VANCOUVER, June 18, 2019 /CNW/ - Rathdowney Resources Ltd.
("Rathdowney" or the "Company") (TSX‐V: RTH) is pleased to announce
the results of its Annual General Meeting ("AGM"), held in
Vancouver, BC on June 14, 2019, and to provide an update on its
corporate activities and plans.
At the AGM, shareholders voted in favour of all matters of
business. These matters included appointing DeVisser Gray LLP
as auditors; ratifying and approving extension of the continuation
of the Company's Share Option Plan; setting the number of directors
at eight; and re-electing Lena
Brommeland, Rene Carrier,
David Copeland, Barry Coughlan, George
Ireland, Robert Konski,
Michael Nolan and Dick Whittington to the Company's Board of
Directors.
Following the meeting, management and directors affirmed
management's new direction and strategy. The Company is now
embarking on a focused, two-year plan to secure a Mining License
for its 100%-owned Olza project in Poland. To meet that
objective, management and the project team will be working toward
the following milestones:
- submitting a Land Re-Zoning Application by Q4 2019:
- completing an Environmental Impact Assessment by Q3 2020;
and
- completing a Project Development Report by Q4 2020.
"It is an exciting time for the Company," said Rathdowney
President & CEO Dick
Whittington. "Our strategy offers the opportunity to
materially de-risk our advanced stage Olza project ("Project Olza"
or "Olza") through focused efforts to achieve the goal of securing
a mining license within two years which, we believe, will remove
the number one risk factor facing mining projects world-wide.
Management is actively engaged to secure additional financing to
support this work plan."
Olza is zinc-lead-silver project located in the Upper Silesian
Mining District of southwest Poland, a region of world-class Mississippi
Valley type zinc-lead-silver deposits. Deposits of zinc and
lead were identified in the immediate area of Project Olza though
core drilling by Polish State companies, including the Polish State
Geological Institute ("PSGI"), in the 1950s to 1980s. PSGI also
completed several historical estimates, indicating the potential
for significant zinc-lead resources. An example is PSGI's 1990
estimate of 77 million tonnes at a grade of 6.15% combined zinc and
lead. A qualified person has not done sufficient work to
classify this historical estimate as current mineral resources and
the Company is not treating it as current.
Rathdowney acquired Project Olza in 2010, and initiated
technical studies to advance the project. The Company's
technical team assessed the historical data for the project,
planned and conducted confirmatory core drilling over a portion -
about 30% - of the area of the historical core drilling, and
completed geological and resource studies as well as metallurgical
testing and other engineering work for this area. Current inferred
resources (in the 30% area described above) are 24 million tonnes
at a grade of 7.02% (zinc plus lead)i. In 2015,
the Company announced the results of a Preliminary Economic
Assessment ("PEA") forecasting strong potential financial returns,
including an after-tax Internal Rate of Return ("IRR") of 30%, a
US$170 million Net Present Value
("NPV") and a 2.4-year payback for a 6,000 tonnes per day
underground mine with on-site processing facility at Project
Olzaii. Moreover, the PEA forecasts US$125 million of free cash flow annually, or
US$375 million on a cumulative basis,
over the first three years of operation.
Rathdowney believes that there is excellent potential to
increase the mineral resources, supporting a long life mine at
Project Olza. Only 30% of the area of historical core
drilling at Project Olza has been drill-tested so far by
Rathdowney's confirmatory core drilling program. A recent
Exploration Target Range study further assessed the potential in
the area of the historical drilling but outside of the area of
Rathdowney's current mineral resource. Using conditional
simulation, the study outlined an Exploration Target Range (as
defined under 43-101) of 54 – 92 million tonnes at grades of
3.9-5.2% zinc and 1.0-1.3% leadiii. This Exploration
Target Range is conceptual in nature and is not a mineral resource
estimate. While there is no guarantee if further drilling will lead
to a resource estimate in this range, this Exploration Target Range
represents excellent potential to be followed-up after Project Olza
has a mining license.
Since the release of the positive results from the PEA, the
Company has completed environmental baseline surveys, and conducted
land use planning, geotechnical and further engineering studies to
prepare for the environmental assessment and mine permitting
processes in Poland. Specialists from Rathdowney's project
team in Poland have continued to
meet regularly with local communities in the area of Project Olza
to discuss and obtain input on it is programs and plans, as has
been done during each stage of its project work.
"Rathdowney's comprehensive work programs have put in place a
strong foundation to enable the Olza project to move forward
through the permitting and development stage," said President and
CEO Dick Whittington. "We are
now shifting to a focused plan to be deployed over the next two
years, designed to secure a Mining License - the key step toward
creation of an international standard, first world mining operation
at Project Olza."
The Preliminary Economic Assessment is preliminary in nature and
includes Inferred Mineral Resources that are considered too
speculative geologically to have the economic considerations
applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as Mineral
Reserves. There is no certainty that the PEA will be realized.
The technical disclosure in this release has been reviewed and
approved by Qualified Person ("QP") David
Copeland, PEng, who is Chairman and a director of the
Company.
About Rathdowney and Project Olza
Rathdowney is focused on advancing Project Olza through
permitting and toward production. Located in a region of with a
long mining history and well-developed infrastructure, Project Olza
is along strike from ZGH Boleslaw's Pomorzany zinc-lead mine, which
has produced some 90 Mt (www.geoportal.gov.pl) over some 40 years,
and 25 km north of the ZGH Boleslaw zinc smelter. A spur from the
main national railway line runs through the Olza property and
provides access to local facilities and to other smelters via
Baltic ports. The project site is
a one-hour drive from Krakow, a major city with full services,
including an international airport. Access roads to and from the
property are already in place. Power is available from the existing
electrical grid, and skilled mine workers live in the area.
Rathdowney acquired three land concessions - Zawiercie, Rokitno
and Chechlo – at Project Olza in 2010 and 2011. Although some
drill-testing was done on all three concessions, the Company's
programs have mainly concentrated on the excellent potential on the
Zawiercie and Rokitno concessions. With a refocus of efforts
toward obtaining a mining license for this core area, Rathdowney
also reviewed its land holdings, and has relinquished its interest
in the Chechlo concession.
On behalf of the Board of Directors
J.R.H. (Dick) Whittington
President & CEO
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.
This release includes certain statements that may be deemed
"forward-looking statements". All statements in this release, other
than statements of historical facts, that address exploration
drilling, exploitation activities and events or developments that
the Company expects, are forward looking statements. Although the
Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking
statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are
not guarantees of future performance and actual results or
developments may differ materially from those in the
forward-looking statements. Assumptions used by the Company to
develop forward-looking statements include the following: Project
Olza will obtain all required environmental and other permits and
all land use and other licenses, studies and development of Project
Olza will continue to be positive, and no geological or technical
problems will occur. Factors that could cause actual results to
differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include
market prices, exploitation and exploration successes, continuity
of mineralization, potential environmental issues and liabilities
associated with exploration, development and mining activities,
uncertainties related to the ability to obtain necessary permits,
licenses and title and delays due to third party opposition,
changes in government policies regarding mining and natural
resource exploration and exploitation, continued availability of
capital and financing, and general economic, market or business
conditions. Investors are cautioned that any such statements are
not guarantees of future performance and actual results or
developments may differ materially from those projected in the
forward-looking statements. For more information on the Company,
investors should review the Company's continuous disclosure filings
that are available at www.sedar.com.
_____________________________
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i
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At 2% Zn cut-off, as
audited and verified and restated at February 2015 by independent
QP - L. Roberts, MAusIMM (CP) of SRK Consulting (UK) Ltd.
Individual metal grades are 5.53% Zn and 1.49% Pb. Mineral
Resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated
economic viability.
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ii
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For further details,
see Rathdowney news release dated April 20, 2015 or the PEA
technical report posted on the Company's website and on its profile
at www.sedar.com.
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iii
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Olza Project
Exploration Target Range (ETR) Study, unpublished internal
report, by R. Mohan Srivastava and David Gaunt (2019). Mr.
Gaunt is a QP that is not independent of the Company and Mr.
Srivastava is an independent QP. The exploration target area
of interest is inside the Zawiercie and Rokitno concessions and
substantially overlaps the area of historical estimates but
excludes the footprint of the current mineral resource and a buffer
zone surrounding it. The exploration target ranges (ETR) of
tonnages and grades were derived by completing a series of 100
equally plausible conditional simulations. A histogram of the
tonnage and grade values from these simulations was completed, and
the 10th and 90th percentile selected as the ETR bounds.
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SOURCE Rathdowney Resources Ltd.