North American Gem Inc. (NAG) (TSX VENTURE: NAG) reports that it is
considering offers on its Louise Lake Copper Deposit, located 35
kilometers west of Smithers, British Columbia, Canada. The
road-accessible property is near a full-service community with
excellent access to highway, rail and electrical infrastructure. In
total, 96 holes have been drilled at the Louise Lake property and
approximately 3.5 million dollars in exploration expenditures has
been completed by NAG.
Louise Lake Concentrate Shows Copper Recoverability of 98%
NAG evaluated an environmentally friendly leaching process known
as Galvanox (research carried out at the University of British
Columbia), which has the potential to improve the economic
viability and recoverability of the metals contained in the Louise
Lake Copper Deposit. The Galvanox process enables copper producers
to significantly reduce sulfur dioxide gas emissions, eliminate the
cost of transportation to the smelter and treat certain copper ores
high in arsenic (penalty element) content that other smelters
charge significant fees to process. Galvanox, in general, is able
to produce a virtually complete copper recovery (98% or higher) and
eliminate all of the arsenic into an inert compound under
atmospheric conditions (without using excessive heat (80 degrees
C), a very fine grind or chemical additives).
Inventor and UBC researcher Dr. David Dixon, along with
co-inventor Dr. Alain Tshilombo (UBC PhD recipient) at the Material
Engineering Department successfully carried out Galvanox leach
tests on concentrate produced by G&T Metallurgical of Kamloops,
from a representative composite sample of diamond drill core from
the Company's Louise Lake copper-gold-molybdenum-silver deposit.
The deposit hosts copper in roughly equal quantities of
chalcopyrite (CuFeS2) and enargite (Cu3AsS4). The Galvanox process
had previously only been used to extract copper from chalcopyrite
successfully. This was the first time the Galvanox process
attempted to extract copper from concentrate containing
enargite.
The tests on the Louise Lake concentrate were very encouraging,
indicating that more than 99% of the copper in the flotation
concentrate can be recovered. Electro winning can then produce
copper with high purity. Gold can be recovered from the leach
solution and any impurities such as arsenic can be precipitated out
and safely disposed of.
The economics of the process together with electro winning on
site were assessed by Bateman Engineering of Australia and it
appears to have substantial savings and other advantages compared
to conventional smelting and other known leaching processes.
Louise Lake Resource Estimate as determined by SRK
Consulting
The resource estimate released by the Company May 30, 2006 meets
the requirements of National Instrument 43-101 and is the Company's
current disclosed Louise Lake resource estimate. The estimates are
included in the Company's July 14, 2006 technical report prepared
by SRK Consulting entitled "Independent Technical Report and
Resource Estimate for the Louise Lake Property, Omenica Mining
Division". This report is filed on SEDAR.
Table 1 lists indicated and inferred resources calculated in
2006 by SRK Consulting for the Main Zone, calculated at a copper
equivalent (CuEq) cut-off of 0.25% Cu:
Table 1 - SRK Classified Mineral Resources for the Louise Lake Deposit, B.C.,
Canada
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mineral
Resources(i) Tonnes CuEq(ii)(%) Cu (%) Mo (%) Au (g/t) Ag (g/t)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Indicated 6,000,000 0.369 0.214 0.006 0.20 0.98
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Inferred 141,000,000 0.426 0.234 0.009 0.23 0.94
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
(i) All resources quoted at a 0.25% CuEq cut-off.
(ii) CuEq values calculated using the following metal prices: Cu $1.20/lb.
Mo $8/lb, Au $450/oz, Ag $7/oz.
(iii) The CuEq calculation does not take into account recoveries of
individual metals.
Using resource estimates provided by SRK in Table 1, North
American Gem has calculated the following contained metal
figures:
Table 2: Contained Metal Amounts Calculated from Resource Estimates at 0.25%
Copper Equivalent Cut-Off
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Resource Category Tonnes Grade Contained Metal(i)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Indicated 6,000,000 0.214% Cu 28,300,000 lbs Cu
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
6,000,000 0.006% Mo 780,000 lbs Mo
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
6,000,000 0.20 g/tonne Au 39,000 oz Au
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
6,000,000 0.98 g/tonne Ag 189,000 oz Ag
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Inferred 141,000,000 0.234% Cu 727,600,000 lbs Cu
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
141,000,000 0.009% Mo 27,900,000 lbs Mo
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
141,000,000 0.23 g/tonne Au 1,040,000 oz Au
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
141,000,000 0.94 g/tonne Ag 4,260,000 oz Ag
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
(i) Actual yields may be lower than the numbers reported based on
recoverability percentages.
The resource base reported in Table 1 was estimated by ordinary
kriging methods from 37 drill holes located within a mineralized
envelope designed by SRK Consulting. The resource is based on a
global bulk density of 2.75 tonnes/m3. Block classification was
applied using a combination of the average distance and number of
drill holes contributing composites to the local estimate.
The Indicated Resource classification was applied to blocks with
a minimum of two drill holes and an average distance to composites
of less than 50 meters. Additionally, blocks assigned to the
indicated resource classification were limited to areas where bulk
density samples were taken. The indicated blocks form a contiguous
cluster with overall dimensions of 100 by 300 by 170m, extending
from surface to a depth of 175m. The formula used for Cu equivalent
calculations is provided at the base of Table 1 (please note that
the metal prices used and set by SRK Consulting to determine the
0.25 CuEq cut-off are significantly lower than current market
prices); no provisions were made for metallurgical recoveries.
General Information
The Louise Lake property hosts the "Main Zone" deposit,
containing an unusual mineral assemblage, with copper occurring as
an equal mixture of enargite and chalcopyrite. The 2004 through
2007 programs extended the known dimensions of the east-west
striking, moderately north-dipping tabular Main Zone to a length of
970 meters, with widths of up to 170 meters. The zone extends to a
depth of about 270 meters, where it is abruptly truncated by the
flat-lying "Terminator" fault.
A total of 5,042.8 meters of drilling in 16 holes was completed
in 2008 (not included in the Table 1 Resource Estimate), focusing
on two main target settings. The first consists of higher grade
gold values, as well as higher gold: copper ratios, identified in
northeastern portions of the Main Zone, particularly from Hole
LL-07-18B. Here, a value of 0.769 g/t gold with 0.48% copper was
returned from a 26.1-metre intercept at a depth of 288.8 to 314.9
meters, within a 40.0-metre interval grading 0.625 g/t gold and
0.41% copper (NAG News Release, May 9, 2007).
The other main setting consisted of mineralization beneath the
flat-lying "Terminator" fault. Year-2007 results from Hole
LL-07-15, collared northwest of the Main Zone, revealed "low-grade
sub-Terminator" mineralization having a similar fabric and
geochemical signature to the Main Zone. This was the first
intercept of sub-Terminator mineralization, suggesting that faulted
off extensions of the Main Zone deposit occurs further
northwest.
The 2008 program successfully identified the direction of
movement of the rafted block hosting the Main Zone, and that
additional sub-Terminator mineralization likely may occur west of
the western limit of 2008 drilling.
Mike Magrum, P.Eng., a qualified person under National
Instrument 43-101, has approved the technical content of this news
release.
North American Gem Inc. (TSX VENTURE: NAG) is a junior resource
company in Western Canada. The company's major focus is expanding
its coal mining operations at its flagship properties in Kentucky.
In addition, the company has interests in coal, copper, molybdenum,
and other base metal properties in Canada.
On Behalf of the Board of Directors
NORTH AMERICAN GEM INC.
Charles Desjardins, President and Director
Cautionary note:
This report contains forward looking statements. Resource
estimates, unless specifically noted, are considered speculative.
Any and all other resource or reserve estimates are historical in
nature, and should not be relied upon. The production rate and
mine-life projections have been made without support of a
feasibility study, there is no certainty the proposed operations
will be economically viable. By their nature, forward looking
statements involve risk and uncertainties because they relate to
events and depend on factors that will or may occur in the future.
Actual results may vary depending upon exploration activities,
industry production, commodity demand and pricing, currency
exchange rates, and, but not limited to, general economic factors.
Cautionary Note to US investors: The U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission specifically prohibits the use of certain terms, such as
"reserves" unless such figures are based upon actual production or
formation tests and can be shown to be economically and legally
producible under existing economic and operating conditions.
"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."
Contacts: North American Gem Inc. Charles Desjardins President
and Director 604-683-5445 604-687-9631 (FAX)
info@northamericangem.com www.northamericangem.com
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