Western Gold Announces New Porphyry Centre Developing West of Lagalochan
Western Gold Announces New Porphyry
Centre Developing West of Lagalochan
North Berwick, Scotland--(Newsfile Corp. - February 27, 2024) -
WESTERN GOLD EXPLORATION
LTD. (TSXV: WGLD)
(the "
Company
") is pleased to announce results from the first phase of surface
sampling and re-assay of historic drilling on its Ardlochan Prospect in Argyll, Scotland. The prospect lies
along a prospective and largely untested geological corridor, termed the Lorne Fault Zone, which
promoted mineralization within the Lorne Porphyry Complex, such as at Ardlochan and Lagalochan (
see
the Technical Report, as defined and detailed below
). The Company currently owns the Crown Minerals
Lease for the entire Lorne Porphyry Complex and possesses exclusive land-access agreements with
c.70% of the land ownership.
Highlights:
A total of
201
outcrop rock-chip, backpack drill and pitting samples displaying a large range of
porphyry-related mineralization styles were collected and assayed.
The highest-grade copper sample assayed
2.59% Cu
,
5.98g/t Au
, within stockwork veined
porphyry.
The highest-grade gold sample assayed
16.2g/t Au
,
0.61% Cu
, within an epithermal-style
fracture zone.
The highest-grade molybdenum sample assayed
0.42% Mo
, within pegmatitic granodiorite.
A total of
533
ionic leach (IL) soil samples were collected, confirming or even extending anomalous
areas of elevated Cu-Mo-Au identified from rock sampling.
The Company is ramping up for future shallow-surface diamond drilling and geophysics.
"These new exploration results define an extensive area of consistent copper gold molybdenum
mineralisation at a new prospect some 8km west of the Company's Lagalochan porphyry prospect,"
commented Harry Dobson, Chairman.
"These finds indicate other areas of porphyry related
mineralisation occur within the Lorne intrusive complex and the Company looks forward to continuing to
develop these prospects further."
The Ardlochan Prospect (
see Figure 1 below
), located approximately 8km west of Lagalochan, was the
subject of historic exploration in 1972 by a Noranda Exploration Ltd. & Phelps Dodge Ltd. Joint Venture
(JV), almost 10 years prior to exploratory work at Lagalochan.
Exploration was furthered by the British Geological Survey (BGS) in 1977 as part of their nation-wide
Mineral Reconnaissance programme. The most anomalous copper-gold grades were obtained from
streams draining the Ardlochan site during BGS sampling.
In response, the BGS drilled two diamond
drill holes totalling 365m. Historic drilling highlights included
17.8m @ 0.14% Cu
(
see Appendix Table
2, hole KL-02
), indicating drilling efforts may have clipped the edge of a porphyry stockwork centre. Gold
was never comprehensively assayed.
The Company was granted partial access to c. 31m of historic core from the BGS archives. Re-assay of
the limited sample set revealed a moderate correlation between new and historic assay results for
copper (
see Appendix Figure 1 below, R
2
~ 0.5
) and the presence of sporadic gold, although the results
are not conclusive.
Figure 1.
Aerial image of the Lorne Porphyry Complex, including both Lagalochan and Ardlochan
porphyry centres. Crown Lease held by Company's fully owned subsidiary, Lorne Resources Ltd.
To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:
https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/9801/199443_109eb6bc944e4ae8_002full.jpg
Results - Rock Sampling
A detailed campaign of geological mapping and surface sampling, including 101 rock chips, 47
backpack drill core (from 31 sites), and 53 pit (from 44 pits), cumulatively totalling 201 samples (
see
Figure 2 below
).
This identified several copper, gold and molybdenum bearing mineralized zones of
quartz veining and brecciation (
see Figure 2 below
) dispersed across the Ardlochan Property.
Backpack drilling displayed shallow-level grade continuity over meter scale intervals, eliminating any
anticipated grab-sample related bias. For example:
2.7m @ 1.05 g/t Au and 0.12% Cu
1.5m @ 0.45g/t Au and 0.15% Cu
1.5m @ 0.36% Cu
2.5m @ 0.25% Cu
All rock samples were taken in-situ from either surface outcrops (rock-chip and backpack drill) or from
beneath thick peat cover (pit) where necessary. Samples give an indication of the mineralogical
composition and grade of near surface mineralization at Ardlochan.
Figure 2.
New geological map and zones of quartz-veining and mineralized brecciation at the
Ardlochan Prospect, highlighting the results of our 2023-2024 rock chip, backpack drill and pitting
sampling.
To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:
https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/9801/199443_109eb6bc944e4ae8_003full.jpg
Results - Soil Sampling
A new, detailed IL soil sampling grid at 100m-by-100m resolution and including 533 samples has been
conducted over 2023 (
see Figure 3 below
). This identified and closed-off several anomalies indicative of
a concealed, concentric porphyry centre and zones of fault-bound epithermal mineralization at
Ardlochan.
Figure 3.
Heat maps of our new IL soil sampling data, identifying an inferred concentric porphyry
centre and a zone fault-bound epithermal gold veining. Note, all anomalous data has been
normalized using existing Lagalochan IL survey data (see 2022 Press Release).
To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:
https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/9801/199443_109eb6bc944e4ae8_004full.jpg
About Western Gold Exploration
The Company is a mineral exploration company that is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the
symbol "WGLD". The Company is focused on the exploration of mineral properties in Scotland and
discovering new opportunities across the underexplored Caledonian Appalachian and identifying
locations of gold and critical metal deposits. The Company's principal focus is its Lorne Project, which
includes the Lagalochan copper gold porphyry property located in Argyll, Scotland (the "
Lagalochan
Property
"), and the adjacent and nearby properties along the Lorne Fault Zone.
On 29 November 2022, the Company filed a National Instrument 43-101 -
Standards of Disclosure for
Mineral Projects
compliant, independent Technical Report (the "
Technical Report
") on the Lagalochan
Property. The Technical Report and additional information about the Company are available on
SEDAR+ at
www.sedarplus.ca
under the Company's profile and on the Company's website:
www.westerngoldexploration.com
.
For further information, please contact:
Ross McLellan, CEO
Phone:
+44 7779 161441
Email:
Website:
www.westerngoldexploration.com
CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
:
This news
release includes certain "forward-looking statements" under applicable Canadian securities
legislation. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to
timing and completion of any drilling and work programs on the Company's properties, estimates of
mineralisation from drilling, geological information projected from drilling results, potential for
minerals and/or mineral resources, and statements regarding the plans, intentions, beliefs, and
current expectations of the Company with respect to the future business activities and operating
performance of the Company that may be described herein. Forward-looking statements consist of
statements that are not purely historical, including any statements regarding beliefs, plans,
expectations or intentions regarding the future. Such information can generally be identified by the
use of forwarding-looking wording such as "may", "expect", "estimate", "anticipate", "intend", "believe"
and "continue" or the negative thereof or similar variations. Readers are cautioned not to place undue
reliance on forward-looking statements, as there can be no assurance that the plans, intentions or
expectations upon which they are based will occur.
By their nature, forward-looking statements involve numerous assumptions, known and unknown risks
and uncertainties, both general and specific, that contribute to the possibility that the predictions,
estimates, forecasts, projections and other forward-looking statements will not occur. These
assumptions, risks and uncertainties include, among other things, the state of the economy in general
and capital markets in particular, accuracy of assay results, geological interpretations from drilling
results, timing and amount of capital expenditures; performance of available laboratory and other
related services, future operating costs, and the historical basis for current estimates of potential
quantities and grades of target zones, as well as those risk factors discussed or referred to in the
Company's Management's Discussion and Analysis for the year ended December 31, 2023, and the
period ended June 30, 2023 available at
www.sedarplus.ca
, many of which are beyond the control of
the Company. Forward-looking statements contained in this press release are expressly qualified by
this cautionary statement.
The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press
release. Except as required by law, the Company disclaims any intention and assumes no obligation
to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future
events or otherwise. Additionally, the Company undertakes no obligation to comment on the
expectations of, or statements made by, third parties in respect of the matters discussed above.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Service Provider (as that term is defined
in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or
accuracy of this release.
Review by Qualified Person, Quality Control and Reports
Mr. David Pym (CGeol), a consultant of
the Company and the Project Geologist, is the Qualified Person, as defined under National Instrument
43-101 -
Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects
, who reviewed, supervised, verified and
approved scientific and technical disclosure in this news release. Verification included checking a
proportion of the reported assays (excluding historical) in the Company database against the issued
laboratory assay certificates. In addition, verification has included checking the location and orientation
of the drill collars in the Company database against historic maps and reports.
The Qualified Person has
not reviewed the mineral tenure, nor independently verified the legal status and ownership of the Property
or any underlying property agreements.
All samples collected directly by the Company, including new rock-chip, backpack drill, trench samples
and re-assayed BGS drill core were prepped by ALS Loughrea, IDA Business Park, Dublin Road, H62
PN80, Loughrea, Co. Galway, Ireland. Gold was assayed by 30g fire assay analysis with AAS finish (Au-
AA23). Base metals and silver were analyzed using four-acid digestion ICP-MS (ME-MS61). All ALS
Geochemistry sites operate under a single Global Geochemistry Quality Manual that complies with
ISO/IEC 17025:2017, coupled within a global LIMS platform.
There is no relationship, fiduciary or otherwise, between ALS and the Company. All samples were of
hand specimen size or larger, and were sealed in the Company's onsite facility and shipped directly to
the lab; the Company can guarantee the chain of custody. The Company's QA/QC program for drill core
samples includes the regular insertion of blanks and standards into the sample shipments, as well as
instructions for duplication. Standards and blanks are inserted every 20 samples.
Drill core data collected by BGS in 1977 was logged and split to half-core on-site and sent directly to the
Analytical and Ceramics Unit of the Geochemical Division, BGS, for analysis. Half-core samples for
assay varied in length between 1 - 2m. Copper, lead and zinc were analysed by atomic absorption
spectrometry, whilst molybdenum was analysed using X-ray fluorescence spectrometry. Gold was only
rarely assayed by the BGS, using fire assay with an AAS finish. The Company has not been able to
independently verify the QA/QC procedure used by the BGS as the data no longer exists. The reader is
directed to
https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/10029/1/WFMR77009.pdf
for further information.
Appendix
Appendix Table 1. Collars and survey details of historic BGS Diamond Drill Holes.
Company
Hole ID
Collar (BNG)
Azimuth
Inclination
BGS
BH-01
181950E
709810N
352.5
o
-50
o
BGS
BH-02
181490E
709920N
020
o
-60
o
Appendix Table 2. Composite grade log of BGS half-core assay results, applying a 0.1% Cu
grade cut-off. Note, Cu percent metres is calculated by multiplying Cu (%) by interval length (m).
Hole ID
From (m)
To (m)
Interval (m)
Cu (%)
Mo (ppm)
Cu Percent Metres
KL-01
11.67
13.67
2
0.10
34
0.20
KL-01
18.38
19.55
1.17
0.11
27
0.13
KL-01
45.8
47.55
1.75
0.11
26
0.19
KL-01
77.2
77.55
0.35
0.12
37
0.04
KL-01
80.37
81.37
1
0.17
23
0.17
KL-01
91.4
105.63
14.23
0.14
37
1.96
KL-01
106.78
107.63
0.85
0.17
78
0.14
KL-02
25
42.8
17.80
0.14
29
2.49
KL-02
61.3
74.76
13.46
0.13
88
1.73
KL-02
101.28
103.9
2.62
0.10
44
0.26
KL-02
166.62
168.72
2.1
0.10
4
0.21
Appendix Figure 1. Correlative graph comparing WGLD Cu (%) with BGS Cu (%). All assay
intervals have been normalized.
To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:
https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/9801/199443_109eb6bc944e4ae8_0005full.jpg
Limited re-assays of BGS core showed their copper values had several outlying intersections of higher-
grade not replicated during The Company's re-assay of quarter core. This discrepancy most likely
reflects the uneven distribution of mineralisation within the core along veins and that The Company was
only able to re-assay quarter core. It is noteworthy that the BGS drilling campaign and associated assay
results are not compliant with NI 43-101 standards and therefore core re-logging and re-assay have only
been used as a broad exploration indicator.
To view the source version of this press release, please visit
https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/199443