Burkina Faso Gold Project Update

Goldplat plc / Ticker: GDP / Index: AIM / Sector: Mining & Exploration
 
11 January 2010
 
                   Goldplat plc (‘Goldplat’ or ‘the Company’)
 
                        Burkina Faso Gold Project Update
 
Goldplat plc, an AIM quoted gold producer, is pleased to provide an in-depth
report on the planned development initiatives for the prospective 246 sq km
Nyieme Gold Project (‘Nyieme Project’) in Burkina Faso, over which the Company
recently acquired an option following the agreement with Sanu Exploration (BVI)
Limited (‘Sanu’), announced on 21 December 2009.  The Company’s aim is to prove
up the economic viability of the Nyieme project, with the target of bringing it
into production.
 
Overview:
 
* Funding an initial US$500,000 for further exploration
 
  * Previous exploration highlights general prospectivity of the project:
 
      * Surface quartz vein material returned high values between 1 and 100 g/t
        gold over a strike distance of over 2 km
 
      * 4 km quartz vein system identified, with exploration indicating this
        could continue for an additional 4 km
 
      * 2,015m Reverse Circulation (‘RC’) drilling programme – best
        intersections included 3m @ 17.48 g/t gold (‘Au’), 1m @ 16.76 g/t Au,
        1m @ 4.46 and 1m @ 17.83g/t Au
 
      * Drilling indicates that multiple auriferous quartz veins could be
        present which could have a significantly positive implication on a gold
        resource
 
  * 2,500m diamond drilling (‘DD’) programme planned for 2010 followed by a
    JORC-compliant resource
 
  * Further targets to be explored – an extremely strong Induced Polarisation
    (‘IP’) anomaly lays parallel and 2.5 km east of the Nyieme quartz vein
    trend
 
Goldplat’s CEO Demetri Manolis said, “We believe previous exploration results
highlight the exciting potential of the Nyieme Project.   High-grade quartz vein
structures over a 4 km trend have been identified in addition to the high grades
already published including 3m @ 17.48 g/t.  With a defined development plan in
place, which will begin with 2,500m DD programme, we aim to establish a
JORC-compliant resource which will form the basis for our production development
programme if economically viable.  With this in mind, the Board believes that
development of the Nyieme Project, coupled with its other gold operations in
Kenya, Ghana and South Africa, will facilitate the realisation of Goldplat’s aim
to become a mid-tier gold producer and refiner in Africa.”
 
Previous Exploration
 
Sanu, a wholly owned subsidiary of NGEX Resources Inc, initially mapped and
sampled the Nyieme Project, located 270 km southwest of Ouagadougou, on a 400m x
400m grid.  Thisresulted in the identification of several gold-in-soil
geochemical anomalies.  A follow-up 200m x 50m soil sampling grid defined a
linear quartz vein system trending north-south.  Surface exposure is limited but
it appears that the quartz veins are up to 2m thick and have developed within a
re-entrant thrust fault zone within granodiorites intruding the Birimian
metasediments, gabbros and metavolcanics.
 
The geochemical anomaly coincides with a north-south trending IP anomaly which
is interpreted to define the quartz vein system for 4 km, and it appears to
indicate that it remains open to the south.  The presence of anomalous
geochemical sampling as well as lag sampling suggests that the quartz vein
system could extend for a further 4 km to the south.  Surface samples of quartz
vein material returned high values between 1 and 100 g/t gold over a strike
distance of over 2km.
 
A 2,015m, 26 hole reverse circulation drilling programme, using 13 fence lines,
was also conducted.  The two hole fences were approximately 100m apart on strike
and 40m apart on dip, with the maximum depth of intersection below surface being
80m.  The strike distance between holes NYRC 1 and NYRC 26 was 1,700m.
 Significant intersections in the northern portion of the anomaly, where the
quartz vein is exposed, returned some significant values including NYRC 15 which
intersected 3m @ 17.48 g/t gold (‘Au’), NYRC 17, 1m @ 16.76 g/t Au, and NYRC
18, 1m @ 4.46 and 1m @ 17.83g/t Au.  It is interpreted that that there are
distinct mineralised trends between 100m and 200m in width consisting of
numerous quartz veins, plunging toward the south.  A summary of the
intersections is shown below:
 
Hole Number   From   To   Width   Value g/t
 
  NYRC 1        -      -    -       Not significant
 
  NYRC 2        -      -    -       Not significant
 
  NYRC 3        21     25   4m      0.34 g/t
 
  NYRC 3        39     39   3m      1.31 g/t
 
  NYRC 4        58     60   2m      2.3 g/t
 
  NYRC 5        49     51   2m      3.38 g/t
 
  NYRC 6        36     39   3m      1.85 g/t
 
  Including     38     39   1m      4.52 g/t
 
  NYRC 6        40     41   1m      1.20 g/t
 
  NYRC 7        -      -    -       Not significant
 
  NYRC 8        68     71   3m      0.92 g/t
 
  NYRC 9        38     39   1m      4.03 g/t
 
  NYRC 10       -      -    -       Not significant
 
  NYRC 11       -      -    -       Not significant
 
  NYRC 12       30     31   1m      0.91 g/t
 
  NYRC 13       42     45   3m      0.52 g/t
 
  NYRC 14       94     95   1m      0.64 g/t
 
  NYRC 15       21     23   2m      0.88 g/t
 
  NYRC 15       36     46   10m     5.87 g/t
 
  Including     38     44   6m      9.86 g/t
 
  Including     38     43   5m      11.67 g/t
 
  Including     38     41   3m      17.48 g/t
 
  NYRC 16       63     64   1m      0.88 g/t
 
  NYRC 16       65     66   1m      0.75 g/t
 
  NYRC 16       72     74   1m      0.72 g/t
 
  NYRC 16       76     78   1m      0.87 g/t
 
  NYRC 17       40     41   1m      16.76 g/t
 
  NYRC 18       64     65   1m      4.46 g/t
 
  NYRC 18       69     70   1m      17.83 g/t
 
  NYRC 19       44     45   1m      1.92 g/t
 
  NYRC 20       -      -    -       Not significant
 
  NYRC 21       27     28   1m      0.69 g/t
 
  NYRC 22       29     30   1m      0.86 g/t
 
  NYRC 23       41     42   1m      2.1 g/t
 
  NYRC 24       64     65   1m      1.45 g/t
 
  NYRC 25       -      -    -       Not significant
 
  NYRC 26       -      -    -       Not significant
 
 In addition to the Nyieme quartz vein trend, an extremely strong IP anomaly
lays parallel and 2.5 kms to the east of the main anomaly.  Geological mapping
demonstrates additional quartz veining, though sampling has not yet revealed
significant gold values.
 
Initial Development
 
The Board of Goldplat has committed an initial US$500,000 to further explore the
Nyieme Project, initially with an infill 2,500m diamond drilling  programme in
2010, after which, the Company anticipates the calculation of a JORC-compliant
resource statement.  Furthermore, Goldplat will also carry out further surface
geochemical and mapping programme to further define the southerly extent of the
veins.
 
Qualified Person
 
This announcement has been reviewed by Mr. Mark Austin, the group geologist for
Goldplat who has more than 25 years of relevant experience in the field of
activity concerned.  He is a fellow of the Geological Society of South Africa
('GSSA') and has consented to the inclusion of the material in the form and
context in which it appears.
 
* * ENDS * *
 
For further information visitwww.goldplat.com <http://www.goldplat.com/> or
contact:
 
Demetri  Manolis, CEO Goldplat plc                  Tel: +27 (0) 11 423 1203
 
 James Joyce           WH Ireland Limited            Tel: +44 (0) 20 7220 1666
 
 David Porter          WH Ireland Limited            Tel: +44 (0) 20 7220 1666
 
 Felicity Edwards      St Brides Media & Finance Ltd Tel: +44 (0)20 7236 1177
 
 Isabel Crossley       St Brides Media & Finance Ltd Tel: +44 (0)20 7236 1177
 
Notes:
 
Goldplat is an AIM-listed gold producer with operations in Africa.  Its strategy
is to consolidate its position as a gold producer in Africa and build itself
into a highly profitable mid-tier gold company, leveraged through revenue
generated from its gold recovery businesses.
 
The Company has two recovery businesses based in South Africa and Ghana
producing circa 21,000 ounces of gold per year.  These safely dispose of mining
by-products, and fulfil an important aspect of the mines’ environmental
management programmes.  The South African plant is located near the centre of
the East Rand Goldfield and raw material feedstocks are sourced from many of the
major South African mining companies, including AngloGold Ashanti, Goldfields,
Harmony, DRD Gold and other smaller producers.  The Ghana plant, located in the
free port of Tema, provides access to raw materials from mines in Mali, Guinea,
Burkina Faso, Benin, Cote D’Ivorie, Senegal, the DRC and Mauritania, as well as
Ghana.
 
Goldplat is looking to increase its asset base through the acquisition of known
deposits with targets of between 200,000 and one million contained ounces.  To
this end, it is developing two projects; its wholly owned Kilimapesa Gold mining
project, located in the historically producing Migori Archaean Greenstone Belt
in western Kenya and the prospective 246 sq km Nyieme Gold Project in Burkina
Faso with a view to establishing a mining operations in the short term.
Kilimapesa Gold commenced initial production in January 2009 and has announced
an initial JORC-compliant resource of 1.65Mt at 2.44 g/t Au for 129,000 oz Au at
a cut-off grade of 1 g/t Au for all categories.
 
[HUG#1371884]