2nd Feb 2017 09:51
LONDON (Alliance News) - Sula Iron & Gold PLC on Thursday said the drill rigs en route to Sierra Leone will arrive slightly later than first envisaged, but said it has sourced a second rig at no extra cost to help complete the planned drilling programme for gold at Ferensola "expeditiously".
Sula's drilling partner mobilised two rigs from South Africa in December, and they were expected to arrive in Sierra Leone in January, but this has now been delayed. The rigs will now arrive in "early February", before being transported to the Ferensola site.
Importantly, only one rig was set to be used by Sula under its planned 2,400 metre drill programme, but the contractor has mobilised two rigs in total at no extra cost to the London-listed company. That will also help Sula to potentially expand its planned exploration.
The contractor has said it is willing to take a "significant portion" of its payment in the form on new Sula shares at an agreed floor price of 0.35 pence, helping Sula to conserve cash resources.
"Sula currently anticipates that, as a result of this financing deal, it will be able to drill more than the 2,400 metre originally planned, thereby potentially enabling a larger JORC exploration target to be identified. Sula's geologists have planned additional holes to capitalise on this opportunity," said Sula.
Preparation work at the Dalakuru camp has started ahead of the arrival of the drilling crews, rigs and other vehicles. A new bridge will be constructed and local roads will be repaired and upgraded. A total of 10 new drill collar pads will be developed for the drill rigs and the overall camp footprint has increased to facilitate more people and equipment.
Three new water sources have also been identified and accessed so the drilling contractor can carry out the drill programme.
Sula also posted assay results from its work on TZ2 IP anomaly, known as the eastern target. Gold was recovered from crushed and panned oxide samples collected from a road cutting that cross cuts the eastern target.
Two artisanal dump samples returned grades of 11.2 grammes and 2.6 grammes of gold per tonne of ore, respectively.
"Whilst the exact source of the river terrace artisanal waste dump samples is unknown, Sula believes that the road cutting sample directly relates to the TZ2 IP anomaly and is likely to be close to the mineralised source," said Sula.
"I am pleased that the latest assay results provide further evidence of gold mineralisation on the Eastern Target, which we will be drilling soon. Whilst the delay in shipping, which is outside our control, somewhat frustrating, we are confident that with two rigs deployed we will complete the programme faster than originally planned," said Chief Executive Roger Murphy.
Sula shares were down 3.3% to 0.346 pence per share on Thursday.
By Joshua Warner; [email protected]; @JoshAlliance
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