Mining

Zenith Minerals augments management team to advance exploration at priority precious and base metals projects

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By Imelda Cotton - 
Zenith Minerals ASX ZNC Peter Bird Mick Clifford

Zenith Minerals non-executive chairman Peter Bird will move to executive chairman status.

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Perth-based exploration company Zenith Minerals (ASX: ZNC) has announced a change to its management line-up to more effectively address increased activity levels relating to its core exploration projects and associated drilling schedules.

Preliminary work has begun at the Red Mountain, Split Rocks and Jackadgery gold projects, as well as the Develin Creek copper-zinc and Flanagans gold-copper projects.

To help better manage these priority projects and assess any new advanced-stage opportunities, Zenith has appointed non-executive chairman Peter Bird to the role of executive chairman with a focus on investor relations and corporate growth.

Mr Bird is a respected mining identity, having worked in senior technical, management, investor relations and human resources positions with giants such as Western Mining Corporation, Newmont Corporation and Normandy Mining.

He also has extensive experience in equity markets including five years at Merrill Lynch Equities, where he was recognised in 1998 as the top-rated Australian Gold Analyst in Australia, Europe and Asia.

More recently, Mr Bird has served in management roles and in the capacity of non-executive chairman for several ASX-listed resource companies, and as chief executive officer and deputy chair of a UK-listed copper company.

Mr Bird’s new role will complement that of Zenith chief executive officer Mick Clifford who will assume responsibility for growing the business by unlocking the potential of all five projects.

Network of contacts

Mr Clifford said Mr Bird’s experience and network of contacts would bode well for Zenith.

“His skills, experience and investor contacts have the potential to add significantly to our business,” he said.

“I look forward to working together to unlock the value in our projects for the benefit of our shareholders and stakeholders.”

Projects update

Zenith has a vision to build a successful gold and base metals business, focusing on an aggressive evaluation of its wholly-owned projects in Queensland, New South Wales and Western Australia.

Exploration at Red Mountain (in Queensland) is following-up on high-grade, near-surface gold and silver mineralisation intersected during a maiden drilling campaign in August.

These intersections produced results such as 15m at 3.5 grams per tonne gold, including 2m at 22.4g/t gold; and 13m at 8g/t gold and 3.2g/t silver from surface, including 6m at 16.7g/t gold and 5.3g/t silver.

At Split Rocks (WA), drilling in August returned high-grade, near-surface mineralisation at multiple prospects such as Dulcie North (32m at 9.4g/t gold, including 9m at 31.4g/t and a highest individual 1m sample of 199.2g/t); Dulcie Laterite Pit (2m at 14.5g/t gold, including 1m at 20.8g/t); Estrela (2m at 9.8g/t gold, open to the north and south); and Dulcie Far North (5m at 5.6g/t gold, including 4m at 6.8g/t).

A maiden drill test will be conducted this month at the new Snook copper target at Develin Creek (Queensland) and a similar test has been planned for Jackadgery (NSW) where historic trenching returned 160m at 1.2g/t gold.

Finally, at Flanagans (Queensland), Zenith has confirmed that further sampling will be required to define a drill target.

Strong portfolio

Mr Bird said there was much to extract from Zenith’s strong portfolio of projects accumulated since 2017 on a “very modest budget”.

“The company [has a] long-standing record of identifying quality, under-valued projects [and] we have an enviable portfolio in the precious and base metals space,” he said.

“I believe the results from our activities to date will continue to be value-generating and exciting.”

Mr Bird said Zenith would be well-funded to advance its projects following a recent oversubscribed capital raising.