VANCOUVER,
Feb. 2, 2015 /CNW/ -
Monument Secures Intec Sulphide Ore Gold and Copper Recovery
Technology Rights Vancouver,
B.C. Monument Mining Limited (TSX-V: MMY and FSE: D7Q1)
("Monument" or the "Company") is pleased to announce
it has been granted an interim license (the "Interim
License") from Intec International Projects Pty Ltd
("Intec"), a technology company incorporated in Australia, under a "Heads of Agreement"
under which, Monument has the right to exploit and test the Intec
Technology in respect of both copper and gold processes, and to use
Selinsing Gold Process Plant as an alpha site. Subject to success
of the trial commercialization test work and certain conditions,
Monument will obtain the license rights (the "Intec
License") to exploit the Intec Technology in respect to an
agreed territory which covers most of South East Asia, including Malaysia, Australia and China (the "Territory").
The Intec Technology is under several registered patents and is
a hydrometallurgical process using a mixed halide lixiviant for the
extraction of pure copper, precious metals and associated metals
from sulphide concentrates. Management of Monument is of the
view that the Intec Technology, among other alternatives, might
provide an economic solution to treat sulphide materials through
Monument's Selinsing Plant and for other gold projects.
In consideration to secure the Interim License, and to be
granted the Intec License over the Territory, Monument will issue,
subject to regulatory approval, 14,000,000 fully paid common shares
of the Company at a deemed price of $0.25
cents per share for an aggregate issue price of $3,500,000. These shares will be held
in an escrow account (the "Escrow Shares"), and will be
earned by Intec upon acceptance of milestones by Monument at each
stage of the commercialization trial testing work to be undertaken
during the Interim License. The Escrow Shares will not be
released to Intec until the completion and commissioning of the
trial commercial plant which demonstrates that the plant is working
successfully, and certain other conditions are satisfied.
During the Interim License, Monument will be obligated, among
other things, to incur capital expenditures for the
commercialization trial testing work ranging from $13 million to $15 million, provided that if the
Company determines that the results of such test work do not
satisfy its requirements, the Company will have the right to
terminate the Heads of Agreement and the unearned Escrow Shares
will be returned to the Company. Intec is obligated, among
other things, to meet certain conditions, to ensure the patents in
respect of the Intec Technology remain in good standing, to supply
all relevant information relating to the Intec Technology including
know-how, and to provide access to key personnel to Monument during
the trial period to assist Monument in effectively assessing the
Intec Technology in relation to Monument's mineral
properties.
The terms of the Interim License will allow Monument to develop
and use the Intec Technology through several carefully monitored
stages, one of which has already been successfully completed, to
treat the deeper sulphide ore at its 100% owned Selinsing and
Buffalo Reef gold projects in Pahang State, Malaysia to recover gold. The investment risk
is limited to the expenditures incurred to each stage undertaken
and if the results are not to Monument's satisfaction, Monument
will have right to withdraw from further commitment.
Robert Baldock, President and CEO
stated: "The business initiatives of acquiring the Intec licenses
and use the Selinsing Plant as the alpha site is to develop a
methodology in treating sulphide refractory ore through the
Selinsing existing processing circuit, infrastructure and workforce
without any major capital expenditure and interruption of the gold
production. The Company has been working for some years on
achieving the best commercial result for its sulphide ore
processing to recover gold already discovered and in some cases
mined and stockpiled. The Intec Technology chemistry has been
well understood for many years; however, a new innovation makes it
particularly well suited to arsenical gold. The key issue for
Monument is scale-up which is being addressed in this
program."
"Intec will receive a direct commercial benefit from the test
work success as well as from commercializing the Intec Technology
in the Territory through Monument's alpha site, technical team and
financial expertise. All Intec enhancements and improvements gained
during the development stages will be included in the License and I
believe this transaction has the potential to allow Monument and
Intec to form a good business partnership going forward".
The Commercialization Trial Testing Program
The commercialization trial testing program is scheduled to be
completed by the end of the third quarter of fiscal 2016 and if
successful, the sulphide ore will be concentrated and treated
through an Intec circuit to be added to the Selinsing Plant which
the Company is targeting for the first quarter of fiscal 2017.
Together with remaining oxide material, Monument is expecting to
maintain sustainable gold production at the Selinsing Gold Mine
until fiscal 2020 for a further 5 years of potential production,
without accounting for any further exploration success in the
Selinsing and Buffalo Reef projects.
Intec and Monument have formed an alliance to use the Intec
science, chemistry, know-how and experience together with their
patent rights to develop suitable flow sheets for gold recovery
from sulphide gold concentrates made up from Selinsing and Buffalo
Reef ores mined for this purpose. The planned development
route is a four-stage program which will be monitored through
replication of Intec laboratory metallurgical test work and
optimization by Monument metallurgists and R&D technicians at
the Selinsing R&D laboratories in Malaysia with the cooperation and assistance
of Intec.
The first stage was the replication and optimization of the
Intec results achieved in the Intec Laboratories in Burnie,
Tasmania and Sydney Australia during 2013 and 2014 which
achieved an average recovery of 70% of the available gold from
Buffalo Reef concentrate. Monument has now conducted a
similar program in its laboratories using its own technicians with
oversight by Intec and successfully achieved similar results and at
times increased recoveries. This program has also provided
important data sets to be used in the Stage 2 pilot plant
run. Having confirmed the chemistry works on Buffalo Reef ore
and that upgrade from batch to continuous process is possible; the
third Stage will be a demonstration plant which will be designed to
prove scale-up capability feeding approximately 10,000
tpa of concentrate to the plant which represents
approximately 100,000 tonnes or gold bearing ore. The
final Stage 4 plant will be a full scale commercial plant that fits
onto the existing carbon-in-leach ("CIL") circuit that
recovers the gold onto carbon, designed to match the feed in
concentrate form at a rate that the plant has been processing for
some years, i.e approximately 1,000,000 tpa of mineralized
material.
At this time, the focus is on producing gold as economically as
possible, taking advantage of the low operating costs available in
Malaysia. However, since the
License rights obtained under this transaction include the Intec
Technology for the processing of copper sulphides which has the
capability to recover almost ("London Metal Exchange") LME
grade copper, the Company will provide disclosure shortly on its
future plans for use of the Intec Technology in respect of
processing copper sulphides.
The scientific and technical information in this press release
has been prepared, reviewed by Michael
Kitney, MAusIMM, MSc, who is a Qualified Person for NI43-101
retained by Monument Mining Limited. He has been working in
Australia for Monument as an
independent consultant.
About Monument
Monument Mining Limited (TSX-V: MMY, FSE: D7Q) is an established
Canadian gold producer that owns and operates the Selinsing Gold
Mine in Malaysia. Its experienced
management team is committed to growth and is advancing several
exploration and development projects including the Mengapur
Polymetallic Project, in Pahang State of Malaysia, and the
Murchison Gold Projects comprising Burnakura, Gabanintha and
Tuckanarra in the Murchison area of Western Australia. The Company employs over
300 people in both regions and is committed to the highest
standards of environmental management, social responsibility, and
health and safety for its employees and neighboring
communities.
Robert F. Baldock,
President and CEO
Monument Mining Limited
Suite 1580 -1100 Melville Street
Vancouver, BC V6E 4A6
"Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services
Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX
Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or
accuracy of this release."
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release includes statements containing
forward-looking information about Monument, its business and future
plans ("forward-looking statements"), including statements with
respect to the the proposed transaction between Monument and
Intec. The forward-looking statements in this news release
are subject to various risks, uncertainties and other factors that
could cause actual results or achievements to differ materially
from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking
statements. These risks and certain other factors include,
without limitation: risk related to the assessment of the
Intec Technology; risks related to general business, economic,
competitive, geopolitical and social uncertainties; uncertainties
regarding the results of current exploration activities;
uncertainties in the progress and timing of development activities;
foreign operations risks; other risks inherent in the mining
industry and other risks described in the management discussion and
analysis of the Company and the technical reports on the Company's
projects, all of which are available under the profile of the
Company on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Material factors and
assumptions used to develop forward-looking statements in this news
release include: there are no further obligations of Monument
in respect of the proposed transaction with Intec; expectations
regarding the estimated cash cost per ounce of gold production and
the estimated cash flows which may be generated from the
operations, general economic factors and other factors that may be
beyond the control of Monument; assumptions and expectations
regarding the results of exploration on the Company's projects;
assumptions regarding the future price of gold of other minerals;
the timing and amount of estimated future production; the expected
timing and results of development and exploration activities; costs
of future activities; capital and operating expenditures; success
of exploration activities; mining or processing issues; exchange
rates; and all of the factors and assumptions described in the
management discussion and analysis of the Company and the technical
reports on the Company's projects, all of which are available under
the profile of the Company on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.
Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors
that could cause actual results to differ materially from those
contained in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors
that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended.
There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be
accurate, as actual results and future events could differ
materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly,
readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking
statements. The Company does not undertake to update any
forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable
securities laws.
SOURCE Monument Mining Limited