Engineering & Mining Journal

APR 2017

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REGIONAL NEWS - EXPLORATION ROUNDUP 18 E&MJ; • APRIL 2017 www.e-mj.com Newmont Secures Earn-in Rights to Goldstrike's Plateau Property Newmont Mining and Goldstrike Resourc- es have announced an agreement that provides Newmont with rights to explore and develop Goldstrike's highly prospec- tive Plateau gold properties in east-cen- tral Yukon Territory, Canada. The agree- ment calls for Newmont to make phased investments that could total as much as $39.5 million to purchase interests in Goldstrike, for exploration spending, and to complete a feasibility study by Decem- ber 15, 2027. If the agreement is carried through to its conclusion, Newmont may earn 80% equity in the Plateau property. The Plateau property is a newly dis- covered, district-scale gold system con- sisting of more than 2,000 claims, where exploration by Goldstrike has identified high-grade gold mineralization along a trend that extends for 50 kilometers (km) and remains open. Goldstrike's 2016 ex- ploration program expanded known gold mineralization at the property's Goldstack zone, provided the company with a better understanding of the widespread nature of gold mineralization on the properties, and completed a regional prospecting and staking program to ensure the com- pany continues to control the key ground in the district. Phase 1 of the Newmont/Goldstrike agreement calls for exploration spending of $19 million by December 2019 and delivery of a technical report that includes estimates of mineral reserves and resourc- es by the end of March 2021. If Newmont completes Phase 1, it will have earned a 51% interest in the Plateau properties. If Newmont elects to proceed with Phase 2, it may earn a further 24% inter- est in the properties by incurring an addi- tional $16 million in exploration expendi- tures and completing a feasibility study by December 15, 2027. Newmont's interest may increase by an additional 5%, de- pending on subsequent financing options. "We are very pleased to have secured an important investment and strategic alliance with an industry leader such as Newmont on favorable terms that mini- mize dilution to our shareholders," said Goldstrike President and CEO Terrence King. "Goldstrike is now fully funded to move forward and unlock the full potential of the district-scale Plateau gold project." Newmont and Goldstrike are jointly managing the 2017 exploration program at Plateau. Newmont will manage explo- ration on the properties thereafter. (www.goldstrikeresources.com and www.newmont.com) Exploration Briefs Osisko Mining has entered into a binding letter of intent with Deloitte Restructur- ing, acting as trustee in bankruptcy for Maudore Minerals, to acquire ownership of a land package of 1,205 claims in the Lebel-sur-Quévillon area of Québec. The acquisition adds to 2,942 claims recent- ly acquired by Osisko in the same area by staking. The combined land area of the two acquisitions totals 2,160 km 2 and has been named the "Quévillon project" by Osisko. The Quévillon project includes ap- proximately 30 known gold showings as well as the historic Osbell gold deposit, located 17 km northwest of the town of Lebel-sur-Quévillon and 112 km west of Osisko's Windfall Lake gold project. The Osbell deposit has been the object of significant drilling over the past 15 years and will be the focus of new drilling and resource re-evaluation by Osisko. Osisko President and CEO John Burzynski said, "The acquisition of the Quévillon land package strengthens our position in this region and is consistent with our strategy of controlling significant land positions in the Abitibi, where we believe Osisko will unlock the exploration potential and develop the next generation of Canadian gold mines." (www.osiskomining.com) reported that under- ground exploration drilling has discovered a new gold deposit, the Lantern deposit, at its Cosmo mine in Australia's Northern Territory. The deposit is located within 100 m of underground infrastructure and remains open for expansion along strike and down plunge. Mineralization of the Lantern deposit is generally hosted within fine-grained, iron-rich siltstones and to a lesser extent in silica nodular greywacke units. The high gold grades encountered (up to 170 g/mt gold over 1 m in one intercept) are usually found in veins, with the higher-grade veins occurring as quartz-chlorite-pyrite mineral assemblages that can contain a substan- tially higher amount of coarse visible gold than is typical in the Cosmo deposit. Kirkland Lake has an ongoing explo- ration program to evaluate further down- plunge extensions of the Lantern deposit, as well as scoping and resource definition drilling and construction of underground development to access the deposit. The Cosmo mine is located 160 km south of Darwin. Its gold production during 2017 is forecast at 60,000 oz to 65,000 oz. (www.klgold.com) Endeavour Silver reported that explo- ration drilling continues to expand re- cently discovered, high-grade silver-gold mineralized zones to greater depths in the Terronera vein and at shallow depths in the La Luz vein at its Terronera property in Jalisco state, Mexico. Recent drilling in the Terronera vein has expanded the main high-grade miner- alized zone down to 400 meters (m), with the zone remaining open at depth and to the southeast. Drilling has also intercept- ed mineralized footwall and hangingwall splays that in some places merge to form one very thick mineralized zone. At the La Luz vein, located about 2.2 km northeast of the Terronera vein, recent drilling has expanded the new high-grade mineralized zone to a length of more than 500 m and to a depth of 250 m, starting approximately 100 m below surface. The discovery is still open at depth. "Although narrower than the Terronera vein, mineralization in the La Luz vein is much higher grade, more gold rich and shallower in depth," said Endeavour Sil- ver CEO Bradford Cooke. "Both sets of drill results indicate the excellent explo- ration potential of the property. Several other veins hosting high-grade mineral- ization on surface north of the Terronera vein are scheduled for drilling this year. Two drill rigs are currently working on the Terronera property." (www.edrsilver.com)

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