Last checked at 7 Jun 2010 07:00
7 June 2010
Solomon Gold Plc
("Solomon Gold" or the "Company")
Maiden Resource Estimate at Crunchie Gold Prospect, 20,000m drilling Campaign to commence immediately
Solomon Gold plc (AIM Code: SOLG), the copper and gold specialist with exploration tenements in Solomon Islands and Australia, is pleased to announce a Maiden Resource Estimate at its gold and silver Crunchie Prospect ("Crunchie" or the "Prospect"). Crunchie lies within the Rannes Project, in Central Queensland, Australia and is part of its 100% owned subsidiary, Central Minerals Pty Ltd ("Central Minerals").
Five prospects in the Rannes Project area - Crunchie, Homestead, Kauffmans, Cracklin Rosie and Porcupine Pie - have been subject to first pass drilling by Central Minerals and previous explorers, with potentially economic intersections in all five.
KEY POINTS
·; Maiden Resource Estimate completed for the Crunchie Prospect;
·; Inferred Mineral Resource of 5.6Mt at 1.12g/t equ. Au for 201,648oz of contained equivalent gold (0.20g/t equ. Au cut‐off grade);
·; A series of multiple prospects in close proximity to the Crunchie Prospect, providing excellent potential for a significant expansion of the existing resource inventory;
·; Core drilling reveals mineralisation with compelling similarity to the Carlin Style deposits in Nevada, USA;
·; 20,000m drilling campaign on targets close to Crunchie to commence immediately; and
·; Further details can be found at www.solomongold.com.
Commenting on the news, Nicholas Mather, Solomon Gold Chief Executive, said: "The Company is pleased to report its Maiden Resource for the Rannes Project, at the Crunchie Prospect. We will continue to grow the resource, towards our stated objective of one million ounces and are expecting to announce again before the end of the year a substantial increase in gold and silver resources for the Rannes Project. We are about to commence a 20,000m drilling campaign on a series of targets close to Crunchie.
Rannes exhibits structures and geochemistry similar to the Carlin trend in Nevada USA, which is one of the most prolific gold producing belts in the world, boasting in excess of 200 million ounces of combined resources and production to date. Solomon Gold holds licence area 200km along a prospective zone in Central Queensland. There are more than 13 targets to follow-up." He added.
The Board is pleased to announce that a Maiden Inferred Resource Estimate has been completed for the Crunchie gold and silver Prospect, based on the limit of early stage drilling.
The Estimate is 5.6Mt at 1.12g/t equ. Au for 201,648oz of contained equivalent gold (79,219oz Au and 7,921,883oz Ag), based on a 0.20g/t equ. Au minimum cut‐off grade, Table 1. The Estimate was completed by Hellman & Schofield Pty Ltd, an independent geological consultancy and has been classified as Inferred for reporting under the JORC Code for Reporting of Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves widely accepted as a standard for professional reporting purposes.
Table 1: Crunchie Inferred Resource Estimate
| Equivalent Au Cut-Off (g/t) | Tonnes
(Mt) | Equ. Au
(g/t) | Au
(g/t) | Ag
(g/t) | Equ. Au
(oz) | Au
(oz) | Ag
(oz) |
| 0.20 | 5.60 | 1.12 | 0.44 | 44.0 | 201,648 | 79,219 | 7,921,883 |
| 0.25 | 5.10 | 1.20 | 0.47 | 47.0 | 196,761 | 77,065 | 7,706,475 |
| 0.30 | 4.80 | 1.27 | 0.51 | 50.0 | 195,989 | 78,704 | 7,716,120 |
| 0.35 | 4.50 | 1.33 | 0.53 | 52.0 | 192,421 | 76,679 | 7,523,217 |
| 0.40 | 4.20 | 1.39 | 0.55 | 54.0 | 187,695 | 74,268 | 7,291,733 |
| 0.50 | 3.80 | 1.49 | 0.60 | 58.0 | 182,036 | 73,303 | 7,085,970 |
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·; Average density of 2.9t/m3 for sulphide, 2.7t/m3 for oxide; minor rounding errors; significant figures quoted do not imply precision and are used to minimise round‐off errors.
·; The metal prices utilised are based on the cumulative average for 2010 year to-date (a five month period) for the London PM fix of both metals. Gold US$1,134.82/oz and silver US$17.4371/oz. This equates to a Gold equivalent ratio, Gold to Silver of 1 to 65.
Crunchie is located approximately 150km west of the port city of Gladstone (Figure 1 in the Appendix to this announcement in the 'Latest News' section on the website, www.solomongold.com) and forms part of the Company's broader Rannes Project (Figure 2 in the Appendix to this announcement in the 'Latest News' section on the website, www.solomongold.com). At the Rannes Project in Central Queensland, Australia, mineralisation similar in texture and chemistry as well as similar structural settings to that on the Carlin trend in Nevada, USA; has been identified and substantiated with drilling (Figure 3 & 4 in the Appendix to this announcement in the 'Latest News' section on the website, www.solomongold.com)). The Carlin and Battle Mountain Trends are amongst the most prolific gold producing belts in the world, boasting in excess of 200million ounces of combined resources and production to date. Mineralisation occurs on structural trends which are the focus of the intrusions, faulting and characteristic low temperature mineralisation. Solomon Gold acquired Central Minerals in February 2010 and in doing so consolidated a 200km length of exploration ground prospective for Carlin style gold mineralisation. The zone lies on the eastern faulted edge of the coal rich Bowen Basin, in an environment favourable for the introduction of mineral bearing granitic intrusions and related volcanic centres.
Drilling at Crunchie was designed to firstly define the western boundary of the gold and silver mineralisation, and then to evaluate the extensions to the north and east, where the mineralisation continues. To date the Prospect appears to extend over a shallow zone of 300m x 250m with an average thickness of 25m. The deposit should be amenable to open pit mining.
Magnetic interpretation and soil sample results indicate numerous other targets immediately adjacent to Crunchie, at Odyssey to the west and Soggy & Mushy to the east. These targets have been recently defined by Solomon Gold soil sampling and magnetic surveys, but have not yet been drill tested. They augment other nearby prospects in the Rannes Central area, all of which have yielded encouraging intersections in the past at other Solomon Gold Prospects at Porcupine, Kauffmans and Crackling Rosie, all of which the Board expects to define resources within the next six months. At each of these locations, high readings of arsenic, mercury, thallium and antimony in soil samples coincide with, or may be marginally offset from areas of low magnetism, indicating the presence of host rocks which have been demagnetised by hot fluids causing alteration of the rock and deposition of gold and silver. These locations will be subject to immediate follow-up drilling as soil anomalies are defined.
Forward Program
A new 20,000m RC and diamond drilling program has been proposed for the Central Rannes area, aimed at expanding the current resource and testing a number of other advanced Prospects. Drilling will commence immediately.
Qualified Person
Information in this report relating to the exploration results is based on data reviewed by Mr Nicholas Mather (B.Sc. Hons Geol.), the Chief Executive Officer of the Company. Mr Mather is a Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy who has in excess of 25 years experience in mineral exploration and is a Qualified Person under the AIM Rules. Mr Mather consents to the inclusion of the information in the form and context in which it appears.
By order of the Board
Karl Schlobohm
Company Secretary
Contacts:
Mr Karl Schlobohm Tel: +61 (0)7 3303 0660
Solomon Gold Plc (Company Secretary)
kschlobohm@solomongold.com
Mr Ewan Leggat Tel: +44 (0)207 598 5368
Fairfax I.S. PLC (Broker)
eleggat@fairfaxis.com
Mr Stephen Weir Tel: +61 (0)2 9250 0048
RFC Corporate Finance (Nominated Advisor)
stephen.weir@rfc.com.au
Mr Dominic Barretto Tel: +44 (0)208 980 3545
Yellow Jersey PR (PR & IR)
dominic@yellowjerseypr.com
NOTES TO EDITORS
Solomon Gold plc's original and core gold exploration projects are located on Solomon Islands and remain a major focus of the Company. However, the Company has extended its strategy to include becoming an integrated gold explorer, developer and miner with projects in lower risk theatres as well as Solomon Islands.
Solomon Gold carries a diverse portfolio of higher risk high reward exploration projects in Solomon Islands and lower risk projects which are more advanced towards resource definition in Queensland, where exploration costs are approximately one third of those in Melanesia. Solomon Gold's projects include: Guadalcanal and Fauro (Solomon Islands) and Rannes, Mt Perry and Normanby (Queensland, Australia).
Solomon Gold's Board includes accomplished professionals with strong track records in the areas of exploration, mine development, investment, finance and law. Board and Management have significant vested interests in the Company holding approximately 19.3% of its issued share capital.
Solomon Gold is based in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The Company listed on AIM, a market operated by the London Stock Exchange, in 2006. Further details concerning the Company's key projects and personnel can be found at www.solomongold.com.