Conroy Gld&nres Regulatory News (CGNR)

28 Feb 2005 09:00

Conroy Diamonds & Gold PLC28 February 2005 CONROY BUILDS ON SRK FINDINGS IN SEEKING TO ESTABLISH NEW GOLD PROVINCE - Recent Slieve Glah Find Provides Encouragement And Supports SRK Analysis - Location Is One Of Three Prime Targets Identified By Consultants - Glenish Added To Company's Discoveries In Armagh-Monaghan Gold Belt Following the de-merger of its Finnish diamond interests last July, AIM-listedConroy Diamonds and Gold plc is now focussed solely on establishing a new goldprovince on its Irish exploration licences, building on the recent review oftheir potential completed by SRK Consulting. This review, amongst other things,indicated that exploration results achieved by Conroy had advanced the Companytowards its initial target of discovering over 1m ounces of gold, with apotential for very much more. Conroy's licences cover some 1,500km2 of the Longford-Down Massif, a majorgeological feature in the north of Ireland, and form a continuous block ofground following the NE-SW trend of the Orlock Bridge Fault for a distance ofaround 110km. This major fault is thought to be the controlling structuralinfluence on regional mineralisation in the Massif. In its interim statement for the six months ended November 30, 2004, Conroyhighlights the structural interpretation and lineament analysis carried out bySRK which identified three particularly prospective areas within the Company'slicence block. Each is characterised by a major deep-seated lineamentintersecting the Orlock Bridge Fault, and the consultants comment that majoreconomic gold deposits elsewhere in the world are often found on suchlineaments. One location is the Armagh-Monaghan Gold Belt on which Conroy has concentratedmuch of its exploration effort to date. However, the company has carried outlittle exploration on the other two areas selected by SRK which lie on part ofits licences in Northern Ireland and at Slieve Glah, some 45km south-west of theGold Belt. Conroy had previously identified Slieve Glah as a target since, like all thecompany's gold discoveries to date, it is structurally controlled by way of aspacial relationship to the Orlock Bridge Fault. Slieve Glah is particularlyattractive because a significant strike swing of the fault occurs at that pointand may have created a dilation zone (a potential mineral trap) in the area. The results of recent deep overburden sampling at Slieve Glah, which outlinedtwo zones of anomalous bedrock gold mineralisation, are therefore particularlyencouraging, says Conroy. They not only indicate "excellent potential" for thisprospect to become another gold discovery within the Longford-Down Massif, butalso provide supporting evidence for the SRK interpretation. Significantly, onlyone fifth of the original soil anomaly at Slieve Glah has been covered by therecent programme of deep overburden sampling. During the half-year, the Company also announced the discovery of bedrock goldmineralisation at Glenish, some 6km south-west of Tullybuck-Lisglassan, where a1m channel sample returned a grade of 9.40g/t gold and grab samples assayed upto 2.45g/t. The style of mineralisation is similar to that seen at other Conroygold prospects which now extend over a 13km section of the Armagh-Monaghan GoldBelt. SUPPORT FOR BROAD-BASED EXPLORATION The SRK review also supports Conroy's broad-based approach to exploration in theLongford-Down Massif and says the company should maintain this policy whilstalso concentrating on the three highly prospective areas. The consultantsbelieve there is potential to find gold deposits within the Massif which aresimilar in size to, or larger than, Tullybuck-Lisglassan where closely spaceddrilling has been undertaken over only a small area (50,000m2) andmineralisation remains open in all directions. This represents only a tinyfraction of much larger geochemical soil anomalies that are 200 times the sizeof the drilled area and have better potential than it, according to SRK. Since the end of the reporting period, Conroy raised £250,000 (approx €362,000)through a placement of shares at 2.5p each. This, together with facilitiesavailable to the Company, is sufficient to finance the current phase of itsactivities. Further Information: Professor Richard Conroy, Chairman Conroy Diamonds and Gold Plc.Tel: 00-353-1-661-8958 Ron Marshman/John Greenhalgh, City of London PR Limited.Tel: 020-7628-5518 Visit website at: www.conroydiamondsandgold.com This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange