VANCOUVER, Oct. 24, 2016 /CNW/ - Bellhaven Copper &
Gold Inc. (TSX-Venture: BHV) ("Bellhaven" or the "Company") is
pleased to announce the results of an updated National Instrument
43-101 mineral resource estimate for its 100%-controlled La Mina
gold-(copper) project ("La Mina" or "the Project"), Colombia. The Mineral Resource incorporates
only La Cantera and Middle Zone prospects and does not include the
highly prospective La Garrucha prospect located approximately 800 m
to the east. Highlights pertaining to the updated mineral
resource estimate include:
- 1.01 Moz gold equivalent contained in Indicated Mineral
Resources and 0.43 Moz gold equivalent contained in Inferred
Mineral Resources at base-case 0.25 g/t gold cut-off
grade.
- 1.23 Moz gold-equivalent contained in Indicated Mineral
Resources and 0.53 Moz gold equivalent in Inferred Mineral
Resources at breakeven 0.10 g/t gold cut-off grade
(See Tables 1 and 2 for details on
tonnages, grades, and contained metals at various cut-off
grades).
- Approximately 70% of the Mineral Resources are now classified
as Indicated Mineral Resources whereas previously all of the
Mineral Resources were defined as Inferred Mineral Resources.
- The Mineral Resources are now in-pit constrained mineral
resources ("in-pit resources"). Previously the Mineral Resources
were in-situ mineral resources ("in-situ resources").
Dr. Paul Zweng, Bellhaven's
CEO and Chairman, commented as follows:
"We are very pleased with the revised mineral resource estimate
for the La Mina Project which incorporates additional drill holes
as well as updated metal prices, metallurgical recoveries, and
mining/cost factors. The revised Mineral Resources are defined as
in-pit resources whereas in the past all were delimited as in-situ
resources—the new Mineral Resources are thus more
conservative. The conversion of ~70% of the Mineral Resources
to Indicated Mineral Resources is a huge value-add for Bellhaven's
shareholders. These two improvements greatly upgrade the
quality of the Mineral Resource, thereby de-risking the
Project."
"The aeromagnetic anomaly over the nearby La Garrucha prospect
is substantially larger than those over either La Cantera or Middle
Zone prospects. Drill holes collared at La Garrucha have
yielded multiple 100-m-plus intercepts of 1.0 g/t gold (or better)
grades (see press releases of June 5
and 27, July 10, and September 10, 2013). Next year we intend to
drill the requisite number of holes at La Garrucha so as to provide
the basis for calculating a mineral resource estimate for this
prospect."
La Mina Revised Mineral Resource Estimate
Metal Mining Consultants Inc. ("MMC") of Highlands Ranch, Colorado prepared the mineral
resource estimate in accordance with the definitions in Canadian
National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101"). The updated Mineral
Resource incorporates 14 new drill holes collared at the Middle
Zone prospect (with two holes extending into La Cantera prospect)
undertaken by Bellhaven between May and December 2012 (see news releases dated
September 6, 2012 and December 27, 2012). The resource estimate does
not include an additional eleven holes drilled at other prospects
in the concession, including La Garrucha, after the announcement of
the initial mineral resource estimate.
The new mineral resource estimate was calculated using a
Whittle-Pit algorithm. The input parameters used to calculate
the in-pit resources are as follows: median consensus long-term
projected metal prices (as of July, 2016) of US$1275/oz gold, US$17.75/oz silver, and US$2.75/lb copper, G&A of US$0.98 per tonne, open-pit mining costs of
US$1.72 per tonne, processing costs
of US$5.83 per tonne, metallurgical
recoveries of 93% for gold and 90% for copper, and an average
pit-slope of 50 degrees.
Table 1 presents the Mineral Resources calculated at a series of
gold cut-off grades. The breakeven cut-off is 0.10 g/t gold,
meeting the standard for "reasonable prospects for eventual
economic extraction". The base-case cut-off grade of 0.25 g/t
gold highlighted in Table 1 is currently our best estimate for
mineral resources within a future PEA mine plan and will be
modified, if necessary, once the revised PEA is completed.
Table 1. Mineral Resources for La Mina Project (La Cantera
and Middle Zone only), Colombia.
Cut-off
Grade
(g/t Au)
|
Metric Tonnes
('000)
|
Grades
|
Contained
Metal
|
Au
(g/t)
|
Ag (g/t)
|
Cu
(%)
|
AuEq
(g/t)
|
Au
(oz)
|
Ag
(oz)
|
Cu
(lbs, '000)
|
AuEq (oz)
|
Indicated Mineral
Resources
|
0.10
|
49,495
|
0.49
|
1.39
|
0.18
|
0.78
|
785,731
|
2,205,058
|
193,397
|
1,233,559
|
0.20
|
33,060
|
0.66
|
1.66
|
0.22
|
1.01
|
701,485
|
1,765,284
|
163,235
|
1,078,136
|
0.25
|
28,170
|
0.74
|
1.77
|
0.24
|
1.12
|
666,761
|
1,606,962
|
150,242
|
1,013,185
|
0.30
|
24,676
|
0.81
|
1.86
|
0.26
|
1.21
|
639,282
|
1,479,395
|
139,719
|
961,231
|
0.40
|
19,374
|
0.93
|
2.05
|
0.28
|
1.38
|
579,166
|
1,279,923
|
121,344
|
858,706
|
0.50
|
16,288
|
1.02
|
2.21
|
0.31
|
1.50
|
534,159
|
1,157,354
|
109,935
|
787,387
|
Inferred Mineral
Resources
|
0.10
|
21,854
|
0.44
|
1.43
|
0.19
|
0.75
|
311,141
|
1,001,704
|
93,464
|
526,674
|
0.20
|
14,533
|
0.59
|
1.63
|
0.25
|
0.98
|
274,743
|
763,659
|
79,272
|
456,352
|
0.25
|
12,394
|
0.65
|
1.75
|
0.27
|
1.07
|
259,626
|
696,520
|
73,294
|
427,408
|
0.30
|
10,883
|
0.71
|
1.84
|
0.29
|
1.16
|
249,627
|
642,890
|
68,473
|
406,264
|
0.40
|
8,312
|
0.82
|
2.00
|
0.31
|
1.32
|
220,021
|
533,276
|
57,632
|
351,749
|
0.50
|
6,734
|
0.91
|
2.14
|
0.33
|
1.43
|
197,025
|
463,073
|
49,257
|
309,713
|
|
Table 1
footnotes:
|
1. Mineral resources
are not mineral reserves and do not have demonstrated economic
viability. There is no certainty that all or any part of the
mineral resources will be converted into mineral
reserves.
|
2. Gold-equivalent
grades were calculated using the following formula: AuEq = Au
(g/t) + [Cu(%)} x {%Recoverable Cu / %Recoverable Au} x {Cu
Price/Au Price} x 22.0462 x 31.1035] + [Ag (g/t) x {Ag Price/Au
Price}]. Metal prices used were the median consensus
long-term prices as of July, 2016 for gold (US$1,275/oz), silver
(US$17.75), and copper (US$2.75). Metal prices are not
constant and are subject to change. Metal recoveries of 93%
Au and 90% Cu are estimates based on metallurgical results
announced in Bellhaven's news release dated September 21,
2016.
|
3. All quantities are
rounded to the appropriate number of significant figures;
consequently sums may not add up due to rounding.
|
The Mineral Resource for La Mina incorporates the La Cantera and
Middle Zone porphyry deposits. These two deposits occur
within 400 m of each other. At average grades of 1.12 g/t gold
equivalent (Indicated Resources) and 1.07 g/t gold equivalent
(Inferred Resources), La Mina is one of the richest porphyry
projects in the Americas.
Table 2. Total Indicated & Inferred Mineral Resources
for La Mina Project (Cut-off Grade: 0.25 g/t Au)
Deposit
|
Metric Tonnes
('000)
|
Grades
|
Contained
Metal
|
Au
(g/t)
|
Ag
(g/t)
|
Cu
(%)
|
AuEq
(g/t)
|
Au
(oz)
|
Ag
(oz)
|
Cu
(lbs,
'000)
|
AuEq (oz)
|
Indicated Mineral
Resources
|
La Cantera
|
17,984
|
0.87
|
2.06
|
0.32
|
1.37
|
503,021
|
1,191,062
|
125,344
|
789,953
|
Middle
Zone
|
10,186
|
0.50
|
1.27
|
0.11
|
0.68
|
163,740
|
415,899
|
24,898
|
223,232
|
Total
Indicated
|
28,170
|
0.74
|
1.77
|
0.24
|
1.12
|
666,761
|
1,606,962
|
150,242
|
1,013,185
|
Inferred Mineral
Resources
|
La Cantera
|
10,806
|
0.69
|
1.83
|
0.29
|
1.15
|
239,715
|
635,766
|
70,256
|
400,099
|
Middle
Zone
|
1,588
|
0.39
|
1.19
|
0.09
|
0.53
|
19,911
|
60,754
|
3,038
|
27,309
|
Total
Inferred
|
12,394
|
0.65
|
1.75
|
0.27
|
1.07
|
259,626
|
696,520
|
73,294
|
427,408
|
|
Table 2
footnotes: See footnotes appearing immediately below Table
1.
|
Mineral resources do not have demonstrated economic viability.
Future in-fill drilling as well as Preliminary Economic
Assessment, Pre-Feasibility and Feasibility Studies will determine
the percentage of the Inferred Resources, if any, which can be
placed into the mineable category. Bellhaven is not aware of
any environmental, permitting, legal, title, taxation,
socio-political, marketing or other issues which may materially
impact this estimate of mineral resources.
Geologic Model and Modeling Parameters
The updated mineral resource calculation reflects additional
drilling that was completed subsequent to the August 2012 Technical Report. The revised
resource estimation is based on 88 drill holes and 14,284 meters of
drilling with a total of and 14,284 two-meter-length
composites. Geologic volumes were used to constrain the
estimation. The grade estimation strategy was determined to
remain unchanged from previous resource estimates. Mineralization
was estimated using the Inverse Distance Squared ("ID2") estimation
technique. Hard boundaries were also set such that only composites
matching the respective lithology could be used as part of the
estimation. Sample intervals were only used if they were greater
than or equal to 1.5 meters in length. With the exception of block
and sample restrictions, the search parameters were the same for
each geologic domain.
Metallurgical testing of material from La Mina has given greater
confidence in the classification of its Mineral Resources.
Approximately 70% of the updated Mineral Resources are classified
as Indicated. Indicated Mineral Resources were defined as
blocks that are within 35 meters of a drill hole and where a
minimum of two drill holes were used to determine the estimated
grade. A grade-capping strategy was employed to limit the
impact of high-grade outlier samples. Silver was capped at
25.5 ppm, gold was capped at 4.2 ppm, and copper was capped at 3000
ppm. Density measurements for the Mineral Resource were
determined by 636 individual measurements of drill-core
samples.
The scientific and technical information in this news release
was prepared under the supervision of Mr. Thomas J. Drown, P.Geo. Mr. Drown has more
than 25 years relevant experience and is a British Colombia
Professional Geoscientist. He has been a senior project
geologist with the Company at the La Mina Project and serves as the
qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101.
Mr. Scott Wilson, Principal
for Metal Mining Consultants, Inc., and a Qualified Person as
defined by NI 43-101, has reviewed and approved the process and
economic information contained in this release.
Mr. Gregory Chlumsky,
Principal for InterPro, and a Qualified Person as defined by NI
43-101, has reviewed and approved the process and economic
information contained in this release.
About Bellhaven
Bellhaven Copper & Gold Inc. is a Canadian-listed (TSX-V:
BHV) exploration company exploring for gold and copper in
Colombia. The Company's goal is to be a leader in gold and
copper development in Colombia. Bellhaven focuses on
discovery, acquisition and development of high-quality resources in
a safe and responsible manner for the benefit of all of its
stakeholders. The Company's flagship project is the La Mina
gold-(copper) porphyry deposit in the Middle Cauca belt of
Colombia. The Company is currently
seeking to develop and to grow these resources through mine
development and through ongoing exploration on the La Mina
concession. For more information regarding Bellhaven, please
visit our website at www.bellhavencg.com.
On behalf of the board of directors,
Dr. Paul L. Zweng
BELLHAVEN COPPER & GOLD INC.
Statements in this press release include, other than purely
historical information, certain "forward-looking information" and
"forward-looking statements" (collectively "forward-looking
statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian and
United States securities
legislation including the United States Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements, other than
statements of historical fact, included herein, without limitation,
statements relating to the future operating or financial
performance of Bellhaven, planned expenditures and the anticipated
activity at La Mina Project, are forward-looking statements.
Forward-looking statements are frequently, but not always,
identified by words such as "expects", "anticipates", "believes",
"intends", "estimates", "potential", "possible", and similar
expressions, or statements that events, conditions, or results
"will", "may", "could", or "should" occur or be achieved. These
forward-looking statements may include statements regarding
perceived merit of properties; exploration plans and budgets;
mineral reserves and resource estimates; work programs; capital
expenditures; timelines; strategic plans; market prices for
precious and base metals; or other statements that are not
statements of fact. Forward-looking statements involve various
risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such
statements will prove to be accurate, and actual results and future
events could differ materially from those anticipated in such
statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to
differ materially from Bellhaven's expectations include the
uncertainties involving the need for additional financing to
explore and develop properties and availability of financing in the
debt and capital markets; uncertainties involved in the
interpretation of drilling results and geological tests and the
estimation of reserves and resources; the need for cooperation of
government agencies and native groups in the development and
operation of properties; the need to obtain permits and
governmental approvals; risks of construction and mining projects
such as accidents, equipment breakdowns, bad weather,
non-compliance with environmental and permit requirements,
unanticipated variation in geological structures, metal grades or
recovery rates; unexpected cost increases, which could include
significant increases in estimated capital and operating costs;
fluctuations in metal prices and currency exchange rates; and other
risks and uncertainties disclosed in Bellhaven's Annual Report for
the year ended April 30, 2016 filed
with Canadian securities regulatory authorities and in other
Bellhaven reports and documents filed with applicable securities
regulatory authorities from time to time. Bellhaven's
forward-looking statements reflect the beliefs, opinions, and
projections on the date the statements are made. Bellhaven assumes
no obligation to update the forward-looking statements or beliefs,
opinions, projections, or other factors, should they change, except
as required by law.
Mineral resources are not mineral reserves and do not have
demonstrated economic viability. There is no certainty that
all or any part of the mineral resources will be converted into
mineral reserves. Gold-equivalent grades were calculated
using the following formula: AuEq = Au (g/t) + [Cu(%)} x
{%Recoverable Cu / %Recoverable Au} x {Cu Price/Au Price} x 22.0462
x 31.1035] + [Ag (g/t) x {Ag Price/Au Price}]. Metal prices
used were the median consensus long-term prices as of July 2016 for gold (US$1,275/oz), silver (US$17.75), and copper (US$2.75). Metal prices are not constant
and are subject to change. Metal recoveries of 93% Au and 90%
Cu are estimates based on metallurgical results announced in
Bellhaven's news release dated September 21,
2016.
Neither the 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.
SOURCE Bellhaven Copper & Gold Inc.