Alba gets extension to Limerick Project licence

Alba Mineral Resources said on Thursday that the exploration licence for its Limerick Base Metals Project has been renewed until 26 May 2022.

The AIM-traded firm said it was in the process of determining the next phase of exploration activities at the project, which could include the drilling of key zinc targets.

It also noted that the government of Greenland had decided to roll over to 2021 the initiatives which were first applied in 2020 in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

That would mean that for all mineral exploration licences in Greenland, the exploration expenditure obligations for the year 2021 would be reduced to zero, and the existing licence period would be extended by one year.

“We are delighted to be able to confirm the renewal of the exploration licence for our Limerick Base Metals Project,” said executive chairman George Frangeskides.

“Our project is situated in the Irish Zinc Ore Field, the location of a number of high-grade zinc-lead deposits.

“The region has been the site of renewed drilling activity in recent years, and we look forward to renewing our exploration for high-grade zinc on our licence area in the coming months.”

Frangeskides added that in Greenland, the government's decision to renew the measures it first introduced in 2020 to assist licensees facing the challenges of Covid-19 for a further year were “very welcome”.

“That being said, these initiatives do not lessen our determination to progress our high-grade projects in Greenland, once the pandemic restrictions in Greenland ease sufficiently to allow us to do so.

“As such, it remains a key objective of the company for 2021 to drill our TBS Ilmenite Project to materially increase the existing resource, and to drill our Amitsoq Graphite Project to define a maiden resource there.”

At 1204 GMT, shares in Alba Mineral Resources were flat at 0.49p.