t | Includes 1m @ 4.3g/t |
| MPDD0069 | 19.7 | 20.8 | 1.1m @ 1.9g/t | |
| MPDD0068 | 66.2 | 75.2 | 9.0m @ 0.9g/t | |
| MPDD0067 | 25.9 | 29.4 | 3.5m @ 0.7g/t | |
| 36.0 | 38.0 | 2.0m @ 2.0g/t | ||
| MPDD0066 | 5.0 | 5.7 | 0.7m @ 0.4g/t | |
| MPDD0065 | 7.5 | 8.5 | 1m @ 0.4g/t | |
| MPDD0064 | 41.8 | 43.2 | 1.4m @ 1.4g/t | |
| 50.6 | 53.6 | 3m @ 1.5g/t | ||
| 59.6 | 61.6 | 2.0m @ 2.0g/t | ||
| 75.6 | 103.5 | 27.9m @ 7.8g/t | Includes 1m @ 37g/t | |
| MPDD0063 | 2.75 | 7.3 | 4.55m @ 1.1g/t | |
| 12.2 | 21.9 | 9.7m @ 1.0g/t | Includes 1.5m @ 3.0g/t | |
| 39.4 | 44.4 | 5.0m @ 3.9g/t | Includes 1.5m @ 6.1g/t | |
| MPDD0062 | 2.1 | 4.5 | 2.4m @ 0.6g/t |
NOTE: 1. All holes are diamond drill holes containing NQ and HQ core. 2. All samples comprise crushed half core. 3. Assaying is conducted at ALS Chemex Laboratories, Johannesburg, South Africa using industry standard 30g Fire Assay with AAS finish. 4. Certified reference materials, blanks and crushed lab duplicates are inserted into the sample stream and monitored by the project owner. 5. Down hole intercepts are quoted to two decimal places using a >0.2g/t lower cut-off which includes no more than 3m of internal dilution (>0.2g/t Au). 6. No high cut-off grade has been applied. 7. True widths are approximately 45-65% of the reported down-hole interval. 8. NSI – no significant intercept.
Table 2: Table of all Collar positions of the reported programme.
| Drill Hole ID | East (UTM) | North (UTM) | RL | Dip | Azimuth (magnetic) | Hole Type | EOH | Recovery (%) | Comments |
| MPDD0047 | 9352,0 | 17139 | 1120,00 | -55,4 | 42,4 | DD | 71,00 | 93% | assays received |
| MPDD0048 | 9430,0 | 17146 | 1116,85 | -60,4 | 42,8 | DD | 100,00 | 87% | assays received |
| MPDD0048R | 9431,6 | 17147,1 | 1116,85 | -61,1 | 43 | DD | 46,70 | 78% | assays received |
| MPDD0049 | 9319,0 | 17161 | 1116,85 | -50,2 | 42,2 | DD | 30,00 | 79% | assays received |
| MPDD0050 | 9061,0 | 17271 | 1115,00 | -54,4 | 44,8 | DD | 45,00 | 86% | assays received |
| MPDD0051 | 9420,0 | 17068 | 1116,96 | -54,8 | 43,8 | DD | 125,00 | 96% | assays received |
| MPDD0052 | 9503,0 | 17078 | 1117,87 | -59,9 | 42,7 | DD | 101,00 | 85% | assays received |
| MPDD0052R | 9507,0 | 17077 | 1121,00 | -54,2 | 42,7 | DD | 33,50 | 70% | assays received |
| MPDD0053 | 9546,0 | 17050 | 1120,00 | -57,7 | 36 | DD | 111,00 | 83% | assays received |
| MPDD0054 | 9834,0 | 16797 | 1120,00 | -54,7 | 33,6 | DD | 46,40 | 67% | assays received |
| MPDD0054R | 9833,0 | 16796 | 1121,00 | -54,7 | 33,6 | DD | 127,00 | 83% | assays received |
| MPDD0055 | 9587,0 | 17020 | 1121,00 | -46,3 | 40,4 | DD | 123,00 | 82% | assays received |
| MPDD0056 | 9546,0 | 16989 | 1117,00 | -49,6 | 37,4 | DD | 156,00 | 88% | assays received |
| MPDD0057 | 9865,0 | 16838 | 1121,00 | -58 | 34,1 | DD | 125,00 | 89% | assays received |
| MPDD0058 | 9896,0 | 16878 | 1121,00 | -57,2 | 34,7 | DD | 95,00 | 94% | assays received |
| MPDD0059 | 10051,0 | 16641 | 1120,00 | -56,1 | 40,4 | DD | 135,00 | 88% | assays received |
| MPDD0060 | 10000,0 | 16587 | 1120,00 | -56,3 | 44,1 | DD | 125,00 | 89% | assays received |
| MPDD0061 | 9937,0 | 16520 | 1120,00 | -55,1 | 43,8 | DD | 112,50 | 91% | assays received |
| MPDD0062 | 10302,0 | 16416 | 1120,00 | -54,1 | 44,5 | DD | 30,00 | 91% | assays received |
| MPDD0063 | 10267,0 | 16379 | 1120,00 | -56,3 | 45 | DD | 70,00 | 86% | assays received |
| MPDD0064 | 10232,0 | 16343 | 1120,00 | -73,2 | 44,4 | DD | 132,00 | 91% | assays received |
| MPDD0065 | 9922,0 | 16998 | 1120,00 | -48,9 | 44,4 | DD | 35,00 | 74% | assays received |
| MPDD0066 | 10325,0 | 16842 | 1116,00 | -49,8 | 0,3 | DD | 35,00 | 66% | assays received |
| MPDD0066R | 10325,0 | 16844 | 1116,00 | -53 | 0,4 | DD | 22,70 | 83% | assays received |
| MPDD0067 | 10121,0 | 16893 | 1113,00 | -52,3 | 359 | DD | 39,00 | 82% | assays received |
| MPDD0068 | 10125,5 | 16861,5 | 1113,00 | -51,7 | 0,7 | DD | 89,00 | 84% | assays received |
| MPDD0069 | 10325,0 | 16867 | 1116,00 | -51,4 | 357,1 | DD | 39,00 | 93% | assays received |
| MPDD0070 | 10591,0 | 15489 | 1086,00 | -51,5 | 88,6 | DD | 39,00 | 90% | assays received |
| MPDD0071 | 10561,0 | 15489 | 1088,00 | -51,9 | 89,9 | DD | 41,30 | 94% | assays received |
| MPDD0071R | 10560,0 | 15489 | 1088,00 | -52 | 89,4 | DD | 89,00 | 87% | assays received |
| MPDD0072 | 10563,0 | 15669 | 1095,00 | -51,7 | 87,2 | DD | 39,00 | 94% | assays received |
| MPDD0072R | 10561,5 | 15669 | 1095,00 | -51,5 | 86,7 | DD | 17,00 | 100% | assays received |
| MPDD0073 | 10511,0 | 15690 | 1097,60 | -51,4 | 88,6 | DD | 86,00 | 98% | assays received |
| MPDD0074 | 10750,0 | 15250 | 1087,60 | -52,2 | 94,8 | DD | 39,00 | 97% | assays received |
| MPDD0075 | 10720,0 | 15250 | 1086,00 | -51 | 87,9 | DD | 89,00 | 97% | assays received |
| MPDD0076 | 10676,0 | 15250 | 1084,10 | -52,2 | 89,5 | DD | 132,40 | 97% | assays received |
| MPDD0077 | 10800,0 | 15125 | 1087,00 | -51,6 | 90,2 | DD | 39,00 | 96% | assays received |
| MPDD0078 | 10770,0 | 15125 | 1086,20 | -50,3 | 87,9 | DD | 132,00 | 96% | assays received |
| MPDD0079 | 10266,0 | 16432 | 1119,00 | -51,3 | 46,3 | DD | 39,00 | 97% | assays received |
| MPDD0080 | 10231,0 | 16397 | 1119,00 | -50,9 | 41,9 | DD | 117,00 | 97% | assays received |
| MPDD0081 | 10295,0 | 16318 | 1119,00 | -49,4 | 44,9 | DD | 39,00 | 99% | assays received |
| MPDD0082 | 10260,0 | 16283 | 1119,00 | -48,4 | 45,2 | DD | 117,00 | 97% | assays received |
About Mpokoto Gold Project
Mpokoto is located in the western part of the Katanga Province approximately 250km west of Kolwezi in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and approximately 25km from the Zambian border. The area is highly prospective, with local operators including Ivanplats Limited and Glencore Plc.
Since 1998 approximately US$20 million was spent on gold exploration at the Project. In 2012, mining consultancy TetraTech completed a mineral resource estimation in line with JORC 2004 and NI 43-101 guidelines. At a cut off of 0.5 g/t Au the deposit was estimated to contain 7.2 million tonnes at 1.6g/t Au for approximately 380,000 ounces of gold. Of this, approximately 5.3 million tonnes at 1.6g/t Au are classified in the Indicated category for 290,000 ounces.
In addition, to the defined resources, TetraTech estimates that the Mpokoto deposit has potential for an Exploration Target of between 10 and 24 million tonnes at 1.5g/t-1.8g/t Au. The potential for additional resources and reserves is therefore strong. Should this target mineralisation be converted to Inferred and Indicated resources and then to reserves, it is likely that the project throughput rate can be substantially upgraded. Resource delineation drilling programmes are planned to test the target potential.
Competent Person Statement:
Scientific or technical information in this release has been prepared by Dr Simon Dorling of CSA Global Pty Ltd, Netcom’s geological consultants. Dr Simon Dorling is a member of the Australasian Institute of Geoscientists (MAIG) and has sufficient experience which is relevant to the style of mineralisation under consideration and to the activity which they are undertaking to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2004 Edition of the “Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves” (the JORC Code). Dr Simon Dorling consents to the inclusion in this report of the Information, in the form and context in which it appears.
A copy of the announcement, which includes a map and drawings relating to Mpokoto’s location and geology can be found on the Company’s website at www.armadalecapitalplc.com.
**ENDS**
Enquiries:
| Company | ||
| Peter Marks, Chairman | +44 207 233 1462 | |
| Charles Zorab | ||
| Nomad and broker: finnCap Limited | ||
| Stuart Andrews/ Christopher Raggett | +44 207 220 0500 | |
| Press relations: St Brides Media & Finance Ltd. | ||
| Susie Geliher/Charlotte Heap | +44 207 236 1177 | |
More information can be found on the website www.armadalecapitalplc.com
Notes
Armadale Capital Plc is focussed on investing in and developing a portfolio of investments, targeting the natural resources and/or infrastructure sectors. The Company, led by a team with operational experience and a strong track record in Africa, has a strategy of identifying high growth potential businesses where it can take an active role in their advancement.
Armadale currently holds a prospective interest, with options in place to increase this to 100%, in Netcom Global Inc., which holds an 80% interest in the Mpokoto Gold Project in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Mpokoto has an estimated 380,000oz JORC defined gold resource which Armadale are focused on proving up with a view to commencing commercial gold production in 2015.
Armadale also holds approximately a 40% interest in Mine Restoration Investments Ltd, a South African listed company, which aims to develop profitable operations within the South African mining industry through its coal briquetting operation in KwaZulu Natal and acid mine drainage technology in the Witwatersrand basins.
In addition, Armadale has a small portfolio of listed investments which are focused on gold production and exploration. The Directors continue to maintain an active acquisition strategy and will review investment opportunities that they believe have the potential to be accretive in terms of shareholder value.
Copyright Business Wire 2013