The share price of London-listed Arkle Resources spiked on Monday morning as the company announced a review of strategic options relating to its shareholding in the Stonepark zinc project, which it owns with Canada’s Group Eleven Resources.

Arkle holds a 23.44% share in the project, located in county Limerick, Ireland, and offtake rights that match its shareholding.

“In 2017, when the original partners, Teck Ireland, sold their majority stake, we elected to maintain our share and contribute accordingly. The board believes now is an excellent time to review that decision: zinc prices remain robust well above the $2 000/t range, and there is interest in Stonepark,” said Arkle CEO Patrick Cullen.

He stated that there was “significant” interest in Stonepark, because of the high grade and relatively shallow position of the established inferred resources.

The project has a maiden inferred mineral resource of 5.1-million tonnes at 11.3% zinc and lead combined (8.7% zinc and 2.6% lead), occurring at depths from 190 m to 395 m below the surface.  

The project also lies adjacent to the far larger Pallas Green deposit of Glencore. Pallas Green contains 45.1-million tonnes at 8% zinc and lead combined.

Cullen stated that Arkle believed there was upside potential for a “major discovery” along the Pallas Green corridor, in line with the model proposed by Group Eleven.

“The southern part of the project block is sparsely explored and our recent drilling there has revealed the potential for further discovery. Newly reviewed airborne geophysical is assisting in refining the new targets, as well as revealing newly prospective features in this area of the Stonepark block.”

Drilling announced in May identified the outer margin of a potential new Irish-Type zinc system 10 km southeast of the Pallas Green deposit, along the postulated 'Pallas Green corridor'.  

Drill hole G11-450-02 (Kilteely) intersected a 230-m-thick hydrothermal system displaying abundant sulphide mineralisation with elevated zinc.

Earlier this month, Group Eleven also reported that the Geological Survey of Ireland’s ‘Tellus’ airborne geophysical survey, covering its Stonepark, PG West and Silvermines zinc projects, had yielded some “large surprises”.

About 20 km to the west of – and sub-parallel to – the Pallas Green corridor, the data showed a previously-unknown, strong northwest linear trend, at least 40 km long, which appeared to represent a corridor of suspected buried volcanic centres or intrusives.

Arkle’s stock rose 14% to 1.42p a share by 09:00 in London.