Bluebird Merchant Ventures Limited Operational update (0639I)
March 19 2018 - 3:00AM
UK Regulatory
TIDMBMV
RNS Number : 0639I
Bluebird Merchant Ventures Limited
19 March 2018
19 March 2018
Bluebird Merchant Ventures Ltd
(the "Company" or "Bluebird")
Swift Progress at Kochang and Further Development at Gubong
Bluebird Merchant Ventures (EPIC: BMV), the Asian focused
resource development group is pleased to announce that swift
progress has been made at the Kochang Mine whilst the Gubong Mine
has continued to progress.
Highlights:
-- Access to over three kilometres of tunnels at Kochang gained
-- Considerable quantity of broken ore left behind
-- Systematic sampling of the underground workings at Kochang is progressing at a rapid rate
-- Metallurgical test work being undertaken at Gubong
-- Feasibility studies at both Gubong and Kochang are underway
and expected to be completed in Q3
At Kochang progress in exploring the mine has been swift and the
findings extremely encouraging. This can be attributed to the
predominantly excellent state that the excavations are in after 38
years since the mine closed.
In the past week, the team has been able to view more than 3km
of tunneling, nearly half of which is ore drives, and have been
able to access 3 stoping horizons. The team have also seen a
considerable quantity of broken ore that had been left behind prior
to closure. There are at least three separate veins with stoping on
each one. Many ore pillars have also been observed.
Survey work with detailed mapping and sampling has commenced and
will enable the company to quantify the tonnage available for
processing. The samples will provide the material to carry out
metallurgical test work in order to define a process flow for
recovery. The rapid progress at Kochang has been achieved at a cost
to date of just USD 65,000.
The Gubong gold project has now commenced metallurgical testing,
the results of which are expected within a month. At site, the team
are preparing to install a small water treatment plant necessary to
ensure discharge is at an acceptable standard. The cost to install
this plant is USD 10,000 and will take two weeks to build.
The Gubong mine closed in 1971 when the gold price was USD 40/oz
and the Kochang mine closed in 1975 when the gold price was USD
140/oz. The main reason mines close is due to them being uneconomic
over a prolonged period. The present gold price is USD 1,320 /oz.
This means that much of what was uneconomic at the time of closure
may now be payable.
Reopening old mines is both faster and cheaper when compared to
the time and cost of bringing exploration projects to production.
An independent report on the Gubong Mine that was previously
published on 26 January 2018 stated the potential of more than one
million ounces of gold are still to be mined at Gubong. The
historical drill results previously announced on 3 October 2017
showing high grade intersections below 500m ranging up to 522 g/t
with a width of 0.3 metres demonstrates that the structure of the
ore body likely continues at depth. The Directors believe that the
grades will also increase at depth which may suggest that the
Gubong mine could operate for many years beyond current resource
estimates.
The Company has to spend USD 500,000 on each project and produce
reports on the feasibility to reopen the Gubong and Kochang mines
which will then form the basis of two 50:50 joint ventures with
Southern Gold. The Company has the necessary funding to do so from
the USD 700,000 of funding led by Colin Patterson that was
previously announced on 19 December 2017. Bluebird is on target to
complete the Gubong and Kochang feasibility studies during Q3 this
year. The Company has a total of 215,173,938 shares in issue.
Colin Patterson, CEO, commented:
"I am pleased with the rapid progress at Kochang and the
excellent ground conditions that we are seeing inside the mine. As
we start to quantify the broken ore left behind as well undertake
metallurgical work the economics of this cheap resource will become
clear. At Gubong we continue to make excellent progress along the
path towards reopening the mine. Based on what we have seen thus
far I am confident that both Gubong and Kochang have the potential
to be profitable mining operations."
THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONTAINS INSIDE INFORMATION FOR THE PURPOSES
OF ARTICLE 7 OF THE MARKET ABUSE REGULATION EU 596/2014 ("MAR")
Enquiries:
Bluebird Merchant Ventures
Ltd +44 (0) 7797 859986
Jonathan Morley-Kirk,
Non-Executive Chairman
SP Angel Corporate Finance
LLP
Ewan Leggat
Smaller Company Capital
Ltd
Rupert Williams/Jeremy + 44 (0) 20 3470 0470
Woodgate +44 (0) 20 3651 2910
Blytheweigh +44 (0) 20 7138 3204
Tim Blythe / Camilla
Horsfall
www.bluebirdmv.com
@BluebirdIR
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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