Clontarf Regulatory News (CLON)

26 May 2006 07:01

Persian Gold PLC26 May 2006 Option to Acquire the Chah-e-Zard Gold Discovery in Yazd, Iran Highlights • Option to acquire 70% of Chah-e-Zard gold project. • Preliminary sampling results on territory illustrates potential. • Initial results range between +21.0 g/t - 1.0 g/t over an area of 1.2km / 0.75km. • Full exploration programme has commenced. Persian Gold (AIM: PNG), the Irish based AIM listed Iranian gold explorer, ispleased to announce that it has entered into an option agreement on theChah-e-Zard gold project, located in Yazd, some 350 miles southeast of Tehran.If exercised, the option has an initial period of nine months and will allowPersian Gold to acquire a 70% interest in a new company to be established tohold the licence on the property. The Chah-e-Zard gold deposit is located within a major mineral belt that extendsfrom Turkey through Iran into Pakistan. Published geological information hasnoted gold occurrences within the project area. Historic mining activity isalso evident. As with many of the world's largest gold mines the gold bearingrocks at Chah-e-Zard are breccias. The area is well suited to explorationactivity with a climate which permits year round operations. On the basis of a Memorandum of Understanding with the property owner, PersianGold geologists have sampled the area which contains a large zone of intenserock alteration containing quartz, K-feldspar, indicative clay minerals, andalunite. Chip samples containing gold values up to +21.0 g/t. were found inrock outcrop. In addition, 1.0 g/t + values are recorded over an area thatexceeds 1,200 metres by 750 metres. These results are significantly morepositive than initially projected. There is also the possibility of low-gradegold bulk tonnage over a larger area. Gold results for rock chip samples collected by Persian Gold geologists from theproperty combined with a data set provided by the property owner to form thebasis for the current more detailed exploration programme involving trenching,systematic rock and soil sampling and reconnaissance drilling. Persian Goldgeologists are in the field and have already identified priority targets thatrequire immediate follow up. Drilling is expected to begin within the nextthree months. John Teeling, Chairman, said, "This is a significant addition to our Iranian exploration portfolio. The sizeand intensity of the gold anomaly indicates the possibility of a substantialdeposit. The high gold values in the rock outcrop indicate a strong gold systembut it is important to note that exploration is at an early stage. Detailed surface exploration is ongoing and is expected to lead to a drillingprogramme over the summer months. We look forward to updating the market beforethe end of June ". This announcement has been approved by SJ Meldrum BSc (Hons) AIG For further information please contact: Contacts: John Teeling, Chairmanwww.persiangoldplc.com + 353 1 833 2833 College HillPaddy Blewer / Nick Elwes + 44 (0) 207 457 2020 Rowan DartingtonIan Rice +44 (0) 117 933 0020 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange