9th Mar 2016 10:41
LONDON (Alliance News) - Noricum Gold Ltd Wednesday said it remains on track to start producing gold from the Kvemo Bolnisi target in the third quarter of this year and said it has introduced a second drilling rig and purchased surveying equipment to assist the development.
Noricum shares were trading up 17% to 0.117 pence per share on Wednesday morning.
The miner is targeting near term gold production from the Kvemo target, which is part of the Bolsini project in Georgia acquired by the company last year, before moving its attention to the Tsitel Sopeli target.
The company seems confident it can begin production in the third quarter as it previously had a wider time frame aimed at starting production sometime in the second half of the year.
Noricum conducted a huge discounted placing back in January, issuing shares that now represent around 32% of its share capital, in order to raise funds to keep the business going until first production in the third quarter. Noricum Managing Director Greg Kuenzel reiterated Wednesday the proceeds should be enough to fund the company till then.
Prior to the placing and way back in June, Noricum only had a cash balance of GBP857,740, but has not said if there is any risk concerning funding if Kvemo Bolsini is not producing on time.
"Having recently raised GBP1.0 million which is sufficient to see us through to production in the third quarter of 2016, we intend to firstly produce gold ore from Kvemo Bolnisi where drilling is currently underway, and then at Tsitel Sopeli," said Kuenzel.
Noricum is currently drilling the Kvemo Bolsini target and is aiming to initially produce gold from two outcropping gold targets from Kvemo Bolsini.
The company has now brought a second drill rig onto the site in an attempt to finish the drilling and mine planning programme before the end of this month. That rig will drill the central parts of the target whereas previous drilling has been focused on the northern parts of the ore body.
The miner has also purchased new satellite imagery of the area to aid its mine plan and open pit design.
Noricum then plans to begin work on the Tsitel Sopeli target once work on Kvemo Bolsini is complete, and the planning for trenching and drilling the second target is now in the final stages.
In addition, Noricum has acquired an Induced Polarisation Unit, which has two transmitters and a receiver, to conduct geophysical imagery work to identify subsurface materials, such as ore. That has been acquired to assist with the overall development of Bolsini.
The unit is currently being shipped to the project and is expected to arrive from Canada in the next couple of weeks, when it will then be used to commission surveys over the project area.
Although gold is the primary target at Bolsini, Noricum has also found copper mineralisation that could be a potential target in the future.
It is believed that utilising the latest induced polarisation techniques and equipment will improve penetration, allowing Noricum to look deeper and thus provide more chance of making new discoveries.
"This update demonstrates the breadth and speed of both the activities underway at our two priority gold ore production targets, and also our ongoing work to continually assess the prospectivity of the full licence area," said Kuenzel.
By Joshua Warner; [email protected]; @JoshAlliance
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