No recommendation
No news or research item is a personal recommendation to deal. Hargreaves Lansdown may not share ShareCast's (powered by Digital Look) views.
(Sharecast News) - Metals Exploration announced the expansion of its footprint at the La India Gold Project in Nicaragua on Friday after securing four new exploration concessions, increasing its exposure to prospective targets in the historic mining district.
The AIM-traded gold producer said the licences covered a combined 64,400 hectares adjacent to its existing La India asset and were granted for 25 years, subject to a 3% government royalty and escalating surface payments.
It said the package included the La Grecia project area and several additional targets previously explored by Newcrest Mining.
The company said it had identified four high-priority targets within the newly granted concessions, including La Grecia, San Cristobal, Dos Hermanos and Las Cruces, all of which showed geological characteristics consistent with epithermal gold systems or porphyry-style mineralisation.
At La Grecia, historical work had highlighted high-grade mineralisation, with rock chip sampling returning grades of up to 97.42 grams of gold per tonne and 695 grams of silver per tonne, while more recent sampling by Metals Exploration recorded gold grades of up to 7.07 grams per tonne.
The area hosts low-sulphidation epithermal quartz veins mapped over a 1.5 by 0.5 kilometre zone, with visible boiling zone textures indicative of gold deposition.
Elsewhere, San Cristobal features multiple mapped veins and alteration zones associated with anomalous geochemistry, while Dos Hermanos hosts two principal hydrothermal vein systems extending over a combined 600 metres, with historical samples returning up to 62.6 grams of gold per tonne and trench intercepts of 1.95 metres at 17.9 grams per tonne.
Las Cruces, located south-east of La India, was considered prospective for copper-gold porphyry mineralisation linked to a large volcanic caldera system.
Chief executive Darren Bowden said the new concessions strengthen the group's long-term growth pipeline while supporting ongoing development at its core project.
"Securing these concessions adjacent to our La India Gold Project further consolidates our position within the historical La India mining district, and marks another important step in strengthening the company's long-term growth in Nicaragua," he said.
"Our ongoing technical work has identified four high priority targets, with encouraging historical results indicating the potential for future gold resources."
Bowden added that near-term priorities remained focussed on bringing La India into production.
"While these new licences provide further exploration prospects for the company, our focus remains on advancing the La India Gold Project towards production, with first gold expected by December 2026.
"By prioritising near-term development and continuing to build a strong exploration portfolio, we aim to deliver on our immediate objectives while also supporting future resource growth."
Metals Exploration said it planned to begin further mapping, sampling and trenching work across the new concessions, with a first drilling programme targeted for the second half of 2026, subject to rig availability.
At 1204 BST, shares in Metals Exploration were up 2.22% at 14.31p.
Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.
See latest RNS on Investegate