Alba Mineral Resources (LON: ALBA) shares have jumped in the afternoon session after the company said that assay results of the initial sampling of the waste rock dump at the Clogau-St David's Gold Mine have returned elevated gold grades of up to 9.89 grams per tonne.
In an update released just after midday, the company said the grades were returned following analysis of the samples from the eight pits.
The average grades returned are up to 4.37 g/t for the fine fractions and 3.80 g/t for the medium fractions.
Due to the waste rock dump being close to Alba's pilot processing plant, the company believes it could be mined at low cost, “adding another route to near-term gold production at Clogau-St David's Gold Mine”.
Alba estimates up to 5,000 tonnes could be available for processing for gold.
The AIM-listed company now intends to focus near-term efforts on the higher-grade zones at the Waste Rock Dump to sample and excavate the dump base, enabling a more accurate estimate of overall tonnages and grades.
Mark Austin, Alba's Chief Operating Officer, commented: “These results entrench what we inherently believed in from the start – that the finer size fractions would be relatively enriched in gold content due to the ‘free' nature of the gold within the quartz veins.
“The waste rock dump is in close proximity to our gravity plant and could be mined at low cost, thereby adding a valuable adjunct to our production options, especially as the potential tonnages involved are significant, running into the thousands of tonnes at economic grades.”
Alba Mineral Resources' share price is up 6.6% at 0.2505p following the announcement. Despite today's gains, Alba's shares are down 53% for the year to date.
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