Bluebird
Merchant Ventures Ltd / EPIC: BMV.L / Market: FTSE / Sector:
Mining
12 June 2024
Bluebird Merchant Ventures
Ltd
('Bluebird' or 'the
Company')
South Korea
Update
Advancing plans to bring two
South Korean gold mines back into production
Bluebird Merchant Ventures Ltd, a
gold project development company, is pleased to announce an update
on the Board's visit to South Korea with regards to advancing the
Gubong Gold Mine ('Gubong') and the Kochang Gold and Silver Mine
('Kochang').
Bluebird Executive Director Aidan
Bishop has spent the last week in South Korea meeting with the
Company's new local JV partner, which is investing US$5 million
into Gubong (see RNS dated 7 May 2024). The two parties discussed
the optimal path to advancing the project, the relevant community
programmes that need to be initiated and discussed land area for
mine access as well as meeting with the relevant local
landowner.
With regards to Kochang, discussions
regarding a potential JV with the same consortium that invested in
Gubong are at an advanced stage, and the team is confident of a
positive conclusion in the near future with legal drafting
underway.
Kochang is recognised as the easier
of Bluebird's two projects in South Korea to bring into
production. It is an 8.3 sq km epithermal high grade vein
deposit with a c.2.5km strike of which 600m between the two mines
has not been exploited. It produced c.110,000 oz Au (19.6g/t) and
5.9Moz Ag (1,000g/t) from 1961-1975 and has a Non JORC estimate
550-700Kt, grading between 5.2-6.6 g/t Au and 27.3-34.8 g/t
Ag. The team has an estimated production target of c.10-15koz
pa and believes there is significant potential to expand operations
laterally and at depth as well as exploit already mined
areas.
Bluebird CEO Colin Patterson said, "Our recent trip to South
Korea was highly successful. Having hit the ground running at
Gubong with our new partner, engaging in discussions about
development plans, the role of our geological team, and community
programmes, we now hope to finalise a similar joint venture for
Kochang to secure free carries on all our high-grade gold projects.
These are exciting times for Bluebird, and I look forward to
sharing further updates in the near future on developments across
all three of our projects."
**ENDS**
For
further information please visit https://bluebirdmv.com or
contact:
Jonathan
Morley-Kirk Bluebird Merchant Ventures Ltd
Email: jmk@bluebirdmv.com
Nick Emerson
SI Capital
Tel:
01483413500
About Bluebird
Bluebird Merchant Ventures Ltd
(BMV.L) is a London listed gold development company. It is led by a
team of proven mine rehabilitation experts, and currently has two
100% owned licensed high grade narrow vein mining projects, the
Gubong Gold Project ('Gubong') and the Kochang Gold and Silver
Project ('Kochang'), which each have a defined route to low cost/
low capex production with a cumulative target of producing 100,000
oz + Au per annum.
The management team has invested
cUS$2 million personally into the Company and believe, following
analysis of historic production and exploration data, as well as
extensive sampling, geological, geophysical, and engineering
studies, there is potential for in excess of 1.5 million oz of
mineable gold in its Korean projects alone.
Gubong, which was historically the
second largest gold mine in South Korea has 9 granted tenements
covering c.25 sq km. Gubong is moderately dipping with 9
veins extending 500m below surface and known to extend at least a
further 250m. However, the production opportunity for Bluebird
prior to looking at deepening the mine is the 25 levels already
developed with all the remnants and unmined areas left by the
original miners. The 25 levels extend over 120km in total
length which indicates the size of the opportunity. The Korea
Resources Corporation ('KORES') estimated 2.34M tonnes at some
7.3g/t Au garnered from 57 drill holes over 17,715.3 metres.
With additional sampling, mapping, pit modelling and grade
analysis, plus the fact that Gubong is an orogenic deposit, which
typically have a depth of 2km compared to the current depth of
500m, the Board believe it has a geological potential of 1 million
+ oz Au in-situ, plus an estimated additional 300,000 oz Au from
satellite ore bodies.
Kochang is an epithermal vein
deposit with parallel vertical ore bodies covering 8.3 sq km that
reportedly produced 110,000 oz of gold and 5.9 million oz of silver
between 1961 and 1975. Consisting of a gold and silver mine,
there are currently four main veins and several parallel subsidiary
veins vein which have been identified, as well as a newly
identified cross-cutting vein. Historic drilling indicates the
veins continue to depth below the current 150m mine and mapping
shows the veins on surface providing potential above and below the
old workings. The veins extend to the NE providing a strike length
of 2.5km with 600m between the two mines not exploited. There
is potential to expand operations to the southwest/northeast and to
depth, as well as exploit the already mined areas. The total
resource potential is between 550,000 and 700,000 tonnes, with a
range of grades between 5.2 g/t to 6.6 g/t gold, and 27.3 g/t to
34.8 g/t silver. Following the granting of a Mountain Use
permit, there is an estimated 6-to-9-month development time to
trial mining.
Additionally, the Company has the
highly prospective Batangas Gold Exploration Project in the
Philippines, where it has an agreement with a Philippine company,
whose owners have decades of experience in mining, to develop the
Project. The JV covers the entire Batangas Project area,
which has a current JORC compliant resource of 440,000 ounces,
including a maiden ore reserve of 128,000 ounces (including silver
credits). Exploration expenditure to the tune of c.$20m has already
been invested. Work is focused on completing exploration and
environmental work programmes initially targeting the high-grade
Lobo area, although there is excellent exploration potential across
the licence with high-grade targets already identified and 14km of
identified mineralised structures. The staged agreement is
based on the JV partner achieving defined development goals and
provides Bluebird with a free carry on the development of Batangas
with a view to advancing to construction.