TSX: IMG NYSE: IAG
TORONTO,
Oct. 4, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -
IAMGOLD Corporation ("IAMGOLD" or the "Company") announced
today an updated resource estimate in accordance with National
Instrument 43-101 for its recently acquired Côté Gold Project,
located halfway between Timmins
and Sudbury in northern
Ontario. The mineral resource
estimate incorporates assay results from an additional 79 holes
(44,856 metres) since the February 24,
2012 estimate announced by Trelawney Mining and Exploration
Inc. ("Trelawney").
The new Côté Gold resource estimate consists of an Indicated
Resource of 131 million tonnes averaging 0.84 grams of gold per
tonne for 3.56 million ounces and an Inferred Resource of 165
million tonnes averaging 0.88 grams of gold per tonne for 4.66
million ounces. The updated resource estimate, based on a cut-off
grade of 0.30 grams of gold per tonne, represents a 274% increase
in Indicated Resources from the previous estimate as reported by
Trelawney, also based on a cut-off grade of 0.30 grams of gold per
tonne. The updated Côté Gold resource estimate benefited from both
infill drilling that substantially upgraded the quality of the
estimate through conversion of Inferred Resources to Indicated
Resources as well as step-out drilling to expand the overall
resource base compared to the prior resource.
Stephen Letwin, President and
Chief Executive Officer of IAMGOLD, said, "The substantial increase
in resource tonnes and ounces at Côté Gold further validates the
confidence that we have had in this project all along. Our
belief that we had acquired a very promising deposit with the
potential to add significant value to our portfolio of assets
reflects months spent subjecting this project to rigorous due
diligence. I applaud the hard work of our exploration team in
achieving a seamless transition since the acquisition of the
property in June and refocusing efforts on infill drilling.
With over 44% of the resource now in the Indicated category
compared to 14% previously, we've come a long way in improving the
quality of the mineral resources required to support detailed
economic studies."
Commented Craig MacDougall,
Senior Vice President Exploration: "Drilling continues at the site
with the intent of converting a significant proportion of the
remaining Inferred Resource to the Indicated category. With the
delineation drilling program progressing so well, and completion
expected early next year, our exploration team is now starting
to broaden its focus towards additional exploration targets within
our large land position."
The mineral resource estimate has been carried out by
Roscoe Postle Associates Inc.
("RPA") and reported in accordance with National Instrument 43-101
requirements and CIM Estimation Best Practice Guidelines. The
resource estimate was prepared by RPA Associate Principal Geologist
Jamie Lavigne, P.Geo. with geostatistical input and verification
provided by Mohan Srivastava, P.Geo.
An updated NI 43-101 Technical Report will be posted on SEDAR
at www.sedar.com on or before October 24,
2012.
A preliminary open pit optimization algorithm was run on the
estimated grade block model to constrain the resource and to
support the CIM requirement that Mineral Resources have reasonable
prospects for economic extraction. The resource estimate assumes a
long term gold price of US$1600/ounce. All production cost and technical
parameters assumed for the new estimate are more conservative than
parameters used for the prior resource estimate. Only
mineralization contained within the preliminary pit shell has been
included in the resource estimate.
The table below presents the mineral resource at the 0.30 grams
of gold per tonne cut-off as well as at several additional cut-off
grades for comparison purposes. The effective date of this resource
estimate is October 4, 2012 and
includes all validated drill results as at August 1, 2012.
CÔté GOLD PROJECT
- MINERAL RESOURCE ESTIMATE
October 4, 2012 |
Classification |
Cut‐off Grade
g/t Au |
Tonnes
Millions |
Grade
g/t Au |
Contained Au
Millions of ounces |
INDICATED |
0.25 |
136 |
0.82 |
3.61 |
0.30 |
131 |
0.84 |
3.56 |
0.40 |
116 |
0.91 |
3.39 |
0.50 |
97 |
1.00 |
3.12 |
|
|
|
|
|
INFERRED |
0.25 |
172 |
0.85 |
4.73 |
0.30 |
165 |
0.88 |
4.66 |
0.40 |
144 |
0.96 |
4.43 |
0.50 |
122 |
1.05 |
4.12 |
Notes:
- CIM Definition Standards were followed for Mineral
Resources.
- Mineral Resources are reported on a 100% basis; IAMGOLD has
a 92.5% average attributable ownership of this project.
- Mineral Resources are reported at a cut-off grade of 0.30
g/t Au assuming a gold price of US$1,600 per ounce and process recovery of
93.5%.
- Mineral Resources reported are constrained within a
conceptual pit shell, generated using reasonable assumptions for
economic and technical parameters.
- High assays are capped at 20 g/t Au.
- Bulk density ranges from 2.71 t/m3to 2.79
t/m3depending on rock type.
- Mineral Resources are not Mineral Reserves and do not yet
have demonstrated economic viability, but are deemed to have a
reasonable prospect of economic extraction.
- Numbers may not add due to rounding.
This mineral resource estimate includes drilling through
August 1, 2012 and is based on assay
results from a total of 208 diamond drill holes (110,722 metres).
Since the completion of the February 24,
2012 estimate, which was based on 129 diamond drill holes
(65,866 metres), a further 79 diamond drill holes (44,856 metres)
were completed and validated as at August 1,
2012. Mineralized wireframes were interpreted and used to
constrain grade interpolation by ordinary kriging with validation
by inverse distance and change-of-support adjusted grade-tonnage
curves.
Next Steps
- Complete the 2012 infill drilling program.
- Provide a resource update for Côté Gold based on all validated
drill results on hand as at October 1,
2012 as part of the Company's annual year-end Mineral
Reserves and Resources statement.
- Target the commencement of a pre-feasibility study in the
fourth quarter of 2012.
Gordon Stothart, Executive Vice
President and Chief Operating Officer of IAMGOLD, stated, "Cote
Gold is my idea of the perfect project as it's yet another
opportunity to leverage the expertise of our in-house development
and construction team. We have years of experience creating value
by acquiring quality development projects and using our own
engineering and construction professionals to build mines and bring
them into production on time and on budget. When you've done that
successfully in remote and challenging environments as this team
has, you can certainly do it in northern Ontario with convenient access to
well-established comprehensive infrastructure. We plan to
initiate a pre-feasibility study in the coming months and complete
it in the second half of 2013, thereby enabling us to more fully
understand and communicate the economic attractiveness of this
project to convert these outstanding resource numbers into
reserves."
IAMGOLD acquired a 92.5% beneficial interest in the Côté Gold
deposit through its acquisition of Trelawney on June 21, 2012. The acquisition included interests
in an extensive land holding totaling approximately 520 square
kilometres surrounding the deposit. Mineralization, which has
been intersected over a strike length of 1,200 metres, a horizontal
width of 100 to 300 metres and a depth extent of more than 500
metres, consists of low to moderate grade gold associated with weak
disseminated sulphides hosted within a variably altered and
brecciated intermediate to felsic intrusive complex.
Qualified Persons
The Côté Gold mineral resource estimate for the Côté Gold Project
has been carried out by Jamie
Lavigne, P.Geo., Associate Principal Geologist with RPA, an
independent qualified person under NI 43-101, including the
verification of the data disclosed, and the review and approval of
the contents of this release. Marie-France
Bugnon, P.Geo., General Manager, Exploration, Canada, for IAMGOLD, a Qualified Person under
NI 43-101, has supervised the scientific or technical information
for the property. Craig MacDougall,
P.Geo., Senior Vice President, Exploration, for IAMGOLD, a
Qualified Person under NI 43-101, has also reviewed and approved
the contents of this release.
Cautionary Note to U.S. Investors
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission limits
disclosure for U.S. reporting purposes to mineral deposits that a
company can economically and legally extract or produce.
IAMGOLD uses certain terms in this presentation, such as
"measured," "indicated," or "inferred," which may not be consistent
with the reserve definitions established by the SEC. U.S.
investors are urged to consider closely the disclosure in the
IAMGOLD Annual Reports on Forms 40-F. You can review and
obtain copies of these filings from the SEC's website at
http://www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml or by contacting the Investor
Relations department.
Forward Looking Statement
This news release contains forward-looking statements. All
statements, other than of historical fact, that address activities,
events or developments that the Company believes, expects or
anticipates will or may occur in the future (including, without
limitation, statements regarding expected, estimated or planned
gold and niobium production, cash costs, margin expansion, capital
expenditures and exploration expenditures and statements regarding
the estimation of mineral resources, exploration results, potential
mineralization, potential mineral resources and mineral reserves)
are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are
generally identifiable by use of the words "may", "will", "should",
"continue", "expect", "anticipate", "outlook", "guidance",
"estimate", "believe", "intend", "plan" or "project" or the
negative of these words or other variations on these words or
comparable terminology. Forward-looking statements are subject to a
number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the
Company's ability to control or predict, that may cause the actual
results of the Company to differ materially from those discussed in
the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause
actual results or events to differ materially from current
expectations include, among other things, without limitation:
changes in the global prices for gold, niobium, copper, silver or
certain other commodities (such as diesel, aluminum and
electricity); changes in U.S. dollar and other currency exchange
rates, interest rates or gold lease rates; risks arising from
holding derivative instruments; the level of liquidity and capital
resources; access to capital markets, financing and interest rates;
mining tax regimes; ability to successfully integrate acquired
assets; legislative, political or economic developments in the
jurisdictions in which the Company carries on business; operating
or technical difficulties in connection with mining or development
activities; laws and regulations governing the protection of the
environment; employee relations; availability and increasing costs
associated with mining inputs and labour; the speculative nature of
exploration and development, including the risks of diminishing
quantities or grades of reserves; adverse changes in the Company's
credit rating; contests over title to properties, particularly
title to undeveloped properties; and the risks involved in the
exploration, development and mining business. With respect to
development projects, IAMGOLD's ability to sustain or increase its
present levels of gold production is dependent in part on the
success of its projects. Risks and unknowns inherent in all
projects include the inaccuracy of estimated reserves and
resources, metallurgical recoveries, capital and operating costs of
such projects, and the future prices for the relevant
minerals. Development projects have no operating history upon
which to base estimates of future cash flows. The capital
expenditures and time required to develop new mines or other
projects are considerable, and changes in costs or construction
schedules can affect project economics. Actual costs and
economic returns may differ materially from IAMGOLD's estimates or
IAMGOLD could fail to obtain the governmental approvals necessary
for the operation of a project; in either case, the project may not
proceed, either on its original timing or at all.
About IAMGOLD
IAMGOLD (www.iamgold.com) is a leading mid-tier gold mining company
producing approximately one million ounces annually from five gold
mines (including current joint ventures) on three continents. In
the Canadian province of Québec, the Company also operates Niobec
Inc., which produces more than 4.5 million kilograms of niobium
annually, and owns a rare earth element resource close to its
niobium mine. IAMGOLD is uniquely positioned with a strong
financial position and extensive management and operational
expertise. To grow from this strong base, IAMGOLD has a
pipeline of development and exploration projects and continues to
assess accretive acquisition opportunities. IAMGOLD's growth
plans are strategically focused in certain regions in Canada, select countries in South America and Africa.
SOURCE IAMGOLD Corporation