Arkle Resources PLC (LON:ARK) shares shot up after it reported that new gold-bearing vein outcrops have been identified during recent trenching programme at Meeneragh Inishowen.
New veins that pinch and swell for 85m along strike from the initial 2016 drill hole include a highest-grade sample with 40.7 grammes of gold per tonne of soil (g/t), which chairman John Teeling said "represents a watershed moment for the Inishowen gold project".
The same high-grade vein was excavated at deeper levels down a further 50cm and 70cm where it was observed to be 7cm and 12cm wide, grading at 4.18g/t and 3.63g/t gold respectively.
“This demonstrates that the vein is not consistent with grade or width and that there are high grade and low grade zones where a ‘nugget affect’ may be at play,” Arkle said.
A 50cm quartz vein outcrop included 13.1g/t of gold matches that of the large wide boulders that were found in 2015 lying in close proximity to the yard and in the nearby river.
This boulder train which passes through the trenching and drillhole locations at a bearing of about 45 degrees now extends over 250m.
The trenching, which was dug to a maximum depth of 2m, was conducted over soils which contained high levels of indicator minerals such as lead and zinc, with rock including shales and grits with quartz veins running parallel to the bedding.
The County Donegal project’s trenching results “match if not exceed our best expectations”, said Teeling, and will provide Arkle's geological team with field data that will allow full mapping of the vein systems in the area to determine length, average width and grade.
“The output of this mapping exercise will delineate high priority gold targets which the company intends to explore via a fully funded drilling programme in the spring,” he said.
The drilling programme is now being devised, with observation of the local rock structure and discovery of narrow quartz veinlets in the same orientation as the larger veins potentially explaining why the previous drilling was not so successful, Arkle said.
The company "believes it has overcome these obstacles and is confident of further positive results as the company works to identify a gold resource".
"The drilling at Inishowen will be planned along with the drilling at the Mine River project in Co. Wicklow/Wexford with the aim to move operations swiftly between the two projects as they develop in 2021."
The shares rose 37% to 1.85p after the announcement on Wednesday afternoon.