Pacific Wildcat Resources Announces: High Grade and Large Tonnage Niobium and Rare Earth Resource for Mrima Hill
July 29 2013 - 7:30AM
Marketwired Canada
Pacific Wildcat Resources Corp. (TSX VENTURE:PAW) ("PAW" or the "Company") is
pleased to announce an updated independent Niobium and inaugural Total Rare
Earth Mineral Resource estimate for the Mrima Hill Niobium and Rare Earth
Project in Kenya. (PAW indirect 70% ownership).
Highlights include:
Niobium
-- High Grade component of Indicated Mineral Resource estimate of 5.8
million tonnes at 1.41% Nb2O5 (greater than 1.0% Nb2O5 cut off) plus
171% increase in Inferred Mineral Resource estimate to 17.5 million
tonnes at 1.41% Nb2O5 (greater than 1.0% Nb2O5 cut off) confirming
Mrima Hill as one of the world's highest grade Niobium deposits.
-- Indicated Mineral Resource estimate of 47.8 million tonnes at 0.66%
Nb2O5 (greater than 0.2% Nb2O5 cut off) plus Inferred Mineral Resource
estimate of 94.4 million tonnes at 0.73% Nb2O5 (greater than 0.2% Nb2O5
cut off) for a total of 2.22 Billion Pounds of contained Nb2O5.
Rare Earths
-- High Grade component of Indicated Mineral Resource estimate of 11.2
million tonnes at 6.93% Total Rare Earth Oxides (TREO) (greater than
5.8% TREO cut-off) plus Inferred Mineral Resource estimate of 15.6
million tonnes at 7.12% TREO (greater than 5.8% TREO cut-off) confirming
Mrima Hill as the world's highest grade(i) undeveloped Rare Earth
deposit.
-- Indicated Mineral Resource estimate of 48.7 million tonnes at 4.40% TREO
(greater than 1.0% TREO cut off) plus Inferred Mineral Resource estimate
of 110.7 million tonnes at 3.61% TREO (greater than 1.0% TREO cut off)
for a total of 6.14 million tonnes of contained TREO.
-- High percentage (21%) of Indicated TREO Resource (greater than 1.0% TREO
cut off) consists of Critical Rare Earth Oxides (CREO) including
Neodymium, Dysprosium, Europium, Terbium, and Yttrium.
Combined Metal Suite
-- Zone of High Grade Niobium and Total Rare Earth Oxides of 22.6 million
tonnes at 1.20% Nb2O5 AND 5.56% TREO (using greater than 0.7% Nb2O5 and
greater than 4.1% TREO cut off).
(i) Projects outside of China and where Total Project Resources exceed 0.75 Mt
contained TREO.
The mineral resource estimate was prepared by BMGS Perth Pty Ltd ("BMGS") of
Perth, Western Australia. Table 1 below shows the results of the Niobium Mineral
Resource estimate as follows:
Table 1 - Total Nb2O5 Mineral Resource by Resource Category above 0.2% Nb2O5
cut-off
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mineral Resource Tonnes Average Nb2O5 Pounds
Category (Millions) Nb2O5(%) (millions)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Measured - - -
Indicated 47.8 0.66 699
Total - Measured and Indicated 47.8 0.66 699
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Inferred 94.4 0.73 1,525
Total Inferred 94.4 0.73 1,525
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
(1) Mineral Resource tabulation for Nb2O5 for Mrima Hill, Kenya above a 0.2%
Nb2O5 cut-off and constrained within the granted mining license. Figures
have been rounded off to the appropriate level of accuracy.
(2) The effective date of the mineral resource estimate presented above is
25th July, 2013.
(3) This mineral resource estimate includes technical information which
requires subsequent estimates to derive totals and weighted averages.
Such estimations inherently involve a degree of rounding and
consequently introduce a margin of error. Where these occur, BMGS does
not consider them to be material.
(4) Mineral Resources that are not Mineral Reserves have not demonstrated
economic viability. No Mineral Reserves are declared for the Mrima Hill
Project. Inferred Mineral Resources have been estimated from geological
evidence and limited sampling and must be treated with a lower level of
confidence than Measured and Indicated Mineral Resources.
Table 2 below shows the High Grade portion of the Niobium Mineral Resource estimate.
Table 2 - Total Nb2O5 Mineral Resource by Resource Category above 1.0% Nb2O5
cut-off
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mineral Resource Tonnes Average Nb2O5 Pounds
Category (Millions) Nb2O5(%) (millions)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Measured - - -
Indicated 5.8 1.41 181
Total - Measured and Indicated 5.8 1.41 181
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Inferred 17.5 1.41 547
Total Inferred 17.5 1.41 547
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
(5) Mineral Resource tabulation for Nb2O5 for Mrima Hill, Kenya above a 1.0%
Nb2O5 cut-off and constrained within the granted mining license. Figures
have been rounded off to the appropriate level of accuracy.
(6) The effective date of the mineral resource estimate presented above is
25th July, 2013.
(7) This mineral resource estimate includes technical information which
requires subsequent estimates to derive totals and weighted averages.
Such estimations inherently involve a degree of rounding and
consequently introduce a margin of error. Where these occur, BMGS does
not consider them to be material.
(8) Mineral Resources that are not Mineral Reserves have not demonstrated
economic viability. No Mineral Reserves are declared for the Mrima Hill
Project. Inferred Mineral Resources have been estimated from geological
evidence and limited sampling and must be treated with a lower level of
confidence than Measured and Indicated Mineral Resources.
Table 3 below shows the results of the Total Rare Earth Oxide mineral resource
estimate as follows:
Table 3 - Total Rare Earth Oxide Mineral Resource by Resource Category above
1% TREO cut-off
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
TREO Contained
Mineral Resource Tonnes Average Tonnes
Category (Millions) TREO (%) (Millions)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Measured - - -
Indicated 48.7 4.40 2.15
Total - Measured and Indicated 48.7 4.40 2.15
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Inferred 110.7 3.61 4.00
Total - Inferred 110.7 3.61 4.00
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
(1) Mineral Resource tabulation for TREO for Mrima Hill, Kenya above a 1.0%
TREO cut-off and constrained within the granted mining license. Figures
have been rounded off to the appropriate level of accuracy.
(2) The effective date of the mineral resource estimate presented above is
25th July, 2013
(3) This mineral resource estimate includes technical information which
requires subsequent estimates to derive totals and weighted averages.
Such estimations inherently involve a degree of rounding and
consequently introduce a margin of error. Where these occur, BMGS does
not consider them to be material.
(4) Mineral Resources that are not Mineral Reserves have not demonstrated
economic viability. No Mineral Reserves are declared for the Mrima Hill
Project. Inferred Mineral Resources have been estimated from geological
evidence and limited sampling and must be treated with a lower level of
confidence than Measured and Indicated Mineral Resources.
Table 4 shows the breakdown of Total Rare Earth Oxide resources above a TREO
cut-off grade of 5.8%. This demonstrates significant portions of the resource
are High Grade.
Table 4 - Total Rare Earth Oxide Mineral Resource by Resource Category above
5.8% TREO cut-off
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
TREO Contained
Mineral Resource Tonnes Average Tonnes
Category (Millions) TREO (%) (Millions)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Measured - - -
Indicated 11.2 6.93 0.78
Total - Measured and Indicated 11.2 6.93 0.78
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Inferred 15.6 7.12 1.11
Total - Inferred 15.6 7.12 1.11
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
(5) Mineral Resource tabulation for TREO for Mrima Hill, Kenya above a 5.8%
TREO cut-off and constrained within the granted mining license. Figures
have been rounded off to the appropriate level of accuracy.
(6) The effective date of the mineral resource estimate presented above is
25th July, 2013
(7) This mineral resource estimate includes technical information which
requires subsequent estimates to derive totals and weighted averages.
Such estimations inherently involve a degree of rounding and
consequently introduce a margin of error. Where these occur, BMGS does
not consider them to be material.
(8) Mineral Resources that are not Mineral Reserves have not demonstrated
economic viability. No Mineral Reserves are declared for the Mrima Hill
Project. Inferred Mineral Resources have been estimated from geological
evidence and limited sampling and must be treated with a lower level of
confidence than Measured and Indicated Mineral Resources.
A detailed breakdown of the constituent Rare Earth Element Oxides forming the
basis of the TREO grade reported above 1.0% TREO and 5.8% TREO is presented in
Appendix 1.
As can be seen from Figure 1 below the Initial Total Rare Earth Oxide Resource
Estimate for Mrima Hill shows the deposit is of global significance in terms of
scale and grade.
To view Figure 1, please click on the following link:
http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/paw729-F1.pdf.
Figure 2 below provides a graphical representation of the relative location of
the zone of high grade Niobium and Rare Earth Oxides.
To view Figure 2, please click on the following link:
http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/paw729-F2.pdf.
As can be seen in the plan above there is a large zone of high grade niobium and
rare earth mineralization with the majority outcropping on the surface of Mrima
Hill.
Mineral Resource Estimate Methodology
The geological setting is defined as a carbonatite and vent agglomerate of
Cretaceous age intruded into a fault bounded basin of Jurassic sediments. The
carbonatite lithologies are classified as sovite, alvikite and beforsite.
Historical surface mapping was used to define the lateral extents of the
carbonatite. Mineralisation is associated with the highly weathered clays and
saprolites forming a deep weathering profile due to the high carbonate content
and related ease of weathering.
RC drilling formed the majority of holes (75%) and employed a 140mm face
sampling hammer and consisted of 55 drill holes for 3,413 metres. Diamond
drilling using HQ3 diameter core was also completed and comprised 14 holes for
1,649 metres. Drilling is broadly irregular although some zones are approaching
a regular drill spacing of a nominal 50m (northing) by 50m (easting). All drill
holes were geologically logged and included details on lithology, mineralogy and
weathering. Additionally any observable structural features in the diamond core
were also recorded. Estimates of sample recovery were based on recovered
intervals for diamond core and a combination of recovered mass and qualitative
assessment for RC drilling. Drill collars were surveyed using high accuracy GPS
and downhole surveys were conducted using single and multi-shot down hole
cameras. Density measurements using immersion method were taken on 291 core
intervals representing various lithologies and weathering states.
Diamond core was sampled on nominal one metre intervals and constrained to
geological intervals where appropriate. Samples were taken by cutting the core
along its axis (half core) and submitting for analysis. RC samples were
collected exclusively on one metre intervals and riffle split at the drill rig
to achieve a nominal 1 to 3kg sample. Field QAQC procedures included the
insertion of blanks and collection of field duplicates at a rate of 1 in 20
(5%).
Samples were transported to Nagrom Laboratories in Perth, Western Australia
where they were dried, crushed and pulverised to achieve 85% passing 75 micron.
Sample pulps were then submitted to Ultra Trace Laboratories in Perth for
determination of niobium by XRF and to Genalysis Laboratory Services for
determination of rare earth elements by ICP-MS.
A three dimensional mineralisation envelope was constructed for the niobium
mineralisation using a lower cut-off grade of 0.2% Nb2O5, with an additional
high grade niobium envelope constructed using a 1% Nb2O5 cut-off. The niobium
interpretation utilised the historical Anglo American test pit data to constrain
the interpretation, however these assays were excluded from the final resource
estimation. The rare earth oxide mineralised envelope was created using a 1%
TREO cut-off grade. These interpreted solids were used to flag blocks within the
resource model for estimation. The mineral resource area is constrained to the
granted mining license and forms an irregular shape with approximate dimensions
of 1,500m (north) by 900m (east) by 250m (depth).
Samples were composited to one metre lengths and statistical analysis showed
relatively low coefficients of variation with no clear outliers and as such no
top cuts were applied to either the niobium or rare earth domains. Directional
variograms and search ranges were developed for niobium and total rare earth
oxide (TREO) grades and applied to all elements within the respective domains.
Blocks were estimated using Ordinary Kriging with an ellipsoid search.
The block model used a parent cell size of 50m(X) x 50m(Y) x 5m(Z), with blocks
sub-celled to a minimum of 12.5m(X) x 12.5m(Y) x 1.25m(Z) to support accurate
representation of contained volumes, with all interpolation carried out on the
parent cell size. Kriging neighbourhood analysis was employed to optimise
estimation parameters, and estimation was completed using three passes. Block
model validation shows acceptable correlation between assays and estimated block
grades.
Classification of the Mineral Resource has considered the drill density,
geological and grade continuity, estimation statistics, and model validation
results. This has resulted in those areas with regular drilling being assigned
an Indicated category, while the remaining areas have been assigned as Inferred.
Closing Comments
PAW President and CEO, Mr. Darren Townsend, commented, "We are very pleased with
this high grade resource estimate which confirms the Mrima Hill Niobium and Rare
Earth Project to be a world class deposit in two metal suites. This combined
with our recent success in achieving a 90% metal dissolution for Niobium and 99%
for Rare Earths in Metallurgical test work bodes well for the future. We look
forward to rapidly advancing the metallurgical work and completing the
Preliminary Economic Assessment for the Project by the end of 2013."
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF
PACIFIC WILDCAT RESOURCES CORP.
Darren Townsend, President & CEO
About Pacific Wildcat Resources Corp. - Pacific Wildcat is a TSX Venture
Exchange listed Canadian mineral exploration company having the trading symbol
"PAW". PAW owns 100% of Stirling Capital Ltd and Cortec Pty Ltd, two UK
companies that between them own a 70% interest in Cortec Mining Kenya Limited, a
Kenyan company which has the mining rights to the Mrima Hill Niobium and Rare
Earth Project in Kenya. In July 2013 the Company completed an updated
independent Niobium Resource estimate for47.8 million tonnes at 0.66% Nb2O5
(Indicated Classification) plus94.4 million tonnes at 0.73 % Nb2O5 (Inferred
Classification) at a 0.2% Nb2O5cut-offfor a total of 2.22 billion pounds
contained Nb2O5. In July 2013 the Company completed an inaugural independent
Total Rare Earth Resource estimate for 48.7 million tonnes at 4.44% TREO
(Indicated Classification) plus 110.7 million tonnes at 3.61 % TREO (Inferred
Classification) at a 1% TREO cut-off for a total of 6.14 million tonnes of
contained TREO. For information about Pacific Wildcat Resources Corp. and its
development and exploration activities shareholders and other interested parties
are invited to visit the company's website at www.pacificwildcat.com.
Investors are cautioned that trading in the securities of Pacific Wildcat
Resources Corp. should be considered highly speculative. The TSX Venture
Exchange has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press
release. 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. Cautionary note:
This press release contains forward looking statements, particularly those
regarding cash flow, capital expenditures, the completion of certain financings,
work programs, the estimation of mineral resources and the Company's plans with
respect to the exploration and development of its projects and its investment
plans. 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. In particular, there can be no assurance that the
Private Placement will complete. 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.
There can be no assurance that the Company will be able to obtain all the
permits that are required in order to commence mining operations at the Mrima
Hill Project.
QUALIFIED PERSON
The mineral resource estimate was completed by Mr. Benjamin C. Pollard, BSc -
Mineral Exploration and Mine Geology. MAIG, principal geologist of BMGS Perth
Pty Ltd (BMGS). Mr. Pollard is an independent Qualified Person under NI 43-101 -
Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101") of the Canadian
Securities Administrators, and Mr. Pollard has verified the data disclosed in
this release. Mr. Pollard will prepare the NI 43-101 report, which will be filed
on SEDAR within 45 days of the date of this press release.
To view Appendix 1, please click on the following link:
http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/paw729-Apx1.pdf.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
Pacific Wildcat Resources Corp.
Terese Gieselman
Company Secretary/Chief Financial Officer
+1-250-768-0009
info@pacificwildcat.com
www.pacificwildcat.com
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