Arkle Resources reports progress at Mine River and Inishowen

Ireland-based gold and zinc exploration and development company Arkle Resources updated the market on its wholly-owned Mine River and Inishowen gold projects on Monday, reporting positive results from the extended soil sampling programme at Inishowen in County Donegal.

The AIM-traded firm said a programme for trenching and drilling was planned to start shortly.

It said the results of the soil sampling at Inishowen identified new areas with similar geochemical signatures to the known Meeneragh gold discovery it had previously made.

The soil sampling was conducted every 20 metres on 100 metre-spaced lines over the area around Meeneragh, which was known to contain gold.

A total of 803 samples were collected, with each sample weighing around 120 grams each and obtained between 10 and 20 centimetres below the surface.

The Olympus Delta Standard XRF unit was used to assay the soil samples, while quality assurance and control involved duplicate samples every 50, with unit calibration every 20.

Arkle said the gold indicators used were zinc and lead, as determined from the previous rock and drill results.

Meanwhile, the company also announced that trenching has commenced on its Mine River Gold Project on the Wicklow-Wexford county border.

Arkle geologists were currently undertaking a trenching programme at 10 sites, previously identified as having gold indicator anomalies.

The company said the trenching work aimed to identify new gold bearing structures, and to retrieve structural and geochemical information before drilling took place.

That work followed on from the “extensive” soil sampling programme conducted during the past two years over the gold trend.

“We are pleased to have received positive results from our Donegal gold exploration,” said chairman John Teeling.

“Strong gold indicators were discovered in a number of areas.”

Teeling said the results were “encouraging”, with the company having a programme of trenching and drilling planned, which would begin shortly.

“In addition, following extensive soil sampling already carried out, we have also commenced trenching multiple gold targets previously identified on our Mine River licence in Wexford [and] Wicklow.”

At 1042 GMT, shares in Arkle Resources were flat at 1.1p.