After receiving statutory approvals for the 2016-2020 exploration programs at the Aucu Gold Project in the Kyrgyz Republic, White Cliff Minerals expects to begin a new field exploration program this month.

The Kyrgyz State Agency for Geology and Mineral Resources (SAGMR) formally approved the programs after receiving approvals from the relevant state authorities in the areas of geology, mining, environment and forestry as well as the Jalal Abad regional government.

The exploration approvals follow the recent renewal of a five year licence extension to the Aucu exploration licence to December 31, 2020.

Field exploration will begin after a bulldozer clears the access road prior to the establishment of the field camp. The bulldozer will then cut new access roads to expose mineralised structures across the upper gold zone eastern extension where the average grade of mineralisation intersected in the 2015 drilling was 45 grams/tonne (g/t) gold.

White Cliff aims to confirm and expand the existing JORC compliant inferred resource of 156,000 ounces @ 4.2 g/t gold with multiple zones having been identified within a strike length of at least 3km. The exploration is also targeting open pit resources.

The gold mineralisation at Aucu starts at surface and is mainly free or native gold hosted by sandstone.

The project is in the western part of the Tien Shan Belt, 350km west-southwest of the capital city of Bishkek and covers 83sqkm.