Last checked at 19 Mar 2019 08:24
19 March 2019
Dissemination of a Regulatory Announcement that contains inside information according to REGULATION (EU) No 596/2014 (MAR).
Greatland Gold plc
("Greatland" or "the Company")
Strategic and Operational Update
The Board of Greatland Gold plc (AIM:GGP), the precious and base metals exploration and development company, is pleased to provide an update on its strategy and exploration priorities for 2019.
Summary
· Leverage success in the Paterson region
o Build on momentum gained in Paterson region following the Company's recent announcement of a US$65m farm-in agreement with Newcrest to advance the Havieron project
o Leverage exploration insights gained at Havieron to prioritise and accelerate exploration at key targets across Greatland's Paterson licences
o Paterson region represents one of the most exciting regions globally for the potential discovery of tier-one gold-copper deposits as demonstrated by recent exploration results at Havieron (Greatland/Newcrest) and Winu (Rio Tinto)
o Greatland has identified multiple targets within its licences with a similar geophysical signature to Havieron and is working on prioritising those targets for 2019
o Finalising plans for exploration programmes at Black Hills (30km east of Telfer, high grade gold at surface over 800m of strike) and Scallywag (40km east of Telfer, several magnetic anomalies and elevated copper, silver and gold MMI response over 6km of strike)
· Focus on assets with tier-one, multi-cycle potential
o Capitalise on general weakness in the junior resources sector by identifying and acquiring new projects in safe jurisdictions with tier-one potential at attractive valuations
o Systematically advance existing exploration targets outside of the Paterson region which have multi-million ounce potential, and which present the opportunity to deliver significant shareholder value in the medium term
o Seek to divest those projects which do not meet the criteria described above or which don't offer significant medium-term upside to shareholders
· Invest for growth
o Over the past 12 months, the Company has been building key corporate infrastructure for future exploration success and will continue to do so with selective new additions to its team
o Greatland recently appointed a new Exploration Manager, Michael Sawyer, who spent seven years at Oz Minerals Limited, most recently as Principal Geologist, Australia, Exploration and Growth where he was extensively involved with exploration and resource definition at Carrapatenna, one of Australia's largest undeveloped copper deposits
o Well capitalised for the planned 2019 exploration campaign with investment for Havieron secured and approximately £4m in cash as at 31 December 2018
Gervaise Heddle, Chief Executive Officer of Greatland Gold, commented: "We are thrilled with Greatland's progress over the last year which has taken the Company to a new level in its development. The farm-in agreement with Newcrest represents a cornerstone for Greatland on which we plan to build a large and valuable business focused on potential tier-one gold-copper projects.
"Our experience in the Paterson region and the farm-in with Newcrest at Havieron will have a positive impact on the Company on a number of fronts. First, Havieron now has the structure and capital in place to take it through feasibility study and decision to mine which releases resources which would have been committed to Havieron and enables us to focus on advancing our other key exploration targets, particularly in the Paterson region. Second, our experience has reinforced our commitment to be proactive in identifying and acquiring those projects in safe jurisdictions that have the potential to be tier-one, multi-cycle assets and which we can access at attractive valuations. Third, we now have the infrastructure and team in place to support our expanded strategy and drive the business forward to the next level of growth.
"We are determined to build Greatland into a large and successful business delivering significant returns to our shareholders and we look forward to providing updates on both Newcrest's progress at Havieron and Greatland's exploration efforts in the Paterson and at our other exciting projects."
Enquiries:
Greatland Gold PLC
Gervaise Heddle/Callum Baxter
Tel: +44 (0)20 3709 4900
Email: info@greatlandgold.com
www.greatlandgold.com
SPARK Advisory Partners Limited (Nominated Adviser)
Andrew Emmott/James Keeshan
Tel: +44 (0)20 3368 3550
SI Capital Limited (Broker)
Nick Emerson/Alan Gunn
Tel: +44 (0)14 8341 3500
Luther Pendragon (Media and Investor Relations)
Harry Chathli/Alexis Gore
Tel: +44 (0)20 7618 9100
Notes for Editors:
About Greatland
Greatland Gold plc (AIM: GGP) is a London listed natural resource exploration and development company with a current focus on gold, copper and nickel exploration projects.
The Company has six main projects; four situated in Western Australia and two in Tasmania. All projects are 100% owned by Greatland. The Company is seeking to identify large mineral deposits in areas that have not been subject to extensive exploration previously. It is widely recognised that the next generation of large deposits will come from such under-explored areas and Greatland is applying advanced exploration techniques to investigate a number of carefully selected targets within its focused licence portfolio.
The Company is also actively investigating a range of new opportunities in precious and strategic metals and will update the market on new opportunities as and when appropriate.