First Class Metals PLC (LSE:FCM, FRA:WN9) shares rose as much as 9% on Monday after the Ontario-focused exploration group said drilling had commenced on a 10km gold-bearing structure at its Sunbeam property in Canada.
London-listed First Class Metals said drilling had begun on the Roy structure with hole SUN-26-01, a twin of historic hole SP-11-12, as part of a planned 1,000m programme.
Management said the Roy lineament had been traced for more than 10km and that soil sampling across 4km of strike had confirmed what it described as a “robust local and potential district scale gold bearing structure”.
More than 500 A-horizon soil samples were collected at 12.5m intervals across 33 lines spaced 100m apart, with assays returning a highest value of 847 parts per billion gold.
Eight of the 33 lines featured anomalies greater than 50 parts per billion gold and 11 lines recorded anomalies above 18 parts per billion, defining five separate anomalous areas over a 3.3km strike.
A lake sediment sample of 111 parts per billion gold located 1.5km along strike was said to increase the potential extent of the structure.
Previous drilling at Roy returned 4.01 grams per tonne gold over 1.85m in hole SP11-12 and 1.05 grams per tonne gold over 3.78m in hole SP11-13.
Channel sampling conducted by the company delivered assays including 6.27 grams per tonne gold over 0.35m, 4.98 grams per tonne gold over 0.5m and 5.58 grams per tonne gold over 0.5m, while stripping programmes confirmed grades of up to 18.8 grams per tonne gold.
Marc Sale, chief executive, said: “The exploration work on the Sunbeam Property, specifically on the >10km Roy lineament and the soil sample results has demonstrated the significance of this structure.”
He added: “Roy will be used as a template to demonstrate and unlock the potential of the three district-scale gold-bearing structures on the Sunbeam property, each of which currently exceeds 10km and indications are that there is further strike continuity.”
By mid-morning, the shares had settled at 1.14p, up 4%.