TIDMALBA
RNS Number : 9054V
Alba Mineral Resources PLC
06 December 2023
Alba Mineral Resources Plc / EPIC: ALBA / Market: AIM / Sector:
Mining
6 December 2023
Alba Mineral Resources Plc
("Alba" or the "Company")
Operational and Corporate Update
Alba Mineral Resources Plc (AIM: ALBA) provides the following
operational and corporate update.
Operational Update: Highlights
- Decisions on dewatering permits for the Lower Llechfraith
workings hoped for before the end of the year.
- Lower Llechfraith safety and access works to be further
progressed next week, in readiness for the completion of dewatering
and start of exploration on Level 4.
- Airborne geophysical survey over key regional gold targets
underway, and survey over the Clogau target area has been
completed.
Operational Update: Details
Clogau-St David's Gold Mine
The Company's applications for formal variations to its existing
discharge and abstraction permits, to enable the dewatering of the
Lower Llechfraith workings to proceed at higher pumping rates,
remain in process with the environmental regulator, Natural
Resources Wales ("NRW").
Regarding the abstraction permit application, it was previously
the Company's understanding that this had entered the statutory
28-day public consultation on 8 November 2023, which would have
meant the public consultation ending on or around 6 December 2023.
However, the Company has been advised by NRW that, although the
application was advertised by NRW in the 8 November 2023 edition of
a local newspaper, it was not uploaded to NRW's website at the same
time, this being done subsequently. Accordingly, NRW has advised
the Company that, both of the foregoing elements being statutory
requirements, it has had to extend the end date of its public
consultation to 20 December 2023, but that it hopes to be able to
make a decision on both the abstraction and discharge permit
applications shortly thereafter. The Company will provide a further
update as and when it is notified of a formal decision.
The Company having recently received an extension to its
European Protected Species Licence, once it is also in receipt of
positive decisions on these two remaining applications, it will
proceed as soon as practicable to completion of the dewatering of
the Lower Llechfraith workings down to and including Level 4.
However, given the delay in the public consultation process, this
is not now expected to be until January 2024, at the earliest.
Accordingly, the Company has decided to prepare the groundwork
so far as is possible so that no further time is lost in the new
year. Facilitated by the ongoing emergency pumping of the flooded
Lower Llechfraith workings which has kept the water level below
Level 3, Alba's underground works contractors will be returning to
site next week to complete further safety and access works on and
below Level 3. This should mean that, once the dewatering is
completed, only a few more days of access works will be required
before Alba's technical team can physically access Level 4.
Dolgellau Gold Exploration Project
In respect of the geophysical survey by unmanned aerial vehicle
(or "UAV") over some of the Company's key regional gold targets,
the survey of the Clogau area has now been completed. Alba's
contractors have advised that the next available window for
surveying the other regional targets, Hafod Owen, Gwynfynydd and
Castle Carndochan, will be in the week commencing 18 December 2023,
weather permitting.
Figure 1: (left) UAV taking off to conduct survey of Clogau
target area; (right) Clogau and the three other target areas
comprised in the survey (coloured polygons).
Alba Chairman, George Frangeskides, commented:
"We are hopeful that we are now entering the final straight of
the dewatering permit process. The further access and safety works
we will be doing shortly are intended to enable us to hit the
ground running as soon as we have a positive outcome on those
permits.
"We are pleased also that the airborne geophysical survey is now
finally up and running and indeed that the key survey over Clogau
itself has now been completed.
"The permitting delays we have encountered this year have
undoubtedly been a source of great frustration for all of us, both
Alba management and shareholders. However, I'm very pleased to see
the positive movement on both the in-mine dewatering and the
regional survey projects in recent days, which fills us with a
renewed vigour and determination to put these issues behind us in
the new year and finally unlock some serious value from our Welsh
gold projects".
Corporate Update
Horse Hill Developments Limited, the operator of the Horse Hill
Oil Project in southern England in which Alba has an effective
11.765% interest, has informed the Company that it will be making a
partial repayment of shareholder loans to its existing
shareholders, with Alba's expected repayment being around
GBP100,000.
This announcement contains inside information for the purposes
of the UK Market Abuse Regulation and the Directors of the Company
are responsible for the release of this announcement.
Forward Looking Statements
This announcement contains forward-looking statements relating
to expected or anticipated future events and anticipated results
that are forward-looking in nature and, as a result, are subject to
certain risks and uncertainties, such as general economic, market
and business conditions, competition for qualified staff, the
regulatory process and actions, technical issues, new legislation,
uncertainties resulting from potential delays or changes in plans,
uncertainties resulting from working in a new political
jurisdiction, uncertainties regarding the results of exploration,
uncertainties regarding the timing and granting of prospecting
rights, uncertainties regarding the timing and granting of
regulatory and other third party consents and approvals,
uncertainties regarding the Company's or any third party's ability
to execute and implement future plans, and the occurrence of
unexpected events.
Actual results achieved may vary from the information provided
herein as a result of numerous known and unknown risks and
uncertainties and other factors.
**ENDS**
For further information, please visit www.albamineralresources.com or contact:
Alba Mineral Resources plc
George Frangeskides, Executive Chairman +44 (0) 20 3950 0725
SPARK Advisory Partners Limited (Nomad)
Andrew Emmott +44 (0) 20 3368 3555
----------------------
CMC Markets plc (Broker)
Thomas Smith / Douglas Crippen +44 (0) 20 3003 8632
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Alba's Projects & Investments
Projects Operated by Alba Location Ownership
------------ -----------
Clogau (gold) Wales 100%
------------ -----------
Dolgellau Gold Exploration (gold) Wales 100%
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Gwynfynydd (gold) Wales 100%
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Investments Held by Alba Location Ownership
------------ -----------
GreenRoc Mining Plc (mining) Greenland 37.49%
------------ -----------
Horse Hill (oil) England 11.765%
------------ -----------
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END
UPDNKABDBBDDFBK
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 06, 2023 07:21 ET (12:21 GMT)
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