Conroy Diamonds and Gold PLC said it discovered an extensive new gold-in-soil anomaly at its Clay Lake target in County Armagh, Ireland. Samples returned gold-in-soil values of up to 1,531 parts per billion gold, or 1.53 grams per ton, the highest values reported from Conroy’s Irish exploration licences to date.
The new find is located some 7 kilometres northeast of the company's Clontibret discovery in County Monaghan, where a JORC-compliant resource of over one million ounces of gold has been identified across 20 percent of the target area.
The anomaly measures about 2 by 1 kilometres, which is larger than Clontibret, and the average gold-in-soil values are twice the average recorded at Clontibret to date.
More than 80 soil samples were collected at Clay Lake, returning average gold-in-soil values of over 50ppb, with six greater than 100ppb and a highest value of 1,531ppb. These results are higher than known anomalous gold-in-soil values in this terrain.
The anomaly is named after the Clay Lake nugget containing 28 grams of gold, found in a stream bed in the 1980s. The source of this nugget has not yet been found and identifying it has been one of the main objectives of the company's exploration programme in the area for some time. “The directors are hopeful that the new discovery may be the source of the Clay Lake nugget,” it said.