TORONTO,
Oct. 22, 2015 /CNW/ - Anaconda
Mining Inc. ("Anaconda" or the "Company") – (TSX: ANX) is pleased
to provide an updated Mineral Resource estimate for the Point
Rousse Project (Exhibit A) with new resource calculations at the
Stog'er Tight and Pine Cove deposits with an effective date of
October 22, 2015 which conforms to
National Instrument 43-101 – Standards of Disclosure for Mineral
Projects ("NI 43-101 Standards"). These resource calculations
represent an important step in the Company's strategy to extend the
life of the Point Rousse Project. One of Anaconda's goals is to
expand the Pine Cove deposit and develop the Stog'er Tight deposit
so that the project will extend to over ten years. With these new
resource calculations, the Company is beginning to build a
portfolio of ounces and demonstrate the potential to reach its
goal. A technical report will be filed on SEDAR within 45 days of
this press release.
2015 Mineral Resources and Reserves
Estimate
The following tables summarize the Mineral
Resources and reserves estimate for the Point Rousse Project:
Stog'er Tight
Resources1
|
Category
|
Cut-Off
(g/t)2
|
Tonnes
|
Grade
(g/t)
|
Ounces of
gold
|
Indicated
|
0.8
|
204,100
|
3.59
|
23,540
|
Inferred
|
0.8
|
252,000
|
3.27
|
26,460
|
|
Pine Cove
Resources3
|
Category
|
Cut-Off
(g/t)
|
Tonnes
|
Grade
(g/t)
|
Ounces of
gold
|
Indicated
|
0.7
|
1,499,500
|
1.61
|
77,390
|
Inferred
|
0.7
|
220,700
|
1.59
|
11,260
|
|
Pine Cove
Reserves
|
Category
|
Cut-Off
(g/t)
|
Tonnes
|
Grade
(g/t)
|
Ounces of
gold
|
Probable
|
0.7
|
858,855
|
1.46
|
40,400
|
1 – Mineral Resources that are not
Mineral Reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability
2 – Grams per tonne
3 – The Pine Cove Resource statement includes the Pine
Cove Reserves
President and CEO, Dustin
Angelo, states, "This Mineral Resource update represents a
significant milestone towards reaching our goal of extending the
Point Rousse Project life to 10 or more years. We have only just
begun to demonstrate the longevity of the project. We control over
6,300 hectares of contiguous property containing three gold trends,
with a cumulative strike length of approximately 20 kilometres,
five deposits and numerous prospects and showings. We have spent
considerable effort to leverage and marry historical work with
modern geological thinking and exploration. Our understanding of
the Point Rousse geology and the refinement of our exploration
models has led to new discoveries such as the Argyle zone and
brought us to the point of outlining new resources at Stog'er
Tight. We are confident that our project level exploration and
development know-how will not only lead to an expansion of the Pine
Cove and Stog'er Tight deposits, but also to the discovery and
expansion of other deposits, prospects and showings on the Ming's
Bight Peninsula, all of which would be within 8 kilometres of the
Pine Cove mill."
The Stog'er Tight deposit is located 3.5
kilometres from the Pine Cove mill along the existing mine road.
The deposit (Exhibit B) outcrops at surface along its entire
current strike length of approximately 400 metres and to a depth
ranging between 15 and 115 metres. The deposit is characterized by
intense carbonate, albite, pyrite alteration of gabbroic rocks with
gold closely associated with pyrite as at the Pine Cove
deposit.
The Pine Cove deposit (Exhibit C) consists of a
series of stacked mineralized zones across 350 metres that vary in
strike length from 25 to 250 metres. Mineralization extends down
dip for approximately 800 metres, though approximately 300 metres
of the dip extent has been excluded from the current resource
estimate since it is not currently feasible for open-pit mining
because of its depth (between 175 and 300 metres from surface). The
deposit is characterized by carbonate, quartz, pyrite, albite
alteration with gold occurring with pyrite. The deposit has been
continually mined since 2009 with a current production rate of
approximately 15,000 ounces per year.
Additional Resource Potential at Stog'er Tight
and Pine Cove
Stog'er Tight
Anaconda's goal is to develop a gold mine at
Stog'er Tight that has a minimum of five years of life, producing
approximately 15,000 ounces annually, to continue the baseload
production at the Point Rousse Project. The Company believes there
is significant potential for further resource expansion east, west
and southwest of the current Stog'er Tight deposit to meet this
goal (Exhibit D). In the next stage of exploration, Anaconda plans
to step out to the West and East Zones, the Gabbro Zone and the
East Gabbro Zone, which are closest to the current resource. Based
on historical drill intercepts and trenching results, these zones
have numerous intersections of alteration and mineralization
similar to the Stog'er Tight resource in style and geological
setting. The Company has begun to verify the historical results and
expand the area of known surface mineralization in these areas. It
plans to follow up with a trenching program later this fall.
The geological characteristics of Stog'er Tight
are found in a much larger area around the deposit that is
approximately 1.5 kilometres long by 0.5 kilometres wide. Five
other zones of alteration and mineralization, beyond the East and
West Zones, Gabbro and East Gabbro Zones, have been identified
throughout the greater Stog'er Tight area. Anaconda plans to review
these five zones for their potential to host gold deposits and
develop specific drill targets to test the area for new
deposits.
Pine Cove
Anaconda is exploring for additional resources
east and west of the southern margins of the Pine Cove deposit
around the Pine Cove Pond. This area is contiguous with geology,
alteration and mineralization within the previously mined resource.
It is associated with chargeability anomalies, outlined through
ground IP surveys, similar to those associated with the main Pine
Cove deposit. In November 2015, the
Company plans to conduct a 1,000-metre diamond drill program to
test the potential for mineralized zones in the Pine Cove Pond
area.
Overview of Geological Trends within the Point
Rousse Project
During the course of Anaconda's exploration and
development efforts, three primary gold trends have been identified
within the Point Rousse Project area, with a cumulative prospective
strike length of approximately 20 kilometres. The Company's recent
exploration work, combined with historical results, has brought
more clarity, understanding and confidence to the Company's
geological interpretations and models. The Company believes it has
the potential to discover and develop multiple deposits on the
Ming's Bight Peninsula.
Scrape Trend
The Scrape Trend consists of a belt of highly
prospective rocks approximately 7 kilometres long and approximately
1 to 2 kilometres wide. It begins southwest of the Pine Cove mine
site and continues eastward to the community of Ming's Bight. The
Scrape Trend includes the Pine Cove, Stog'er Tight and Romeo &
Juliet deposits, the Anoroc and Animal Pond prospects and a new
discovery referred to as the Argyle zone. These gold occurrences
align with a fault delineated by a topographic lineament coincident
with a broad airbourne EM conductor. The Scrape Trend hosts both
baseload (approximately 1.8 g/t - as currently processed at the
Pine Cove mill) and prospects that contain higher grades of
mineralization.
Goldenville Trend
The Goldenville Trend is an 8-kilometre long belt
of highly-prospective rocks centered on an iron stone unit referred
to as the Goldenville Horizon. The Company believes the trend to be
highly prospective because it contains numerous prospects of
ironstone-hosted gold as well as the Corkscrew deposit recently
optioned by Anaconda (see press release dated August 4, 2015). Further the Goldenville Horizon
is clearly associated with the historic Nugget Pond mine, which
produced high grade gold. If the Company is successful, it will
have a longstanding high-grade feed source for the Pine Cove mill
to layer on top of the baseload production from other sources like
Pine Cove or Stog'er Tight.
Deer Cove Trend
The Deer Cove Trend is located in the northern
part of the Ming's Bight Peninsula and consists of a belt of
prospective rocks approximately 3.5 kilometres in strike length. It
is associated with the Deer Cove thrust fault and includes the Deer
Cove deposit as well as various other showings and prospects.
Notes on Mineral Resource Estimation
Methodology:
- Mineral Resources are estimates conform to the 2014 CIM Mineral
Resource definitions referred to in the NI 43-101 Standards.
Cath Pitman, P. Geo., Geology
Manager/Senior Geologist with AMC Mining Consultants Inc., is a
Qualified Person as described within the NI 43-101 Standards and is
independent of the Company. Ms. Pitman has prepared and authorized
the release of the Mineral Resource estimates for Stog'er Tight and
Pine Cove deposits presented within this press release. Ms. Pitman
has verified the data used for the resource calculations including
sampling protocols and analytical methods and the laboratory
conducting the analysis.
- Mineral Reserves are estimated conform to the 2014 CIM Mineral
Resource definitions referred to in the NI 43-101 Standards.
Gordana Slepcev, Manager of Technical Services with Anaconda Mining
Inc., is a Qualified Person as described within the NI 43-101
Standards. Ms. Slepcev has prepared and authorized the release of
the mineral reserves estimate for the Pine Cove mine presented
within this press release.
- The Stog'er Tight deposit Mineral Resource was estimated using
a block model with parent blocks 3 mE x 3 mN x 3mRL in size. Block
gold grades were estimated in parent blocks using Ordinary Kriging
and Datamine (CAE) software. The mineralization was divided into
two zones: higher grade (>0.5 g/t gold), using a wireframe
produced by Anaconda and Ms. Pitman and a background zone based on
the results of indicator kriging. Dynamic anisotropy was used to
adjust the search orientation to match the orientation of the
trends in mineralization. The Mineral Resource was classified as
either Indicated or Inferred according to the NI 43-101 Standards
based on the drill hole spacing and understanding of the trends in
geological and mineralization continuity.
- The Pine Cove deposit Mineral Resource was estimated using a
block model with parent blocks 3 mE x 3 mN x 3mRL in size. Block
gold grades were estimated in parent blocks using Ordinary Kriging
and Datamine (CAE) software. The mineralization was divided into
two zones of higher grade and background based on wireframes
provided by Anaconda Mining. Dynamic anisotropy was used to adjust
the search orientation to match the orientation of the trends in
mineralization. The Mineral Resource was classification as either
Indicated or Inferred according to the NI 43-101 Standards based on
the drill hole spacing and understanding of the trends in
geological and mineralization continuity.
- The Mineral Reserve estimate was derived by utilizing the gold
price of $1,400 CAD/oz (the
company averaged $1470 CAD/oz in gold
sales over the past three fiscal years) pit shell design
created in Surpac 6.6 and running a reserve report between this
shell and the topographic surface provided by Anaconda. The block
model used for the Pine Cove Reserve report was the undiluted gold
grade model.
The internal cut-off grade of 0.70 g/t Au was
derived from Anaconda's mining, processing, general administration
costs and process recovery. This internal cut-off grade is the
minimum ore grade required to mine economically. Below are some of
the key assumptions and costs used in the Mineral Reserve
estimate.
Mineral
Reserve
|
Key Assumptions
and Costs
|
Mining Cost (per
tonne)
|
$3.94
|
Processing Cost (per
tonne)
|
$19.18
|
G & A Cost (per
tonne)
|
$8.34
|
Operating Costs (per
tonne)
|
$32.74
|
Gold Price
(CAD/oz)
|
$1,400.00
|
US/CDN Exchange
Rate
|
1.2
|
Process Recovery
%
|
86
|
The overall safe pit slope angles were determined
by Knight-Piésold Consulting Ltd. following a geotechnical study
conducted in fall of 2014. This wall recommendations have been
reflected in the optimization process. Inter-ramp angle of 47 and
55 degrees were used for the south and northern sections of the
pit.
Anaconda has concluded that, on average, there
are 5% tonnes more tonnes by blasthole drilling and assay compared
to the block model, while gold loss is around 3% (unrealized
outlined grams compared with block model). Blasthole data
reconciles very well with grades and tonnes mined and processed.
Anaconda is currently using those parameters to determine mineral
reserves and more accurately forecast mined and processed tonnes
and grades.
This news release has been reviewed and
approved by Paul McNeill, P. Geo.,
VP Exploration with Anaconda Mining Inc., a "Qualified Person",
under National Instrument 43-101 Standard for Disclosure for
Mineral Projects.
ABOUT ANACONDA
Headquartered in Toronto, Canada, Anaconda is a growth oriented
gold mining and exploration company with a producing project,
called the Point Rousse Project, and approximately 6,300 hectares
of exploration property on the Ming's Bight Peninsula located in
the Baie Verte Mining District in Newfoundland, Canada. Since 2012, Anaconda has
increased its property control by ten-fold. It is currently
exploring three primary prospective gold trends which have
approximately 20 kilometres of cumulative strike length and include
four deposits and numerous prospects and showings, all within 8
kilometres of the Pine Cove mill. The Company's plan is to discover
and develop more resources within the project area and double
annual production from its current rate of approximately 15,000
ounces to 30,000 ounces.
FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS
This document contains or refers to
forward-looking information. Such forward-looking information
includes, among other things, statements regarding growth and is
based on current expectations and assumptions of management that
involve a number of business risks and uncertainties. Factors that
could cause actual results to differ materially from any
forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: the
expectations of the Company in expanding Mineral Resources and
project mine life and the timing thereof, current and future market
trends and growth opportunities and whether the Company will be
able to capitalize upon them. Forward-looking statements may
include words such as "plans," "may," "estimates," "expects,"
"indicates," "targeting," "potential" and similar expressions.
These forward-looking statements are based on current expectations
and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties, including
the risks factors outlined in the Company's latest annual
information form and other continuous disclosure documents filed at
www.sedar.com, and other factors that could cause actual results to
differ materially from expected results. Readers should not place
undue reliance on forward-looking statements. These forward-looking
statements are made as of the date hereof and the Company assumes
no responsibility to update them or revise them to reflect new
events or circumstances, except as required by law.
SOURCE Anaconda Mining Inc.