Power Metal Resources PLC (LON:POW) said work to enlarge the Alamo Gold Project in Arizona, USA is set to start next month and revealed that laboratory results indicated the Kisinka project in Congo contained sizeable copper and cobalt values.
On the Alamo project, where the AIM-listed metals exploration and development company has the right to earn-in up to a 75% interest, following completion of the reconnaissance programme, an additional nine claim blocks have been staked to enlarge the project by 23.5% to a total 946 acres.
Follow-on exploration work will now continue with detailed geological mapping along with trenching; pitting, and mini-bulk sampling in order to gain more knowledge about the distribution and abundance of native gold nuggets within the project area.
Given the nature of the mineralisation and its near-surface location, Power Metal believes that bulk sampling will give a more accurate assessment of the gold prospectivity than drilling.
“We are very happy to support the enlargement of the Alamo Gold Project in Arizona following the encouraging results of the August reconnaissance work and further gold nugget discoveries at the project,” said Paul Johnson, the chief executive officer of Power Metal in a statement.
“The local exploration team have designed a follow-on programme of trenching and bulk sampling, which is currently planned to commence in December, with a view to building an assessment of gold prospectivity,” he added.
Significant cobalt in Congo
Later on Friday, the company also provided an update on its 70%-owned Kisinka project in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where a laboratory has been examining assay results from a pitting and mapping exploration programme earlier this year.
Copper values from soils were up to 460 copper parts per million parts of soil (ppm) in the south-eastern zone and 276 ppm in the mid-north zone, the company said, with copper values increasing downwards.
Power Metal said “significant” cobalt anomalism had been confirmed from assay results, with cobalt values in the mid-northern anomalous zone up to 462 ppm, with vertical distribution showing ppm grades increasing downwards, and in the south-eastern zone cobalt values up to 217 ppm.
The company said the results confirm that the anomalies appear open along strike to the northwest and, most significantly, to the south-east.
Johnson said the next task will be to drill the anomalies, and to help us target this effectively the next planned steps are a ground magnetic survey and a ground electromagnetic survey.
“These laboratory results provide definitive evidence for the first time that we have a significant cobalt target at Kisinka as well as providing confirmation of the extent of the copper targets,” said Johnson.
“The prospective ground within the license covers an area big enough to contain one or more large orebodies, so we are excited by the potential we have identified.”
He said highlights that gave particular encouragement were the high values in sampling, that the zones are open in both directions along strike, and that the laterization and leaching suggest there may be “supergene enriched mineralisation” present at lower levels.
“With cobalt as well as copper targets now confirmed, taking Kisinka to the next stage becomes a major priority, and we will be speeding up our work on the ground. We are also applying for an upgrading of the license from a Permis de Recherche (exploration license) to a Permis d’Exploitation (production license),” Johnson added.
Second hole commenced in Botswana
Meanwhile, in Botswana, the company has also started on the second hole of the latest drill programme at the Molopo Farms Complex, which is prospective for nickel and PGMs.
Power Metal is earning into a direct 40% interest in Molopo Farms, and through a stake in the holding company, Kalahari Key, will eventually end up owning an effective 50.96% economic interest.
The shares had risen 7% to 1.95p by mid-afternoon Friday.
