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REGIONAL NEWS - EXPLORATION ROUNDUP Pretium Reports Brucejack Progress Pretium Resources reports that initial results from the 2012 drill program at its Brucejack gold project in northern British Columbia continue to confirm the projec- tion and continuity of high-grade mineral- ization in the project's Valley of the Kings zone. An initial 25,000-m, in-fill drill pro- gram is in progress. The first holes are focused on delineating the eastern end of the Valley of the Kings and testing for extension of the zone to the east. The pri- mary objective of the 2012 drilling is to increase drill density to upgrade inferred resources to indicated in support of a fea- sibility study that is currently under way. High-grade gold resources in the Valley of the Kings at a 5-g/mt gold-equivalent cut-off currently total 4.9 million oz indi- cated in 8.9 million mt grading 17.3 g/mt and 10.4 million oz inferred in 12.7 mil- lion mt grading 25.5 g/mt. An updated high-grade resource estimate based on the initial 2012 drill program is anticipated in the third quarter of this year. Pretium has filed a permit application to access the Valley of the Kings under- ground by driving an exploration decline from the 1,330-m level of the existing West zone underground workings, and the com- pany is planning a second phase of 2012 drilling to test extensions of the Valley of the Kings zone along strike and at depth. (www.pretium.com) Exploration Briefs Renaissance Minerals has acquired OZ Minerals' Cambodian gold project in eastern Cambodia for A$17.8 million in cash, shares, and options, along with possible future payments of A$22.5 million based on achieving certain milestones. The project covers an area of approximately 1,100 km2 within the core of a prospective new intru- sive-related gold province in the eastern region of the Cambodia. A JORC indicated and inferred resource estimate of 12.6 mil- lion mt grading 1.8 g/mt gold, containing 729,000 oz of gold, has been defined at the Okvau gold deposit within the project area. Mineralization at Okvau remains open at depth and along strike, and Renaissance currently has one diamond drill rig undertak- ing extensional drilling to expand the resource. The project area includes a number of high-priority exploration prospects based upon anomalous geochemistry, geology, and geophysics that remain untested by drilling, 48 E&MJ; • JUNE 2012 and Renaissance plans to bring in a second diamond drill rig to test these prospects. Possible future payments by OZ Minerals include A$10 million in cash con- tingent upon the earlier of either a 1.2-mil- lion-oz gold resource being defined or a decision to mine. A further A$12.5-million cash payment is payable six months after the first gold pour. Renaissance Minerals is an Australian junior company headquartered in Subiaco, Western Australia. (www.renaissanceminerals.com.au) Energy Resources of Australia (ERA) has begun construction of an exploration decline to access the Ranger 3 Deeps ore- body at its Ranger mine in the Northern Territory of Australia. ERA will invest an estimated A$120 million in the decline to provide a platform for close-spaced under- ground drilling to further define the Ranger 3 Deeps ore body and to explore areas adjacent to the resource. ERA has engaged Macmahon Holdings to construct the 2.2- km decline to a depth of about 400 m. The Ranger 3 Deeps ore body is located adjacent to ERA's Pit 3, which is nearing the end of its operating life. The orebody hosts an estimated resource of 34,000 mt of contained uranium oxide. In addition to the exploration decline project, ERA has allocated A$55 million for further studies. ERA also is conducting an extensive surface drilling program on prospective and under-explored areas of the Ranger project area during 2012-2014 at an estimated cost of A$40 million. (www.energyres.com.au) Endeavour Mining has discovered new zones of gold-bearing oxide mineralization within the Salman Trend at its 90%-owned Nzema gold mine in Ghana. Oxide mineralization was intersected in wide-spaced traverses of reverse circulation drilling across the former site of the Salman village. Drilling was con- ducted following completion of village reset- tlement in March 2012. The area drilled extends 800 m from the Salman Central 02 pit to the Nugget Hill 02 and Teberu 4 pits. The reconnaissance traverses were the first systematic test of the old village site and adjacent areas, which could not be accessed for exploration drilling in the past. The new intersections suggest that the mineralized trends at Teberu and Nugget Hill may extend south to Salman Central through this area. In-fill traverses of reverse circulation drilling were planned for May and June of this year to determine the strike continuity of the mineralization. This will be followed by deeper drilling of any mineralized trends that are delineated. Exploration will contin- ue to focus on the Salman Trend because the area is on a granted mining lease and close to mine infrastructure, so any addi- tional oxide mineralization can quickly be converted to reserves and added to the mine production schedule. The Nzema mine began production in late 2010 based on mineral reserves in the Salman, Anwia and Bokrobo deposits. The mineral reserves on the Salman Trend include oxide and some transitional ore contained within a string of open pits along a 9-km trend. (www.endeavourmining.com) First Quantum Minerals and Zincore Metals announced in early May 2012 that First Quantum has acquired a 19.99% interest in Zincore and entered into a staged earn- in agreement whereby First Quantum may acquire up to 80% of Zincore over eight years by achieving specified objectives. Zincore's primary asset is its Dolores explo- ration project in the Yauri-Andahuaylas copper district of southern Peru, approxi- mately 40 km from the Haquira deposit, which First Quantum is currently develop- ing. To date, Zincore has published results from 10 drill holes, two trenches, and a number of surface samples at Dolores. Zincore President and CEO Jorge Benavides said, "The funds that First Quantum will invest in Zincore will allow us to more actively pursue the prefeasibility study for our flagship project, the Accha zinc oxide district. At the same time, funds will be available to explore the Dolores area much more aggressively than we could on our own. This will put us in a good position to deliver significant results for both our copper and zinc projects sooner than we could without the help of our new strate- gic partner. We are operating in a time of difficult capital markets and a strong strate- gic partner will be able to help us minimize share issuance dilution while still allowing us to achieve important milestones." (www.first-quantum.comand www.zincoremetals.com) www.e-mj.com