Chesterfield Resources PLC Regulatory News (CHF)

Chesterfield Resources Plc / EPIC: CHF / Market: LSE / Sector: Mining

15 April 2021

Chesterfield announces commencement of percussion drilling in its 2021 exploration campaign

Chesterfield Resources is pleased to announce that it has commenced its programme of percussion drilling as part of its 2021 exploration campaign in Cyprus. The company is exploring for further copper, gold, zinc and silver, after its successful diamond drill programme of late 2020.

Approximately 15 percussion drill holes are planned during April and May, to test target zones for presence of blind sulphide mineralisation and to provide boreholes for a downhole EM (electro-magnetic) survey. To increase the scope of these surveys, the percussion holes will be drilled generally deeper than those last year, at around 150-250m. The holes will be lined to enable the team to winch a high precision probe down the hole which acts as a receiver to an electrically charged copper loop on the surface. VMS deposits typically act as good electrical conductors whose conductivity can be picked up by the downhole receiver. Interpretation of the electromagnetic data gathered will allow the survey to potentially identify sulphide deposits some 50m to 100m distance from around the hole. This dramatically increases the search area of each hole. Downhole EM is a well-proven discovery tool used at this detailed stage of VMS exploration.

Said Martin French, Executive Chairman, "Our enlarged exploration campaign this year continues to gather pace with the commencement of this important new work-stream. AMT and gravity geophysics surveys are already underway at our Troodos West licence area in Cyprus. The percussion holes will provide important information on underground rock systems, and prepare the way for a third type of geophysics survey, downhole EM. This will quickly be followed by our main diamond drill programme in May. We have a very busy three months ahead to expand on our discovery of high grade polymetallic mineralisation."

What is percussion drilling?

Given the relatively low-cost of percussion drilling (approximately 15% of the cost of a comparable diamond drilling per meter) it is an excellent cost-effective method of testing for target stratigraphy and presence of sulphides up to a limited depth. In this campaign the samples will be split and dried and assayed by a portable XRF. Drilling is quick; a hole typically takes only one day to complete. Because the percussion drill is located in Cyprus, there are no mobilisation costs.

Percussion drilling is not considered reliable enough to report accurate mineralisation widths and grades to the market due to the contaminated nature of the sample collection. The rock chips produced by the drilling may fall deeper into the hole and contaminate or dilute subsequent samples. It can however successfully identify the presence of minerals such as copper and zinc, and their stratigraphic position along with an indication of the thickness of mineralisation. Percussion drilling results can therefore significantly de-risk follow-up diamond drilling campaigns.

Chesterfield regards percussion drilling as an excellent final test prior to diamond drilling (coring) programmes. If the percussion drilling intercepts sulphides this helps greatly in accurately planning diamond drill holes. Important information is also learned about structures, traps and the causes of anomalies. This means that targets can be ranked more effectively to increase the chances of discovering the mineralised sulphides that the company is seeking.

About Chesterfield Resources 

Chesterfield Resources is a copper, gold, zinc, silver exploration company active in Cyprus, where it holds the largest mineral exploration licence area of any operator on the island. Polymetal International, the FTSE100 mining group, recently announced it had taken a 23% strategic investment in Chesterfield via a placing of new shares, and has appointed a director to the board.

Cyprus is regarded as a high quality exploration location. It is a member of the EU, and its legal system is based on English common law. An opportunity exists because there has been minimal exploration activity on the island in the last 46 years since the invasion by Turkey in 1974 put a halt to what had been a very active mining industry. 

Since that time, exploration technology and geological knowledge has improved significantly. The company is exploring for VMS (Volcanognic Massive Sulphide) deposits, which typically occur in stacks and clusters. Historically only those deposits which were visible from surface have been mined. It is believed that many more deposits remain undiscovered buried near surface, and the company is using modern techniques to locate them. 

While copper is the main exploration target, it is noteworthy that gold was not historically exploited in Cyprus as its price was pegged to just $35 per ounce when the mining industry was active in the 1960s and 1970s (less than 50 times today's price). Gold has been encountered in several locations in the exploration target area and is an important part of the exploration objective. 

The exploration team is led by senior geologists: Neil O'Brien, formally Head of Exploration, Lundin Mining, Dave Cliff, previously Head of Exploration Europe, Rio Tinto, and Mike Parker who previously worked for First Quantum mining for 20 years.

The current focus of exploration is in the Troodos West group of licences belonging to the company, with around 30 defined targets in an area measuring 10km by 10km. The objective is to discover several VMS deposits in close proximity to each other to create a mining project with a centralised processing unit. 

The company announced high grade results from its late season 2020 drilling campaign. These will be used for targeting an enlarged integrated 2021 geophysics, percussion and diamond drilling exploration campaign, which has just commenced. The company is also appraising new business opportunities within the sector.

Chesterfield Resources is committed to world-class environmental standards in all of its operations to mine copper, which is essential to developing clean technology projects worldwide. The company hopes to develop industry and opportunities for the benefit of the Republic of Cyprus. 

Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) Disclosure

Certain information contained in this announcement would have been deemed inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 until the release of this announcement.

**ENDS**

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