Nighthawk Gold files NI 43-101 estimate for Indin Lake
Nighthawk Gold Corp. has filed a National Instrument 43-101-compliant technical report, titled “NI 43-101 Technical Report and Mineral Resource Estimate for the Indin Lake Gold Property, Northwest Territories, Canada,” outlining an updated indicated and inferred resource estimate for the Colomac gold project, and an initial inferred resource estimate for the Damoti Lake gold project, as announced on July 28, 2020.
Euro Sun talks Rovina construction permit, DFS
Euro Sun Mining Inc. has provided a corporate update and comment on the current strategy regarding development of the 10-million-gold-equivalent-ounce Rovina Valley project.
Read MoreIn response to many questions from shareholders, the company would like to provide an update on recent developments at the Rovina Valley project so that all investors have a clear understanding of the ultimate value of this world-class gold development project.
The last two quarters have seen significant progress toward a construction decision for the Rovina Valley project with continuing work on the construction permit and related activities around the process. In addition, the definitive feasibility study, being completed by Senet Pty., continues to progress. In June, the company closed a $22.3-million bought-deal equity financing led by Sprott Capital Partners with BMO Capital Markets. It is expected that the funds raised from the financing will provide the company with the capital required to obtain a construction decision.
The company also made significant changes in its governance and corporate structure with the termination of its relationship with former chairman Stan Bharti and his merchant bank, Forbes and Manhattan Inc. The company also completed a relocation of its registered head office and added two new independent directors to its board. The board now comprises six independent directors and a non-independent director.
The company continues to make progress on its key development catalysts with the two targeted deliverables being the construction permit and the definitive feasibility study. While the company does not currently anticipate it, the current global COVID-19 crisis may have an impact on timing that is hard to predict. Both deliverables are significant risk reduction events for Euro Sun and should have a materially positive effect on the company.
Scott Moore, chairman and chief executive officer, stated: “The last two quarters have come with significant change for the company: operationally with the addition of senior management personnel to advance the permitting and engineering at Rovina Valley; financially with a significant investment by global institutional precious metal funds; and governance-wise through the addition of key independent directors and a relocation of our corporate head office. All of these milestones paired with a rising gold price should serve to highlight the tremendous potential for a revaluation of Euro Sun.”
The company will be attending the Precious Metal Summit normally held in Beavercreek, Colo., but this year being held virtually between Sept. 15 and Sept. 17, 2020. Beaver Creek is usually one of the best-attended mining conferences specifically tailored to the junior mining sector with strong support by institutional investors, private family offices and larger mining companies.
Construction permit process
The company would like to remind investors that the exploitation licence ratified by the Romanian government allows the company to make official requests to the County Council of Hunedoara for certificates of urbanism. To advance to the construction phase there are two certificates required, the area land use plan and the project technical design.
The certificate of urbanism for plan (land use) is a documentary process that results in a change of land assignment by the county to permit utility and future development for a category change for economic activities. In essence, a rezoning is required from the current land use being pastoral and/or state forest to zoning for commercial activities.
In order to complete this process, Euro Sun has engaged MetricSpace, an architectural and urban planning firm based in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, to provide all the necessary documentation and support to the chief architect of the county. The company received the rezoning (PUZ) urbanization certificate on June 11, 2020, from Hunedoara county. The company has delivered all documentation to the county technical committee to approve the opportunity agreement, which forms part of the certificate. The public consultation on the zoning plan is expected to occur in mid-October, 2020.
The second certificate of urbanism is for the project technical design. This includes the environmental impact assessment (EIA) of the Rovina Valley project, along with other documentation. International consultancy firm ERM, based in Bucharest, Romania, has been contracted to complete the EIA and environmental social impact assessment process for the Rovina Valley project. Multiple substudies forming part of the project technical design are well under way or completed including climate and weather conditions criteria, traffic baseline study, limited vibration survey and blasting study, landscape baseline and modelling study. Other technical work is also well under way such as water modelling including the geochemistry, surface and groundwater, and water supply to the project, air quality and air modelling, noise modelling, and biodiversity and forestry studies.
The company continues to progress the certificates of urbanism in conjunction with all Romanian laws with the goal of having these certificates completed or substantially complete by end of 2020 so the company can begin construction in early 2021.
Definitive feasibility study
The second key deliverable for 2020 is the completion of a definitive feasibility study for the Rovina Valley project. The company has awarded the feasibility to Senet Pty., based in Johannesburg South Africa.
The National Instrument 43-101-compliant definitive feasibility study will include analysis of: geology and resources, mining and reserves, geochemistry, hydrogeology, geotechnical, process plant, waste management facility, infrastructure, schedule, manpower, capital cost, operating cost, revenue, and financial analysis.
After internal model evaluations the DFS will now include the Rovina open pit sequentially to the Colnic pit in the life-of-mine plan. This will result in significantly more production of both gold and copper due to a longer mine life without affecting initial capital expenditures.
In support of the feasibility, the company has appointed Klohn Crippen Berger (KCB), Canada, as geotechnical contractor. KCB will provide all geotechnical input for both open pits including characterizing pit wall stability and dewatering requirements. Additionally, it will provide geotech engineering for the plant site, crusher, truck shop, fuel depot, process facilities, rope conveyor foundations, diversion tunnel around Colnic pit, low-grade stockpile, office buildings/warehouse, and the waste co-deposition area drilling program and all geotechnical interpretation and reports. KCB will also design the co-depositional facility including geotechnical characteristics of the filter cake and waste rock mixture, detailed stacking plan and general arrangement, detailed design of the internal drainage systems, perimeter berms and runoff/drainage solution management.
DFS progress update
Mining and geology:
- Gap analysis report provided;
- Mining design trade-off studies completed, options presented and selected;
- Whittle optimization completed;
- Geology review completed.
Process and metallurgy:
- Gap analysis report provided;
- Block flow diagram (BFL) for process and waste completed;
- Process flow diagrams (PFDs) completed;
- Process description completed;
- Process design criteria (PDC) completed;
- Process testwork requirements finalized;
- Mass and water balance completed;
- HAZOP 1 completed;
- Mechanical equipment list (MEL) developed.
Discipline engineering (infrastructure, civil, mechanical and electrical)
- Overall layout (general infrastructure location plan) reflecting infrastructure and plant locations finalized;
- Rope conveyor options and railveyor options trade-off to be completed;
- Tunnel versus water diversion study completed;
- Site Infrastructure layout issued;
- Road access and raw water pipeline layouts completed;
- Power supply to site and connections — trade-off study continuing with local contractor;
- Plant terraces started and it is continuing;
- General site conditions and site design criteria document completed;
- Fuel depot — scope of study issued for client review.
The company still expects the DFS to be completed by the end of 2020 with the filing of NI 43-101 technical report early in 2021. Unexpected delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic may have an impact to this schedule.
Euro Sun Provides Corporate Update
TORONTO, Sept. 14, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Euro Sun Mining Inc. (TSX: ESM) (“Euro Sun” or the “Company”) is pleased to provide a corporate update and comment on the current strategy regarding development of the ten million gold equivalent ounce Rovina Valley Project.
Read MoreIn response to many questions from shareholders, we would like to provide an update on recent developments at the Rovina Valley Project so that all investors have a clear understanding of the ultimate value of this world class gold development project.
The last two quarters have seen significant progress towards a construction decision for the Rovina Valley Project with ongoing work on the construction permit and related activities around the process. In addition, the definitive feasibility study, being completed by Senet Pty, continues to progress. In June, the Company closed a $22.3 million bought deal equity financing led by Sprott Capital Partners with BMO Capital Markets. It is expected that the funds raised from the financing will provide the Company with the capital required to obtain a construction decision.
The Company also made significant changes in its governance and corporate structure with the termination of its relationship with former chairman Stan Bharti and his merchant bank, Forbes and Manhattan Inc. The Company also completed a relocation of its registered head office and added of two new independent directors to its board. The board is now comprised of six independent directors and non-independent director.
The Company continues to make progress on our key development catalysts with the two targeted deliverables being the construction permit and the definitive feasibility study. While the Company does not currently anticipate, the current global COVID-19 crisis may have an impact on timing that is hard to predict. Both deliverables are significant risk reduction events for Euro Sun and should have a materially positive effect on the Company.
Scott Moore, Chairman and CEO stated; “The last two quarters have come with significant change for the company; operationally with the addition of senior management personnel to advance the permitting and engineering at Rovina Valley; financially with a significant investment by global institutional precious metal funds; and governance wise through the addition of key independent directors and a re-location of our corporate head office. All of these milestones paired with a rising gold price should serve to highlight the tremendous potential for a re-valuation of Euro Sun.”
The Company will be attending the Precious Metal Summit normally held in Beavercreek Colorado but this year being held virtually between September 15-17th, 2020. Beaver Creek is usually one of the best attended mining conferences specifically tailored to the junior mining sector with strong support by institutional investors, private family offices and larger mining companies.
Construction Permit Process
The Company would like to remind investors that the Exploitation License ratified by the Romanian Government allows the Company to make official requests to the County Council of Hunedoara for Certificates of Urbanism. To advance to the construction phase there are two certificates required, the Area Land Use Plan and the Project Technical Design.
The Certificate of Urbanism for Plan (Land Use) is a documentary process that results in a change of land assignment by the county to permit utility and future development for a category change for economic activities. In essence, a re-zoning is required from the current land use being pastoral and/or state forest to zoning for commercial activities.
In order to complete this process, Euro Sun has engaged MetricSpace, an architectural and urban planning firm based in Cluj-Napoca, Romania to provide all the necessary documentation and support to the chief architect of the county. The Company received the re-zoning (PUZ) urbanization certificate on June 11 2020 from Hunedoara County. The Company has delivered all documentation to the county technical committee to approve the opportunity agreement which forms part of the certificate. The public consultation on the zoning plan is expected to occur in mid October 2020.
The second Certificate of Urbanism is for the Project Technical Design. This includes the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of the Rovina Valley Project, along with other documentation. International consultancy firm ERM, based in Bucharest Romania has been contracted to complete the EIA and Environmental Social Impact Assessment process for the Rovina Valley Project. Multiple sub-studies forming part of the Project Technical Design are well underway or completed including climate and weather conditions criteria, traffic baseline study, limited vibration survey and blasting study, landscape baseline and modelling study. Other technical work is also well underway such as water modelling including the geochemistry, surface and groundwater, and water supply to the project, air quality and air modeling, noise modeling and biodiversity & forestry studies.
We continue to progress the certificates of Urbanism in conjunction with all Romanian laws with the goal of having these certificates completed or substantially complete by end of 2020 so the Company can begin construction in early 2021.
Definitive Feasibility Study
The second key deliverable for 2020 is the completion of a definitive feasibility study for the Rovina Valley Project. The Company has awarded the feasibility to Senet Pty, based in Johannesburg South Africa.
The National Instrument 43-101 compliant definitive feasibility study will include analysis of: geology & resources, mining & reserves, geochemistry, hydrogeology, geotechnical, process plant, waste management facility, infrastructure, schedule, manpower, capital cost, operating cost, revenue, and financial analysis.
After internal model evaluations the DFS will now include the Rovina open pit sequentially to the Colnic pit in the Life of Mine plan. This will result in significantly more production of both gold and copper due to a longer mine life without affecting initial capital expenditures.
In support of the feasibility, the Company has appointed Klohn Crippen Berger (KCB), Canada as geotechnical contractor. KCB will provide all geotechnical input for both open pits including characterizing pit wall stability and de-watering requirements. Additionally, geotech engineering for the plant site, crusher, truck shop, fuel depot, process facilities, rope conveyor foundations. diversion tunnel around Colnic pit, low grade stockpile, office buildings/warehouse, and the waste co-deposition area drilling program and all geotechnical interpretation and reports. KCB will also design the co-depositional facility including geotechnical characteristics of the filter cake and waste rock mixture, detailed stacking plan and general arrangement, detailed design of the internal drainage systems, perimeter berms and runoff/drainage solution management.
DFS Progress Update:
Mining and Geology
- Gap analysis Report provided
- Mining Design Trade-off’s studies completed, options presented and selected
- Whittle Optimization completed
- Geology review completed
Process and Metallurgy
- Gap analysis Report provided
- Bloc Flow Diagram (BFL) for process and waste completed
- Process Flow Diagrams (PFD’s) completed
- Process Description completed
- Process Design Criteria (PDC) completed
- Process test work requirements finalized
- Mass and Water Balance completed
- HAZOP 1 completed
- Mechanical Equipment List (MEL) developed
Discipline Engineering (Infrastructure, Civil, Mechanical, Electrical)
- Overall layout (General Infrastructure Location Plan) reflecting infrastructure and plant locations finalised
- Rope conveyor options and Railveyor options trade off to be completed
- Tunnel vs water diversion study completed
- Site Infrastructure layout issued
- Road access and raw water pipeline layouts completed
- Power supply to site and connections – trade off study ongoing with local contractor
- Plant terraces started and it’s ongoing
- General Site conditions and Site Design Criteria document completed
- Fuel Depot – Scope of Study issued for client review
The Company still expects the DFS to be completed by the end of 2020 with the filing of NI 43-101 technical report early in 2021. Unexpected delays due to the Covid-19 pandemic may have an impact to this schedule.
Eloro starts 3,500 m drill program at Iska Iska
Eloro Resources Ltd.’s Bolivian subsidiary, Minera Tupiza SRL, has commenced the planned 3,500-metre underground diamond drilling program at Huayra Kasa on its optioned Iska Iska polymetallic project in Potosi department, southern Bolivia. The company and contractor Empresa Minera Villegas SRL have implemented safeguards to protect personnel from COVID-19. Drilling, which will be HQ-sized core, is being carried out by Leduc Drilling SRL, an experienced Bolivian drill contractor. Details of the initial planned drill holes in the program are listed in the associated table (refer to press release of Aug. 11, 2020, for more details).
Read MoreAll underground workings are being systematically geologically mapped and channel sampled; to date this work is approximately one-half completed. In addition, a surface trenching program is being carried out along with geological mapping and sampling to test the on-strike extension of the Huayra Kasa zone. Assay results for this work are pending. Preliminary geological work indicates that the Huayra Kasa zone extends at least one kilometre along strike within the more extensive Iska Iska mineralized system. Silver-polymetallic mineralization within the Iska Iska system occurs over a potential strike length of more than 2.5 km along major ring structures in a caldera complex.
Tom Larsen, president and chief executive officer of Eloro, commented: “This program will be the first drilling to ever be carried out on the property and is designed to test the full extent of the mineralized system in and around the Huayra Kasa underground workings. The mineralized/altered zone is exposed in the underground workings over a width of 100 m but is likely much more extensive. Drilling will initially test a strike length of approximately 300 m to a depth of 100 m in the vicinity of the mine workings; however, the potential strike length of the Huayra Kasa zone is at least one km. Iska Iska is situated in the highly prolific Southern Bolivian silver belt and has excellent potential to host a significant silver-polymetallic mineral deposit.”
Qualified person
Dr. Osvaldo Arce, PGeo, an expert on Bolivian geology and a qualified person in the context of National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved the technical content of this news release. Dr. Bill Pearson, PGeo, chief technical adviser for Eloro, and who has more than 45 years of worldwide mining exploration experience including extensive work in South America, will provide technical oversight to the program in consultation with Eloro’s technical advisory committee and Micon International. Drill samples will be prepared in SGS’s preparation facility in Oruro, Bolivia, with pulps sent to its main laboratory in Lima, Peru, for analysis by fire assay for gold and silver as well as 31-element ICP (inductively coupled plasma). Eloro will employ an industry-standard quality assurance/quality control program with standards, blanks and duplicates
About Iska Iska
The Iska Iska polymetallic project is a road accessible, royalty-free property, wholly controlled by the title holder, Empresa Minera Villegas, and is located 48 km north of Tupiza city, in the Sud Chichas province of the department of Potosi. The property can be classified as a polymetallic (silver, zinc, lead, gold, copper, bismuth, tin and indium) epithermal-porphyry complex. This is an important mineral deposit type in Bolivia. Eloro’s Bolivian subsidiary, Minera Tupiza, has an option to acquire a 99-per-cent interest in Iska Iska.
Geological mapping on the property by Eloro has revealed the spatial and temporal zonation of alteration and vein minerals in an area of about five square kilometres. The polymetallic mineralization occurs mainly as veins, subsidiary vein swarms, veinlets, stockworks and disseminations, forming a subvertical vein system in both the stock and the volcanic and sedimentary rocks. Preliminary evaluation work including 42 channel samples in underground and on surface workings at Iska Iska returned significant results as summarized below. All of the channel samples included altered wall rock with widths ranging between 1.20 and 5.55 m, averaging 2.90 m (see press release of Oct. 8, 2019, for further details):
- Silver: Anomalous silver values range between 35.5 and 694 grams per tonne Ag (46 per cent of channel samples).
- Gold: Anomalous gold values range between 0.31 and 28.6 g/t Au (42 per cent of channel samples).
- Zinc: Anomalous zinc values range between 1.05 and 16.95 per cent Zn (37 per cent of channel samples).
- Lead: Anomalous lead values range between 0.41 and 16.95 per cent Pb (49 per cent of channel samples).
- Copper: Anomalous copper values range between 0.1 and over 1 per cent (22 per cent of channel samples).
- Bismuth: Anomalous bismuth values range between 967 and 7,380 g/t Bi (22 per cent of channel samples).
- Indium: Anomalous indium values range between 10.35 and over 500 g/t In (34 per cent of channel samples).
The synchrotron study concluded that the mineral cluster analysis identified four mineralogical domains that cover the entire sampling area suggesting they are related and represent a single, large mineralizing system. Furthermore, the mineralogy of the domains is consistent with minerals identified in hand specimen and are likely related to a telescoped porphyry/epithermal style of mineralization. Domain 1 is the most pervasive while domains 2, 3 and 4 are more localized.
Dr. Osvaldo Arce, PGeo, project manager in Bolivia, commented: “The results from this study support the concept of outlining potential bulk minable silver-polymetallic mineralization at Iska Iska as concluded by Micon. Domain 1 is very widespread with mineralization and alteration occurring in all rock types including granodiorite, dacite and sandstone. Some samples returned grades comparable to those samples in the more restricted domains. Domain 2 contains high silver, zinc, lead and indium values while domain 3 has high gold and bismuth values. Domain 4 returned the highest gold value with high silver and bismuth. It is likely that the mineralization in domains 2 to 4 is a precious metal-rich epithermal style that occurs along structures cutting the widespread domain 1 mineralization that is of disseminated porphyry style. It should be emphasized that this is a preliminary study the conclusions of which will be refined with additional surface/underground geological mapping and diamond drilling” (see press release June 25, 2020 for further details).
About Eloro Resources Ltd.
Eloro is an exploration and mine development company with a portfolio of gold and base-metal properties in Bolivia, Peru and Quebec. Eloro has an option to acquire a 99-per-cent interest in the highly prospective Iska Iska property, which can be classified as a polymetallic epithermal-porphyry complex, a significant mineral deposit type in the Potosi department, in southern Bolivia. Eloro recently commissioned an NI 43-101 technical report on Iska Iska, which was completed by Micon International Ltd. and is available on Eloro’s website and under its filings on SEDAR. Iska Iska is a road-accessible, royalty-free property. Eloro also owns an 82-per-cent interest in the La Victoria gold/silver project, located in the North-Central mineral belt of Peru about 50 km south of Barrick’s Lagunas Norte gold mine and Pan American Silver’s La Arena gold mine. La Victoria consists of eight mining concessions and eight mining claims encompassing approximately 89 square kilometres. La Victoria has good infrastructure with access to road, water and electricity and is located at an altitude that ranges from 3,150 m to 4,400 m above sea level.
SUMMARY OF INITIAL PLANNED UNDERGROUND DIAMOND DRILL HOLES, HUAYRA KASA MINE DDH No. Drill bay No. Planned length (m) DHK-01 1 100 DHK-02 1 100 DHK-03 1 75 DHK-04 1 100 DHK-05 1 100 DHK-06 1 150 DHK-07 1 150 DHK-08 2 100 DHK-09 2 150 DHK-10 2 150 DHK-11 2 100 DHK-12 2 100 DHK-13 2 100 DHK-14 2 100 DHK-15 3 100 DHK-16 3 150 DHK-17 3 100 DHK-18 3 150 DHK-19 3 100 DHK-20 3 150 Total 2,225 Note: Final drill hole depths may vary from planned
Kincora wins government co-funding for Nyngan drilling
Kincora Copper Ltd. has secured a co-funding grant from the government of New South Wales to drill two porphyry targets at its Nyngan copper-gold project. The Nyngan project is located in the interpreted northern undercover section of the Junee-Narromine Belt of the Macquarie Arc of the Lachlan Fold Belt in NSW, Australia.
Read MoreKincora awarded A$120,000 under the New Frontiers Co-Operative Drilling Grants program from the Government of NSW for the Nyngan project.
The grant monies are non-dilutionary and will fund direct drilling costs on a matched dollar-for-dollar basis for two large-scale porphyry targets.
The 100%-owned Nyngan copper-gold project covers an area of 762km2 in a highly prospective geologic terrane with encouraging limited previous explorer drilling.
Kincora controls a strategic and district scale 1,649km2 project pipeline portfolio across 8 licenses in the key belts of the Macquarie Arc, Australia’s foremost copper porphyry region. Drilling is currently ongoing at the brownfield Trundle porphyry project.
The Junee-Narromine Belt (“Belt”) is considered highly prospective for large gold-copper porphyry deposits and/or epithermal gold deposits. The Belt hosts the CMOC Northparkes deposits, Evolution Mining’s Cowal deposits and Kincora’s Trundle project where drilling is ongoing.
Sam Spring, President & CEO, commented: “We thank the Government and Geological Survey of NSW for the financial support to drill two large scale porphyry copper-gold targets at our Nyngan project, with favourable results in previous drilling 15 years ago not followed up.
Together with our Nevertire license, Kincora was an early mover securing a large and strategic position over the most prospective and explorable sections of the undercover continuation of the Junee-Narromine Belt, a region that has had very limited modern porphyry exploration. Recently, there has been a considerable land grab in this section of the Belt, particularly by FMG Resources and Inflection Resources. Successful drill testing of Nyngan, or by FMG and Inflection in neighbouring licenses, will significantly enhance the wider prospectivity of this underexplored section of the Belt.
With positive drill results ongoing at our Trundle project, the Company is progressing plans to further systematically advance our district scale project pipeline in the region, with the Fairholme gold project and Nyngan copper-gold project being key priorities.”
Nyngan project
Kincora secured the Nyngan project via direct application from the NSW Government. The application area was selected based on its stratigraphic-structural setting and favourable results from the last drilling program by Newcrest Mining Limited in 2005 that were not followed up.
Four holes were completed in the last drilling program. Three of these intersected basement at depths between 255 metres to 322 metres. Drill hole ACDNY002 recorded bornite-chalcopyrite-chalcocite-pyrite mineralisation associated with strong hematite alteration in clasts of volcaniclastic conglomerate.
The project covers a significant portion of the interpreted northern sector of the Junee-Narromine Volcanic Belt across a greater than 50km strike approximately 225km NNW along trend from the China Molybdenum Group (CMOC) operated Northparkes copper-gold mine and ongoing drilling operations at the Company’s Trundle project.
The structural setting at Nyngan is favourably compared to the Lachlan Transverse Zone (“LTZ”) that has often been interpreted as a fundamental control on the formation of Newcrest’s Cadia-Ridgeway camp and the Northparkes porphyry deposits.
Cooperative drilling grant
The 2020 New Frontiers Co-Operative Drilling Grants program is the third such program by the NSW Government1.
Under the two-year program a total of A$2 million is available to reimburse half of direct drilling costs with a maximum grant to any individual project of A$200,000.
The program is managed by the Geological Survey of NSW and is part of the NSW Mineral Strategy commitment to promote investment in mineral exploration. Applications were encouraged to apply for drilling projects in relatively untested and prospective regions, to test new geological ideas and/or in areas where the target is under cover.
Exploration in NSW, and in particular the Lachlan Fold Belt where considerable exploration and regional studies have taken place, is greatly assisted by public access to previous groups activities, accelerating the lead-time to drilling.
For further information on exploration and mining in NSW please refer to the following link, including the ongoing exploration webinar series noting the session “Using MinView for exploration” on September 17 th, 2020.
https://www.resourcesandgeoscience.nsw.gov.au/miners-and-explorers
A replay of the “Exploring in NSW” webinar (September 7 th), and keynote presentation from Richard Schodde are available at:
Webinar: https://vimeo.com/455401711
Presentation: https://www.kincoracopper.com/media/downloads/presentations/Webinar09072020.pdf
Kincora is delighted to be participating at the NSW Mines and Money 5@5 Event as part of the 2020 IMARC Online Conference. 1NSW Government, Division of Resources and Geoscience, November 1, 2019 press release – https://www.resourcesandgeoscience.nsw.gov.au/about-us/news/2019/$2-million-in-new-grants-to-encourage-exploration-of-greenfield-areas-in-nsw
Highlighted background information
August 26 th, 2020: Kincora Oversubscribed Offering to Accelerate Drilling at Trundle
August 4 th, 2020: Corporate presentation:
June 19 th, 2020: John Holliday – Cadia Discovery History Talk via GeoHug
April 7 th, 2020: Richard Schodde and John Holliday video interview of the Lachlan Fold Belt
March 18 th, 2020: Press release: Kincora closes agreement with RareX
https://www.kincoracopper.com/news/press-releases/18-2020/98-kincora-closes-agreement-with-rarex
January 30 th, 2020: Press release: Kincora grows a district scale landholding in the Lachlan Fold Belt
November 21 st, 2019: Press release: Kincora secures Nyngan application
Revival Gold completes 25% of Beartrack drilling
Revival Gold Inc. has provided information on the status of exploration and development activities at the company’s Beartrack-Arnett gold project located in Lemhi county, Idaho.
Read MoreFollowing a successful C$15 million equity financing in August, Revival Gold doubled its planned drilling program to 10,000 meters with two drill rigs covering four target areas. The Company today reports that the expanded drill program is now 25% complete and that a third drill rig will soon be mobilized. Meanwhile, Revival Gold’s Preliminary Economic Study (“PEA”) on the potential restart of heap leach operations at Beartrack-Arnett is progressing through trade-off studies and remains on track for completion and release by year end.
“Revival Gold’s exploration team has made solid progress to-date with this year’s drilling at Beartrack-Arnett. The project hosts 10-11 km of favourable structure and the addition of a third drill rig will accelerate the pace of the remaining program this year,” said President and CEO Hugh Agro. “We are also encouraged by the progress being made by Wood plc on Revival Gold’s heap leach PEA,” Agro added.
Details
15 holes totaling approximately 2,450 meters have been completed this season to-date at the Haidee target at Arnett. Drilling to-date amounts to approximately 25% of the 10,000 meters of drilling planned for Beartrack-Arnett in the current program. Assay results from the first batch of drill holes this season are expected to be released by mid-October;
A third Boart Longyear core drill rig has been secured and is due to arrive on site in late September. Drilling this year at Beartrack-Arnett will continue, weather and access dependent, through to the end of December;
Revival Gold’s geophysical contractor, Geofisica TMC, S.A. de C.V., arrived on site in late August. Twenty-one line-kilometers of gradient array induced polarization-resistivity (“IP-RES”) geophysical survey has been completed at Arnett and the geophysical crew has moved on to initiate planned surveys at Beartrack;
The program of geologic mapping and sampling at Arnett that commenced in July is expected to be completed by the end of September. The program has covered approximately 19 square kilometers to date. Over the past year, geologic work on the Arnett property has clarified several important geologic relationships including expanding Revival Gold’s understanding of potential host rocks for gold mineralization and clarifying the structural model for the district. The result of this work has been the identification of new conceptual targets for potential future testing, and;
The Beartrack-Arnett heap leach PEA is on track for completion and release by year-end. Wood plc, the principal consultant for the study, is completing trade-off studies this month. Trade-off study work has focused on trucking ore from Arnett to a heap leach pad at Beartrack, crusher configurations at Beartrack, mining equipment selection, and grade optimization in the early part of the mine life. Engineering work will now focus on completing capital and operating cost estimates and finalizing the project financial model.
Steven T. Priesmeyer, C.P.G., Vice President Exploration, Revival Gold Inc., is the Company’s designated Qualified Person for this news release within the meaning of National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects and has reviewed and approved its scientific and technical content.
GR Silver Mining shareholders elect six to board
GR Silver Mining Ltd. has provided the results of its annual general meeting of shareholders held on Sept. 11, 2020, in Vancouver, B.C. All the motions presented to the shareholders were approved. Each of the six nominees proposed as Directors and listed in the Company’s Management Information Circular dated August 7, 2020 were elected as Directors.
Read MoreGR Silver Mining welcomes Jonathan Rubenstein and Laura Diaz to its Board of Directors.
Mr. Rubenstein practiced law for 18 years and held a number of mining director positions during that time. In 1994, he became a full time mining executive and mining director. He has served on numerous mining company boards during the last 40 years and was actively engaged in the strategic, commercial, governance and government relations aspects of permitting, property acquisition, exploration, development and operations for these companies. He has negotiated and completed property acquisitions, joint ventures, development agreements, financings and takeover bid transactions, for both major and junior companies and has dealt with foreign and Canadian domestic regulators, banks, and financial institutions, as well as the mining investment community. He has had active roles in dealings with local populations, in compensation matters, in the management of litigation and arbitrations, and in regulatory compliance. He was directly involved in negotiating or supervising acquisitions, mergers and takeover transactions totalling in excess of $5 Billion.
Ms. Diaz, a lawyer, in Mexico City, Mexico, and serves as a Mining Project Advisor in the areas of production, exploration and development. She is a well renowned lawyer, expert in corporate commercial and mining law in Mexico. Ms. Diaz has served in the mining and exploration industry for over 25 years as Legal Counsel to several Canadian/US public companies. She served as an Independent Director of Marlin Gold Mining Ltd. (formerly Oro Mining Ltd) and of Magna Gold Corp. Ms. Diaz was also an Independent Director of the Company from March 2013 – November 2018. Thereafter, Ms. Diaz held the position of General Director of Mines, within the Ministry of the Economy (Mexico) (December 2018 to June 2019).
The Company would also like to extend its sincere thanks and best wishes to Heye Daun and Alan Friedman who did not stand for re-election due to other commitments. Mr. Daun and Friedman were Directors since May 2018.
The Company also announces that, pursuant to the Company’s 10% rolling stock option plan and in compliance with the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange, it has granted incentive stock options to certain directors, officers, consultants and employees of the Company to purchase up to an aggregate of 1,145,000 common shares of the Company. These options are exercisable for a period of 5 years at a price of $0.78 per share.
Almaden Minerals to resume exploration at Ixtaca
Almaden Minerals Ltd. intends to resume exploration in the area of the Ixtaca project.
Read MoreSince discovery with the first drill hole, exploration work at Ixtaca has been almost entirely focused on the discovery area, and this work has led to the silver and gold reserve which underpins the feasibility study, results of which were announced in December, 2018 (1). The highlights of the FS, using base case prices of $1,275 (U.S.)/ounce gold and $17 (U.S.)/oz silver unless noted otherwise, include the following:
- Average annual production of 7.06 million ounces silver and 108,500 ounces gold (15.2 million silver equivalent ounces, or 203,000 gold equivalent ounces) (2) over the first six years;
- After-tax internal rate of return of 42 per cent and after-tax payback period of 1.9 years;
- After-tax net present value of $310-million (U.S.) at a 5-per-cent discount rate;
- After-tax IRR of 57 per cent at the highest upper case price deck of $1,425 (U.S.)/oz Au and $20 (U.S.)/oz Ag;
- After-tax NPV (5 per cent) of $466-million (U.S.) at the highest upper case price deck of $1,425 (U.S.)/oz Au and $20 (U.S.)/oz Ag;
- Initial capital of $174-million (U.S.);
- Average life-of-mine annual production of 6.14 million ounces silver and 90,800 ounces gold (12.9 million silver equivalent ounces, or 173,000 gold equivalent ounces);
- All-in sustaining costs (AISC), including operating costs, sustaining capital, expansion capital, private and public royalties, refining, and transport of $11.30 (U.S.) per silver equivalent ounce, or $850 (U.S.) per gold equivalent ounce;
- Elimination of tailings dam by using filtered tailings, which reduces the project footprint and water usage. Construction of a water reservoir providing a permanent and consistent long-term supply of water for residents.
(1) For more details please refer to Almaden’s technical report, entitled “Ixtaca Gold-Silver Project Puebla State, Mexico NI 43-101 Technical Report on the Feasibility Study,” which was updated on SEDAR on Oct. 3, 2019.
(2) Equivalent calculations use a ratio of 75 to 1 for silver to gold (based on $1,275 (U.S.)/oz Au and $17 (U.S.)/oz Ag) While it awaits the outcome of its permitting application and related processes (see press releases of Feb. 27, 2020, and Sept. 9, 2020), the company has taken the decision to resume exploration at this large property with a focus on some previously identified high potential targets which lie outside of the currently defined reserve and feasibility study envelope.
This program is starting with a desktop review of exploration data previously gathered, which is expected to lead to further field work in the near term which may include mapping, surface sampling, geochemical stream silt and soil sampling, and geophysics. These data will be used to design a future drill program.
J. Duane Poliquin, chairman of Almaden, stated: “We believe that with the Ixtaca discovery, we identified a new epithermal district in Mexico. We are excited to return to early stage discovery efforts on this property. It will also be gratifying to work once again with members of the local communities as field activities will again provide some local employment opportunities as they ramp up over time, opportunities which are sorely needed in the area.” Progress on this new thrust will be reported as it develops.
John A. Thomas, PEng, vice-president of project development of Almaden, a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical contents of this news release.
Atac Resources identifies orogenic gold system at Rau
ATAC Resources Ltd.’s 2020 phase 1 exploration work has identified an orogenic gold system at its Airstrip target. The ~11.5 km2 Airstrip target is part of the Rau Project, located at the western end of its 1,700 km2 Rackla Gold Property in east-central Yukon.
Read More2020 Exploration Update:
- Phase one, Rotary Air Blast (RAB) scout drilling, mapping, and prospecting program is complete and phase two RAB and diamond drill program is underway;
- Widely spaced RAB drilling encountered broad intervals of mineralization (ASR-20-018 with 36.58 m of 0.51 g/t gold, ending in mineralization) as well as higher-grade intersects (ASR-20-014 with 1.53 m of 3.11 g/t gold);
- Outcrop and subcrop rock sampling returned values up to 6.39 g/t gold, demonstrating high-grade potential;
- RAB drilling to date has identified gold mineralization over a 1,000 m by 500 m area, and across a vertical extent of 300 m; and
- Results of detailed mapping and prospecting work suggest the Airstrip target is an orogenic gold system.
“The identification of an orogenic gold system at the Airstrip target is very exciting. These types of systems have the potential to host significant bulk-tonnage gold deposits, and this is the first identification of this style of mineralization in the area,” commented President and CEO Graham Downs. “The first ever diamond drill program at Airstrip is underway, starting by twinning and extending scout holes that ended in gold mineralization. The Airstrip anomaly stretches over 6 km in length, and we’ve only systematically evaluated a fraction of that to date. While diamond drilling tests priority targets, RAB drilling will continue to evaluate the target at the kilometer scale.”
Phase One Program Summary
The phase one exploration program included 12 RAB holes totaling 650 m, prospecting, mapping, trenching and trail building focused on better defining gold mineralization at the largely overburden covered Airstrip target in preparation for phase two diamond drilling. Trail building and excavator trenching has exposed outcrop and subcrop across parts of the anomaly, with rock samples returning up to 6.39 g/t gold.
Highlights from 2016 and 2020 RAB scout drilling at the Airstrip target are shown below:
Hole Name From (m)To (m)Interval (m)Gold (g/t) ASR-16-004*50.29 73.15 22.86 0.66 ASR-16-005*10.67 12.19 1.52 3.68 ASR-16-006*10.67 12.19 1.52 6.00 and 51.82 65.53 13.71 1.43 ASR-20-014 32.00 33.53 1.53 3.11 ASR-20-017 51.82 64.01 12.19 0.22 ASR-20-018 39.62 76.20 36.58 0.51 ASR-20-019 12.19 35.05 22.86 0.32 incl. 24.38 25.91 1.53 1.63
* Previously reported 2016 RAB hole
Additional maps, figures and a video interview describing the mineralization at the Airstrip target are available on ATAC’s website: http://www.atacresources.com
Airstrip Target
The Airstrip target hosts an ~11.5 km2 gold-in-soil anomaly with values ranging from detection limit up to 2,360 ppb gold. The target area is underlain by phyllite with lesser amounts of quartzite, and mafic to intermediate volcanic and volcaniclastic rocks of the Devonian-Mississippian Earn Group.
Gold mineralization encountered to date occurs within broad zones of highly deformed quartz-carbonate plus or minus sericite veins and is disseminated within the phyllite host rock. The veins contain variable amounts of pyrite and arsenopyrite with trace pyrrhotite and are typically oxidized near surface.
The overall structural geometry of the area mimics the larger regional trends of the Dawson Thrust Fault with east-southeast to west-northwest trending folds that are upright to overturned to the north. At least three generations of veins exist and likely formed during brittle-ductile deformation at greenschist facies metamorphic pressures and temperatures. The observations made to date would suggest the Airstrip target is a Phanerozoic orogenic gold system (e.g. Moose River Gold Mines, Canada and Fosterville Mine, Australia).
Phase Two Program
The phase two program is underway with two diamond drills and one RAB drill. The first diamond drill holes will twin and extend 2016 RAB holes ASR-16-006 (1.43 g/t gold over 13.71 m ) and ASR-16-004 (0.66 g/t gold over 22.86 m ). Both holes ended in mineralization approximately 70 m down-hole due to drill limitations.
Subsequent diamond drill holes will target new areas of bedrock mineralization and key structures identified by 2020 phase one work, including twinning and extending ASR-20-018 ( 36.58 m of 0.51 g/t gold ending in mineralization) and ASR-20-019 (22.86 m of 0.32 g/t gold, nearby a 6.39 g/t subcrop rock sample). Step out drilling will be completed as warranted to test continuity of vein sets along strike.
RAB drilling is targeting kilometer-scale step-outs across the Airstrip gold-in-soil anomaly, as well as high-priority regional targets elsewhere on the Rau Project. Drilling is anticipated to continue with all three drills through the end of September, as weather permits.
QA/QC
RAB and rock samples were forwarded to ALS Minerals in Whitehorse for sample preparation. RAB samples were fine crushed to 70% passing 2 millimeters before a 250 gram split was pulverized to better than 85% passing 75 microns. Rock samples were fine crushed to 90% passing 2 mm before a 1000 gram split was pulverized to better than 85% passing 75 microns. Pulps were then analyzed at ALS Minerals in North Vancouver where gold determinations were carried out. Gold analyses were by the Au-AA24 procedure that involves fire assay preparation using a 50 gram charge with an atomic absorption spectroscopy finish.
All prospecting rock samples reported in this release represent highlight results only. Low or below detection values for gold were encountered in unreported rock samples.
2020 RAB holes ASR-20-010, -011, -013, -015, and -016 returned weakly anomalous gold, but no significant results. RAB hole ASR-20-012 failed due to drilling complications and was re-drilled in ASR-20-013.
The technical information in this news release has been approved by Adam Coulter, M.Sc., P.Geo., VP Exploration for ATAC and a qualified person for the purposes of National Instrument 43-101.
Maple Gold appoints Jauristo, Lechtizier as advisers
Maple Gold Mines Ltd. has appointed Timo Jauristo and Matthew Lechtzier as strategic advisers to provide guidance and insight on strategic corporate matters. The Company has also appointed Shirley Anthony to the role of Director, Corporate Communications to run strategic communications and outreach programs to build market awareness.
Read More“As Maple Gold gears up for a phase of substantial growth, we are very fortunate to welcome two highly accomplished individuals to provide strategic support,” stated Matthew Hornor, President and Chief Executive Officer of Maple Gold. “Both Timo and Matthew are seasoned and very connected players in the global mining space and their involvement speaks to the tremendous untapped potential of our Douay Gold Project in Quebec.”
“I am also pleased to welcome Shirley to our group, as she brings a wealth of experience in running effective communications and strategic marketing programs for publicly traded companies. Shirley will be helping us build a much stronger market presence to support the Company in reaching its valuation potential as we quickly advance the Douay Gold Project,” concluded Mr. Hornor.
Timo Jauristo – Strategic Advisor
Mr. Jauristo has over 35 years of experience in the mining and exploration industry having been involved with or led numerous transactions in many of the world’s gold producing regions. He is currently an independent director of Integra Resources and previously served as a Senior Advisor to the Investment Banking division of Canaccord Genuity’s Metals and Mining Group. Before his time at Canaccord, Mr. Jauristo acted as Goldcorp’s Executive Vice President of Corporate Development after having spent 15 years with Placer Dome before it was acquired by Barrick in 2006.
Matthew Lechtzier – Strategic Advisor
Mr. Lechtzier is a qualified lawyer with extensive experience in marketing, transacting and documenting a variety of international financial transactions. He has acted as project manager and senior advisor for over 80 public and private offerings. For nearly 25 years, Mr. Lechtzier has served as Senior Vice President of Ivanhoe Capital Corporation. He has been responsible for transaction execution, marketing and banker and investor relations with respect to both public and private affiliated companies. In addition, he has overseen the raising of over $1 billion in five separate initial public and other offerings while at Ivanhoe Capital. He also serves as Senior Vice President of Ivanhoe Mines UK Ltd. and is based out of London, UK.
Prior to Ivanhoe Capital, Mr. Lechtzier was a Director of Equity Capital Markets at Jardine Fleming, Hong Kong and Assistant Director of Schroder Securities in London and Taipei. He holds a BA (University of British Columbia, LL.B. (University of Victoria) and M.A. (University of Kingston, U.K.)
Shirley Anthony – Director, Corporate Communications
Ms. Anthony has over 12 years of investor relations and corporate communications experience with publicly listed companies covering the natural resources, transport and cannabis sectors with her most recent role as Director of Investor Relations with Rubicon Organics Inc. Her prior experience within the resource sector included roles as Vice President, Corporate Communications for International Tower Hill Mines Ltd.; Manager, Corporate Communications for Corvus Gold Inc.; and Corporate Communications Manager for Silvercorp Metals Inc. Ms. Anthony holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Interdisciplinary Studies from the University of British Columbia and is based in Vancouver, B.C.
Stock Option Grant
The Company has granted a total of 775,000 incentive stock options to an officer and certain employees at a price of $0.24. The Company’s Stock Option Plan governs these incentive options, as well as the terms and conditions of their exercise, which is in accordance with policies of the TSX Venture Exchange.
Canada Nickel Company arranges $6.5-million financing
Canada Nickel Company Inc. has entered into an agreement with Echelon Wealth Partners Inc. as lead underwriter and sole bookrunner on behalf of a syndicate of underwriters, pursuant to which the underwriters have agreed to purchase, on a bought deal private placement basis, 4,334,000 units of the company at a price of $1.50 per unit for total gross proceeds of $6,501,000.
Read MoreEach Unit will consist of one common share (a “Common Share”) in the capital of the Company and one-half of one common share purchase warrant (a “Warrant”) of the Company. Each Warrant shall be exercisable to acquire one Common Share (a “Warrant Share”) at a price per Warrant Share of $2.10 for a period of 24 months from the closing date of the Offering, subject to an accelerated expiry option whereby the Company can trigger an accelerated 30-day expiry of the Warrants if the closing price of the Company’s Common Shares listed on the TSX-V remain higher than $3.25 for 20 consecutive trading days. On the 20th consecutive trading day above $3.25 (the “Acceleration Trigger Date”), the Warrant expiry date may be accelerated to 30 trading days after the Acceleration Trigger Date by the issuance of a news release announcing such acceleration, within two trading days of the Acceleration Trigger Date.
The Company has granted the Underwriters an option to purchase up to an additional 15% of the Offering in Units (the “Underwriters’ Option”), exercisable in whole or in part at any time up to 48 hours prior to the closing date.
The net proceeds from the sale of the Units will be used to fund feasibility study work through 2021 on the Company’s Crawford Nickel-Cobalt Sulphide Project and for working capital purposes.
The Offering is expected to close on or about September 30, 2020 and is subject to certain conditions including, but not limited to, the receipt of all necessary approvals including the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange and the applicable securities regulatory authorities. The Units to be issued under the Offering will be subject to a hold period in Canada expiring four months and one day from the closing date of the Offering.
In connection with the Offering, the Underwriters will receive a cash commission of 6.0% of the gross proceeds of the Offering and that number of non-transferable compensation options (the “Compensation Options”) as is equal to 6.0% of the aggregate number of Units sold under the Offering. Each Compensation Option is exercisable into one Common Share of the Company at the Issue Price for a period of 24 months from the closing date of the Offering.
Aftermath closes $17.13-million private placement
Aftermath Silver Ltd. has closed its previously announced non-brokered private placement of 26,362,442 shares for gross proceeds of $17,135,587. Eric Sprott has increased his investment in order to maintain 19.61 per cent of Aftermath’s issued and outstanding Common Shares.
Read MoreAll securities issued in connection with the Private Placement are subject to a hold period and may not be traded until January 15, 2021, except as permitted by applicable securities legislation and the rules and policies of the TSX Venture Exchange.
An aggregate amount of $494,567.44 in cash and 290,360 common shares were paid as finders’ fees in connection with the Private Placement.
The Company intends to use the net proceeds for drilling and other technical studies on the Berenguela Silver-Copper project in Peru, and the Challacollo and Cachinal Silver-Gold projects in Chile, and for general working capital purposes.
Japan Gold receives OK for Gumyo rights applications
Japan Gold Corp. has received acceptance by the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) for 10 new prospecting rights applications covering extensions to the Barrick Alliance, Gumyo project in the Hokusatsu region of the Southern Kyushu epithermal gold province.
Read MoreHighlights
- The Gumyo Project, part of the Barrick Alliance project portfolio, is located immediately west of Sumitomo Metal Mining’s Hishikari gold mine which has produced 7.9 million ounces of gold at grades between 30 to 40 grams per tonne 5.
- The ten new prospecting rights applications accepted by METI at Gumyo comprise 2,937 hectares and bring the Company’s total coverage in the Hokusatsu Region to a total of 96,227 hectares (approximately 80% of prospective and explorable ground within the region).
- The Hokusatsu Region is Japan’s largest gold producing area with low-sulphidation epithermal deposits recording a combined production of over 11 million ounces.
- The Company’s portfolio now comprises of 186,270 hectares of prospective ground across 5 of Japan’s major epithermal gold provinces within the three main islands of Kyushu, Hokkaido and Honshu.
John Proust, Japan Gold chairman and chief executive officer, commented, “Based upon new knowledge gained through the Barrick Alliance large regional evaluation programs, we continue to add newly identified prospective areas to the Japan Gold portfolio of projects.”
Gumyo project
The Gumyo project, part of the Barrick Alliance project portfolio, is located immediately west of Sumitomo Metal Mining’s Hishikari Gold Mine which has produced 7.9 million ounces of gold at grades between 30-40 g/t5. The Gumyo Project area was initially selected to cover a major Bouguer gravity anomaly, as the relationship between Bouguer gravity highs and low-sulphidation epithermal gold deposits in the Hokusatsu Region is well documented. Epithermal vein deposits are generally located on the western margins of Bouguer gravity anomalies in the region and the new applications were added to better cover the western margins of this feature.
As part of the Barrick Alliance, the Gumyo project has already seen the first phase of the regional investigation including bulk leach extractable gold (BLEG) and river float sampling, for which results are pending. Semi-detailed gravity surveying is planned to enhance structure mapping and the identification of northeast trending structures known to be favorable to hosting epithermal vein deposits in the region.
The ten new prospecting rights applications accepted by METI at Gumyo comprise 2,937 hectares and bring the Company’s total coverage in the Hokusatsu Region to a total of 96,227 hectares. The Company now has priority over approximately 80% of prospective and explorable ground within the Hokusatsu Region, and a total of 186,270 hectares of prospective ground across 5 of Japan’s major epithermal gold provinces within the three main islands of Kyushu, Hokkaido and Honshu.
Hokusatsu region, Southern Kyushu epithermal gold province
The Hokusatsu Region lies within the northern half of the Southern Kyushu Epithermal Gold Province and covers an area of approximately 120,000 hectares. Hokusatsu is Japan’s largest gold producing region with low-sulphidation epithermal deposits recording a combined production of over 11 million ounces1,2,3,4.
Gold mineralization in the Hokusatsu Region is localised along an 80-kilometer long, arcuate, northeast to northerly trending volcanic front west of the Kagoshima graben, and bound by the Kushikino Mine in the west and the Fuke Mine in the north. Low-sulphidation epithermal deposits in the region are characterised by several distinct geophysical features which include Bouguer gravity highs and gradients, subdued magnetics and elevated potassium radiometric counts1. The Company has utilised these key features in combination with suitable aged host rock geology to identify and acquire its highly prospective project portfolio in southern Kyushu.
References
1 Feebrey et.al., (1998) Geophysical Expression of Low Sulphidation Epithermal Au-Ag Deposits and Exploration Implications- Examples from the Hokusatsu Region of SW Kyushu, Japan. Resource Geology, vol. 48, no. 2, pp 75-86, 1998.2 Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., LTD. website, production as of end of March 2020.3 Watanabe Y, 2005. Late Cenozoic evolution of epithermal gold metallogenic provinces in Kyushu, Japan. Mineralium Deposita (2005) 40: pp 307-323.4 Garwin, S.G. et al. 2005. Tectonic setting, Geology, and gold and copper mineralization in the Cenozoic magmatic arcs of Southeast Asia and the West Pacific. Economic Geology 100th Anniversary Vol. pp 891-930.5 Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., LTD. website, production as of end of March 2020.
Orvana Minerals identifies 17 gold targets at Taguas
Orvana Minerals Corp. has provided an update on its exploration program at the Taguas mining property located in San Juan province, Argentina. As a result of the completion of a recent artificial intelligence assisted data analysis, Orvana has identified a total of 17 new high probability gold targets at Taguas, consisting of 9 new areas and 8 extended areas of previous known mineralization. All of the newly identified targets are based on a 96% level of similarity to the known gold mineralization. These results suggest that there is an enhanced probability of increasing the potential of the Property’s oxides and sulphides resources.
Read MoreThe potential of the new gold targets remains subject to additional fieldwork to be conducted the next summer season in Argentina. If COVID-19 restrictions allow, the field work campaign will include opening new access points, surface mapping and soil and rock sampling.
Orvana retained Windfall Geotek (“Windfall”), a TSXV-listed company, to analyze existing Taguas data in connection with the development of the gold exploration targets at Taguas. Utilizing its Computer Aided Resources Detection System (“CARDS”), Windfall processed the geophysical, geochemical, and geological data provided by Orvana to analyze the patterns hidden in the large amount of existing data, which consisted of a drill hole database containing 220 drill holes, a surface samples database containing 854 samples, and Magnetic (TMI) and Radiometric (K, Th, U & TC) data at 10m resolution (417,716 datapoints). The public SRTM (Shuttle Radar Topography Mission) data was also used to characterize the topography.
Mr. Raul Alvarez, Head of Exploration of Orvana, stated: “We are excited about the identification of the 17 new gold targets, which, if confirmed through additional fieldwork, will materially increase the potential upside of Taguas. Field work planned for the following months will provide key information to optimize the definition of the next drilling campaign”. Mr. Alvarez added that “The Company is taking advantage of new technologies to optimize the exploration programs and reduce costs, while advancing the project despite COVID-19 restrictions”.
The new gold exploration targets that have been identified, are represented as red shapes in Figure 1.
Background of the Taguas Mining Property
On May 14, 2019, Orvana entered into a purchase agreement with Compania Minera Taguas S.A. pursuant to which Orvana agreed to acquire the Taguas property located in the Province of San Juan, Argentina. Closing of the transaction is subject to applicable local mining rights registrations and the final acceptance of the Toronto Stock Exchange. The process to complete the acquisition and registration of the Taguas Project in Argentina has been delayed due to COVID-19 travel restrictions and national lockdown measures. The Company is not in a position to determine a timeline to complete the registration of the acquisition of the Taguas Project in Argentina until the COVID-19 restrictions are lifted.
Taguas is located at the northern end of the Tertiary-age Valle del Cura volcanic belt in Argentina (Figure 2) and on the eastern flank of the El Indio metallogenic belt1. The Valle Del Cura belt has a similar basement, comparable volcanism ages and alteration as the volcanism on the Chilean side2 and constitutes an extension of the El Indio belt into Argentina.
Taguas consists of 15 mining concessions over an area of 3,273.87 ha. The Property is located in the Province of San Juan, Argentina, on the eastern flank of the Andes, between 3,500 m to 4,300 m above sea level. The Property is host to a high-sulfidation epithermal gold-silver system hosted in altered tertiary age rhyolite volcaniclastic rocks. Supergene-oxidized gold-silver mineralization occurs on the south half of the Property.
On July 9, 2019 the Company filed a Preliminary Economic Assessment Report for the Taguas property (the “PEA”). A copy of the PEA may be obtained on the Company’s profile at http://www.sedar.com. The PEA refers only to the oxidized gold-silver mineralization occurring near surface known at the date of the report, consisting of sub-vertical, northeast striking mineralized structures in an envelope of lower grade mineralization. The high-grade zones consist of relatively continuous mineralization with gold grades ranging from 0.2 g/t Au to over 4.0 g/t Au and 10 g/t Ag to over 50 g/t Ag. Oxidation extends from surface to approximately 100m {⇭ –} 200m below surface. The PEA utilized the following inferred mineral resource:
Estimate of Inferred Mineral Resource reported at 0.25 g/t AuEq Cut-off COG g/t AuEqTonnes MtAu g/tAg g/tAuEq g/tContained Metal Au koz Ag koz 0.20 49.6 0.35 12.7 0.45 556 20,237 0.25 38.6 0.40 14.6 0.51 494 18,110 0.30 30.0 0.45 16.5 0.58 435 15,894
Notes: 1. Mineral Resource estimate prepared by Mr. R. Simpson, P.Geo., of GeoSim Services Inc. with an effective date of 14 May 2019. Mineral Resources are classified using the 2014 CIM Definition Standards. 2. Gold equivalent (AuEq g/t) calculations were based on assumed metal prices of $1300/oz Au, and $17/oz Ag, recoveries of 87% Au and 52% Ag. AuEq = Au(g/t) + Ag(g/t) *0.0078 3. An optimized pit shell was generated using the following assumptions: metal prices/recoveries in Note 2 above; a 45degree pit slope; mining costs of $2.00 per tonne, processing costs of $5.20 per tonne, and general & administrative charges of $1.50 per tonne. All amounts are expressed in US dollars. 4. Totals may not sum due to rounding. 5. Mineral Resources are not Mineral Reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability.
Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. The PEA is preliminary in nature and includes inferred mineral resources that are considered too speculative geologically to have the economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves and there is no certainty that the results of the PEA will be realized. The financial analysis in the PEA does not include the 2.5% royalty associated with the acquisition of the Property by Orvana. The PEA study is conceptual in nature and the PEA mine plan is based on 100% inferred resources. The projections, forecasts and estimates presented in the PEA constitute forward-looking statements and readers are urged not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. Additional cautionary and forward-looking statement information is detailed at the end of this news release.
Cantex Mine samples up to 57.7 g/t Au at North Rackla
Cantex Mine Development Corp. has released an update on the work program at its 100-per-cent-owned 14,077-hectare North Rackla claim block in Yukon.
Read MoreHIGHLIGHTS
Drilling underway and massive sulphide mineralization intersected
Soil-talus sampling program complete
Rock sampling identifies mineralization in regional anomalies
Prospecting identifies second zone at Massive Sulphide Project
Drilling of Massive Sulphide Project
Drill testing of the Main Zone of the Massive Sulphide Project continues and has focussed on extending the previously discovered mineralization along strike and to depth. The most significant step-out intercept to date is from pad MZ34 where a -80 degree hole hit semi-massive to massive sulphide mineralization between 537 to 544.45 metres and 569 to 574.9 metres. This deeper intercept is at a vertical depth of 550 metres, significantly extending the mineralization to depth. Some of the core samples have now arrived at CF Mineral Research Ltd for sample preparation while other samples are still en route.
Soil-Talus Sampling and Prospecting Completed Over Regional Anomalies
Within the Company’s wholly owned, large (14,077 hectare) North Rackla claim block there are 48 areas which are anomalous in base and/or precious metals as determined by soil-talus sampling. Additional in-fill soil talus sampling, where required, is now complete on these areas. A total of 2,800 samples were collected.
Prospecting and rock sampling were also completed over many of the anomalous areas. Results from two of the gold areas are presented below.
Six rock samples collected from anomaly G38, measuring 250 x 50 metres, contained up to 57.7 g/t gold and 2,620 g/t silver as shown in the following table.
Sample Gold SilverLead g/t g/t % KAR46422.73 185.0 2.43 KAR46430.40 97.5 0.52 KAR46440.81 183.0 1.41 KAR46451.37 82.2 0.37 KAR46460.47 67.3 0.72 KAR464757.702620.00.42
Six rock samples were collected across the 245 metre width of the 15.7 hectare G16 anomaly. These grab samples contained between 0.62 g/t and 8.64 g/t gold with minor amounts of silver as presented below.
Sample GoldSilver g/t g/t KAR46523.523.00 KAR46538.643.02 KAR46542.5911.65 KAR46550.620.82 KAR46567.255.39 KAR46579.447.99
New Second Zone at Massive Sulphide Project
An area of new mineralization has been discovered 500 metres to the southeast of the Main Zone at the Massive Sulphide Project. Prospecting an area of thin glacial till resulted in the discovery of numerous pieces of massive sulphide ranging up to 100 x 80 x 50cm in size. Six of the pieces were sampled from a 40 by 35 metre area and averaged 281 g/t silver, 18.93% lead and 32.29% zinc. Detailed results are presented in the following table:
Sample SilverLead Zinc CopperManganese g/t % % % % KAR473296.6 2.23 43.140.12 0.38 KAR4733271 6.21 40.980.06 0.51 KAR4734231 19.2037.800.06 0.05 KAR4735514 80.372.87 0.05 0.02 KAR4736187 4.11 16.950.02 3.09 KAR4737388 1.47 51.970.05 0.06 Average281 18.9332.290.06 0.68
Additional prospecting and rock sampling, which is currently underway, has expanded this zone of massive sulphide mineralization to 120 metres by 40 metres. The pieces of massive sulphide are angular and friable; this combined with their high abundance strongly suggests a local provenance.
Trenching of this new discovery and drill testing is planned to occur before the end of this field season.
Sample Preparation and Analytical Methods
Soil and rock samples contained in this release were securely transported from the field area to CF Mineral Research Ltd in Kelowna, BC.
At CF Minerals the rock samples were dried prior to crushing to -10 mesh. The samples, which averaged over 3kg, were then mixed prior to splitting off 800g. The 800g splits were pulverized to -200 mesh and a 250g split was sent for assay. Quality control procedures included the insertion of coarse quartz samples to assess the sample preparation. Silica blanks were inserted along with certified reference samples. These quality control samples were each inserted approximately every 20 samples.
ALS Chemex in Vancouver assayed the samples using a four-acid digestion with an ICP-MS finish. The 48 element ME-MS61 technique was used to provide a geochemical signature of the mineralization. Where lead, zinc or copper values exceeded one percent the Pb-OG62, Zn-OG62 or Cu-OG62 techniques were used. These have upper limits of 20% lead, 30% zinc and 50% copper respectively. Samples with lead and zinc values over these limits are then analyzed by titration methods Pb-VOL70 and Zn-VOL50. Gold was assayed by fire assay using Au-ICP22. Where samples contain greater than 10ppm the Au-GRA22 technique is used. Where silver values exceed 100ppm the Ag-OG62 technique is used. This technique has an upper limit of 1500 g/t, and when exceeded the Ag-GRA21 technique is used.
The technical information and results reported here have been reviewed by Mr. Chad Ulansky P.Geol., a Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101, who is responsible for the technical content of this release.