VANCOUVER, Feb. 17, 2016 /CNW/ - Sandstorm Gold Ltd.
("Sandstorm" or the "Company") (NYSE MKT: SAND, TSX: SSL) is
pleased to provide an update at various projects underlying the
Company's streams and royalties.
TRUE GOLD ANNOUNCES STACKING OF ORE ON LEACH PADS AT
KARMA
Construction at the Karma Gold Mine ("Karma") owned by True Gold
Mining Inc. ("True Gold"), is approximately 94% complete with
commissioning activities underway. Over 500,000 tonnes of
stockpiled ore are providing the initial feed to the fully
commissioned soft rock crusher, agglomeration and stacking circuit.
The agglomerated ore is currently being stacked on the leach pad.
Other highlights related to True Gold's progress at Karma are
listed below:
- Piping and solution collection systems for leach pad cells 1 to
3 have been completed;
- Construction of the three process solution ponds (pregnant,
intermediate, and barren) is complete;
- The ADR plant is nearing completion with the final installation
of piping, electrical and instrumentation remaining; and
- Phase I of the grade control drilling program for the Goulagou
II pit has been successfully completed and the results are
consistent with the anticipated tonnage and grade for the volume
drilled.
Sandstorm has a gold stream agreement to purchase 25,000 ounces
of gold over five years and 1.625% of the gold produced thereafter
from the Karma Project. Sandstorm will make ongoing payments of 20%
of the spot price of gold for each ounce purchased from True
Gold.
For more information, visit the True Gold website at
www.truegoldmining.com and see the press release dated
February 11, 2016.
MARIANA RESOURCES ANNOUNCES HIGHEST GRADE GOLD-COPPER
INTERCEPT AT HOT MADEN
Mariana Resources Ltd. ("Mariana"), continues to report high
grade, near-surface gold-copper mineralization from drilling at the
Hot Maden project in Turkey ("Hot
Maden"). The most recent results include the highest grade
gold-copper intercept to date. The key intercepts from the eight
drill holes include:
- HTD-34: 71.0 metres @ 32.7 grams per tonne (g/t) gold and 1.9%
copper from 55 metres downhole, including 22.0 metres @ 83.9 g/t
gold and 1.8% copper from 89 metres downhole.
- HTD-35: 63.6 metres @ 14.5 g/t gold and 3.4% copper from 46.8
metres downhole, including 21.0 metres @ 38.9 g/t gold and 5.1%
copper from 85 metres downhole.
The resource extension drilling at Hot Maden is ongoing and is
expected to be accelerated with the addition of a second drill rig.
There is also metallurgical test work underway to evaluate crushing
and grinding methods and the resulting gold-copper recoveries.
Mariana expects that a maiden Preliminary Economic Assessment of
Hot Maden will be completed in Q4 2016.
For more information and complete drill results visit the
Mariana Resources website at
www.marianaresources.com/news/news-2016 and see the press
release dated February 8, 2016.
Sandstorm holds a 2.0% net smelter returns ("NSR") royalty on
the Hot Maden project.
LAKE SHORE GOLD ANNOUNCES LARGE INITIAL RESOURCE AT 144 GAP
DEPOSIT
Lake Shore Gold Corp. ("Lake Shore") announced the completion of
an initial resource estimate for the 144 Gap Deposit located in
Timmins, Ontario (February 8, 2016 News Release). The reported
resource contains 301,700 contained ounces of gold in the Indicated
category and 319,200 ounces of gold in the Inferred category as
outlined below:
Category
|
Tonnes
|
Capped
Grade
(g/t Au)
|
Ounces
Au
|
Indicated
|
1,734,000
|
5.41
|
301,700
|
Inferred
|
1,914,000
|
5.19
|
319,200
|
- Mineral resource estimates have been classified according to
CIM Definitions and Guidelines.
- Mineral resources incorporate a minimum cut-off grade of 2.6
grams per tonne gold.
- Mineral resources are not reserves and are not economically
viable.
- Cut-off grade is determined using a weighted average gold price
of US$1,100 per ounce and an exchange
rate of $0.90 $US/$CAD.
- Cut-off grades assume mining, G&A and trucking costs of
$74 per tonne and processing costs of
$22 per tonne. Metallurgical
recoveries are estimated at 97.0% based on initial test work.
- Mineral resources have been estimated using Inverse Distance
Squared estimation method and gold grades which have been capped
between 70 and 120 grams per tonne based on statistical analysis of
each zone.
- Assumed minimum mining width is two metres.
- The resource estimate was completed using a total of 291 holes
of new drilling for a total of 176,332 metres. The resources are
contained in nine separate zones lying between the 600 metre and
1,000 metre levels. Average horizontal widths are estimated at
between 30-50 metres.
- The resource estimate has not been filed on SEDAR, but is
anticipated to be filed within 45 days from the announcement date
of February 8, 2016.
- The mineral resources were prepared under the supervision of,
and verified by, Eric Kallio,
P.Geo., Senior Vice-President, Exploration, Lake Shore Gold Corp.,
who is a qualified person under NI 43-101 and an employee of Lake
Shore Gold.
- Tonnes information is rounded to the nearest thousand and gold
ounces to the nearest one hundred. As a result, totals may not add
exactly due to rounding.
Subsequent to the closure of the database for resource
estimation, Lake Shore completed an additional 47 holes (10,134
metres) of core drilling within and surrounding the new resource.
The results from these holes generally confirm the original work
and highlight new opportunities for resource expansion.
For more information and complete drill results, visit the Lake
Shore website at
www.lsgold.com/Investor-Centre/Press-Releases/default.aspx
and see the press release dated February 8,
2016.
Sandstorm holds a 1.0% NSR royalty on the 144 Gap Deposit.
SANDSTORM PROVIDES UPDATE ON TECK TRANSACTION, RECEIVES FIRST
PAYMENT FROM YAMANA STREAMS
Teck Royalty Package
Sandstorm announced an agreement to acquire 56 royalties from Teck
Resources Limited on January 19,
2016. Since that time, 36 of the royalties have been
transferred to the Company, including the 2.0% NSR royalty on the
Hot Maden project referenced above. The remaining royalties are
subject to various transfer consents and are expected to close
before the end of April 2016. It is
expected that Centerra Gold Inc. will exercise the right of first
refusal option on the Öksüt royalty, reducing Sandstorm's purchase
price for the royalty package from US$22
million to US$19 million.
Yamana Streams
In February, Sandstorm received its first silver and copper payment
from Yamana Gold Inc. ("Yamana") in connection with to the
multi-asset stream transaction announced on October 27, 2015. The silver streams are on
Yamana's Minera Florida mine in
Chile and the Chapada mine in
Brazil. Sandstorm expects to
receive approximately 300,000 silver ounces from the silver streams
in 2016. The copper stream is also on the Chapada mine and
Sandstorm expects to receive 3.9 million pounds of copper this
year.
Based on current commodity prices, it is anticipated that the
silver and copper streams will generate approximately US$8.0 million of cash flow in 2016, increasing
to US$19.0 million per annum by 2019.
QUALIFIED PERSON, QA/QC
Keith Laskowski (MSc),
Sandstorm's Vice President, Technical Services is a Qualified
Professional (#01221QP) of the Mining and Metallurgical Society of
America and a Qualified Person as defined by Canadian National
Instrument 43-101. Mr. Laskowski has not independently verified the
resource estimates contained in this disclosure. He has reviewed
and approved the technical information in this press release.
Mariana Resources
Mineralised intervals presented for Hot Maden are drill
intersection widths and may not represent true widths of
mineralisation. Drill core obtained from the diamond drill program
is dominantly HQ-sized core with the remainder being PQ-sized core.
All drill core is photographed and quick logged prior to sampling.
Standard sampling protocol involves the halving of all drill core
and sampling over generally 1 metre intervals (in clearly
mineralized sections) or 2 metre intervals (elsewhere), with one
half of the core being placed in a sealed sample bag and dispatched
to the analytical laboratory for analysis and one half remaining
on-site in core trays.
Analyses of all samples are performed at ALS Laboratories'
facility in Izmir, western Turkey.
All samples are analyzed for gold using a 30 gram Fire Assay with
AAS finish, in addition to a 33 element ICP-AES analysis using a
four acid digest (ME-ICP61). Samples in which ICP analyses
returned greater than the maximum detection limit for the elements
Ag (100 ppm), Cu (10,000 ppm), Fe (50%), Pb (10,000 ppm), and Zn
(10,000 ppm) are reanalyzed using the AAS analytical technique.
Standards and blanks are inserted in to the analytical sequence on
the basis of one standard for every 20 samples, 2 blanks in every
batch, and one duplicate every 40 samples.
Lake Shore Gold
Lake Shore has implemented a quality-control program to ensure best
practice in the sampling and analysis of the drill core. Assays
have been completed using a standard fire assay with a 30-gram
aliquot. For samples that return a value greater than 10 g/t gold,
the sample is fire assayed with a gravimetric finish. Select zones
with visible gold are tested by pulp metallic analysis. NQ size
surface drill core is saw cut and half the drill core is sampled in
standard intervals. The remaining half of the core is stored in a
secure location. BQ size underground drill core is either saw cut
or whole core sampled. The drill core is transported in security
sealed bags for preparation to the ALS Minerals analytical facility
located in Val d'Or Quebec for
fire assay. This ALS Minerals facility is registered ISO 9001-2008
(CERT-0051527) and is SCC ISO/IEC 17025:2005 Accredited (#689).
Most underground drill core is analyzed by Activation Laboratories
Ltd. (Actlabs) in Timmins,
Ontario. Actlabs is an ISO/IEC 17025:2005 Accredited
laboratory. Lake Shore did not provide QA/QC information regarding
geochemical standards or duplicates.
ABOUT SANDSTORM GOLD
Sandstorm Gold Ltd. is a gold streaming and royalty company.
Sandstorm provides upfront financing to gold mining companies that
are looking for capital and in return, receives the right to a
percentage of the gold produced from a mine, for the life of the
mine. Sandstorm has acquired a portfolio of 132 streams and
royalties, of which 19 of the underlying mines are producing.
Sandstorm plans to grow and diversify its low cost production
profile through the acquisition of additional gold streams and
royalties.
For more information visit: www.sandstormgold.com
CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION
This press release contains "forward-looking statements", within
the meaning of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, the U.S. Securities
Exchange Act of 1934, the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act
of 1995 and applicable Canadian securities legislation, concerning
the business, operations and financial performance and condition of
Sandstorm. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited
to, statements with respect to the future price of gold, the
estimation of mineral reserves and resources, realization of
mineral reserve estimates, and the timing and amount of estimated
future production. Forward-looking statements can generally be
identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "may",
"will", "expect", "intend", "estimate", "anticipate", "believe",
"continue", "plans", or similar terminology.
Forward-looking statements are made based upon certain
assumptions and other important factors that, if untrue, could
cause the actual results, performances or achievements of Sandstorm
to be materially different from future results, performances or
achievements expressed or implied by such statements. Such
statements and information are based on numerous assumptions
regarding present and future business strategies and the
environment in which Sandstorm will operate in the future,
including the price of gold and anticipated costs. Certain
important factors that could cause actual results, performances or
achievements to differ materially from those in the forward-looking
statements include, amongst others, gold price volatility,
discrepancies between actual and estimated production, mineral
reserves and resources and metallurgical recoveries, mining
operational and development risks relating to the parties which
produce the gold Sandstorm will purchase, regulatory restrictions,
activities by governmental authorities (including changes in
taxation), currency fluctuations, the global economic climate,
dilution, share price volatility and competition.
Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown
risks, uncertainties and other important factors that may cause the
actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of
Sandstorm to be materially different from those expressed or
implied by such forward-looking statements, including but not
limited to: the impact of general business and economic conditions,
the absence of control over mining operations from which Sandstorm
will purchase gold and risks related to those mining operations,
including risks related to international operations, government and
environmental regulation, actual results of current exploration
activities, conclusions of economic evaluations and changes in
project parameters as plans continue to be refined, risks in the
marketability of minerals, fluctuations in the price of gold,
fluctuation in foreign exchange rates and interest rates, stock
market volatility, as well as those factors discussed in the
section entitled "Risks to Sandstorm" in Sandstorm's annual report
for the financial year ended December 31,
2014 available at www.sedar.com. Although Sandstorm has
attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual
results to differ materially from those contained in
forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause
results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can
be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as
actual results and future events could differ materially from those
anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not
place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Sandstorm does
not undertake to update any forward looking statements that are
contained or incorporated by reference, except in accordance with
applicable securities laws.
SOURCE Sandstorm Gold Ltd.