Engineering & Mining Journal

DEC 2012

Engineering and Mining Journal - Whether the market is copper, gold, nickel, iron ore, lead/zinc, PGM, diamonds or other commodities, E&MJ takes the lead in projecting trends, following development and reporting on the most efficient operating pr

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REGIONAL NEWS - EXPLORATION ROUNDUP Pretium Reports 66% Increase in Valley of the Kings Indicated Gold Resource Pretium Resources reports that the indicated gold resource in the Valley of the Kings zone of its Brucejack project 65 km north of the town of Stewart in northwestern British Columbia has increased 66% to 8.5 million oz at a cut-off grade of 5 g/mt of gold equivalent from an interim resource announced in early September 2012. The indicated resource is contained in 16.1 million mt grading 16.4 g/mt gold. The company also reports an inferred resource of 2.9 million oz of gold in 5.4 million mt grading 17 g/mt. The new estimates incorporate data from all drilling on the Valley of the Kings zone as of late November 2012, including 2012 drilling comprising 99,632 m in 270 drill holes. The Valley of the Kings zone remains open to the east and west along strike and at depth. Pretium has initiated an underground exploration program designed, among other things, to access the Valley of the Kings underground and demonstrate continuity of the high-grade gold mineralization. The company is completing mining and sampling plans for a 10,000-mt underground bulk sample that it expects to excavate from the Valley of the Kings in the second quarter of 2013. Also under way is a feasibility study for an underground mine with an operating rate of 2,700 mt/d using a long-hole stoping mining method and cemented paste backfill. Pretium plans to incorporate the updated indicated mineral resource into the feasibility study, which it expects to complete in the second quarter of 2013. (www.pretivm.com) Exploration Briefs Lumina Copper reports significant increases in the known sulphide copper, gold and molybdenum resources on its 100%-owned Taca Taca copper-gold-molybdenum project in Salta province, Argentina. At a 0.3% copper equivalent cut-off, total contained sulphide copper in the indicated resource category is estimated to be 21.1 billion lb of copper, while total contained sulphide copper in the inferred resource category is estimated to be 7.6 billion lb of copper. The Taca Taca sulphide mineral resource is comprised of primary and supergene mineralization. The supergene zone contains higher average grades. Lumina is investigating whether this zone may form the basis of a starter pit for the project. The base case cut-off grade for the Taca Taca sulphide resource estimate has been decreased from 0.4% to 0.3% copper equivalent to align the estimate with the net smelter return cut-off that will be used to define the parameters of the mine plan to be incorporated in a forthcoming preliminary economic assessment (PEA). There has been no change to the cut-off grade of 0.2 g/mt gold for the oxide gold resource estimate. 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MineARC's patented CoalSAFE refuge chamber model is also the only model in the world that is built to US MSHA 2009 'Final Rule' (Refuge Alternatives in Underground Coal Mines). MineARC is the only refuge chamber manufacturer in the world with an ISO: 9001 quality rating. MineARC was named the West Australian Exporter of the Year in 2010 and 2012, and a finalist in the Australian Exporter of the Year Awards, in the same years. www.e-mj.com

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