Erris Resources enters option agreement over Loch Tay gold project

Mineral consulting and exploration company Erris Resources has entered into an option agreement with GreenOre Gold, giving it the option to acquire 80% of the Loch Tay gold and associated base metals project in Perthshire, Scotland.

The AIM-traded firm said the option agreement would allow it to explore for gold on the area covered by the Loch Tay Licence in Perthshire, conditional on the conclusion of its due diligence.

It said the project area comprised 237 square kilometres of “highly prospective” ground within the Grampian Gold Belt, and explained two priority target areas - Ardtalnaig and Glen Almond - had been identified as having “excellent” gold potential based on the presence of historic workings, mineralised outcrops and alluvial gold occurrences.

A 10 gram nugget in the Glen Almond river, within the Glen Almond target area, was discovered in July by a team from the University of Leeds.

The board said the option agreement provided it with a low risk option for discovery on an “exciting and new” gold project within a stable jurisdiction.

It said it had maintained its robust cash position, with approximately €1.6m in cash held at the end of November.

Erris Resources said it was continuing to review projects in low risk jurisdictions internationally, that fit its investment criteria.

“We are delighted to have signed the option agreement with GreenOre to advance highly prospective gold targets in central Scotland,” said chief executive officer Anton du Plessis.

“This gives us exposure to new gold targets that have not previously been tested, but which are located in the highly prospective Grampian Gold Belt that already hosts some important gold deposits such as Curraghnihalt, which was acquired by New York-based Orion Resource Partners in a CAD 537m buyout of Dalradian Resources in June 2018, and Cononish, which is only 40 kilometres away and aims to pour its first gold next year.”

Du Plessis noted that Cononish had measured and indicated resources of 246,000 ounces, grading at 14.3 grams of gold per tonne.

“Importantly, land access agreements have already been signed, which allow work to proceed on the priority targets with the aim of advancing exploration to drill target definition in 2020.”

At 1021 GMT, shares in Erris Resources were up 1.41% at 3.6p.