TORONTO, Feb. 6, 2020 /CNW/ - RNC Minerals (TSX: RNX)
("RNC" or the "Company") today announced that the Company has filed
on SEDAR an independent technical report prepared in accordance
with National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for
Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101") supporting the mineral reserve
statement for the Beta Hunt Mine previously reported in the
Company's news release dated December 23,
2019.
The full technical report, titled "Technical Report Western
Australia Operations – Eastern Goldfields: Beta Hunt Mine
(Kambalda) and Higginsville Gold Operations (Higginsville)", can be
found under the Company's issuer profile at www.sedar.com.
The Beta Hunt Mine gold Mineral Reserve estimate as at
November 1st 2019 is
presented in Table 1.
Table 1: Beta Hunt Mine Gold Mineral Reserve as at
November 01,
20191,2,3,4
Mining
Area
|
Proven
|
Probable
|
Total
|
Tonnes kt
|
Grade g/t
|
Ounces koz
|
Tonnes kt
|
Grade g/t
|
Ounces koz
|
Tonnes kt
|
Grade g/t
|
Ounces Koz
|
Western
Flanks
|
170
|
2.7
|
15
|
2,900
|
2.9
|
260
|
3,070
|
2.9
|
275
|
A
Zone
|
81
|
2.9
|
7.6
|
300
|
2.4
|
23
|
381
|
2.5
|
31
|
Total
|
251
|
2.8
|
23
|
3,200
|
2.8
|
283
|
3,450
|
2.8
|
306
|
Notes:
- The Mineral Reserve is reported at a 2.0g/t cut-off grade
- Key assumptions used in the economic evaluation include:
- a metal price of US$1,400 per oz
gold and an exchange rate of 0.69
US$:A$
- Metallurgical recovery of 94%
- Operating Mining Costs, processing and G&A costs of
A$111.71/tonne (A$, excluding
capital. Transcription error in RNC's December 23, 2019 news release has been corrected
– previously reported as A$105.35/t,
does not impact Mineral Reserves)
- The Mineral Reserve is depleted for all mining to November 01, 2019.
- The tonnes and grades are stated to a number of significant
digits reflecting the confidence of the estimate. Since each number
is rounded individually, the table may show apparent
inconsistencies between the sum of rounded components and the
corresponding rounded total. Rounding has been revised
following publication of the reserve statement in Table 2 of RNC's
December 23, 2019 news release. No
change to Mineral Reserves.
Compliance Statement (JORC 2012 and NI 43-101)
The Gold Mineral Reserve estimates set out in this release were
calculated by Entech Pty Ltd of Perth, Western
Australia, who were employed by RNC Minerals to undertake
the Gold Mineral Reserve estimate for Beta Hunt. The Gold Mineral
Reserve estimates have been prepared using accepted industry
practice and classified in accordance with the JORC Code, 2012
Edition by Ross Moger, under the
supervision of Shane McLeay,
FAusIMM. Both are employees of Entech Pty. Ltd (SLM).
Mr McLeay is a mining engineer and Fellow of the AusIMM and has
sufficient experience that is relevant to the style of
mineralization and type of deposit under consideration and to the
activity being undertaken to qualify as a Competent Person as
defined in the JORC Code, 2012 Edition, and fulfils the
requirements to be a "Qualified Person" for the purposes of NI
43-101.
Mr. Stephen Devlin, FAusIMM, Vice
President Exploration and Growth for Salt Lake Mining Pty Ltd, a
100% subsidiary company of RNC Minerals, fulfils the requirements
to be a "Qualified Person" for the purposes of NI 43-101. Mr.Devlin
has reviewed and approved the disclosure of the technical
information included in this news release.
The "JORC Code" means the Australasian Code for Reporting of
Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves prepared by the Joint Ore
Reserves Committee of the Australasian Institute of Mining and
Metallurgy, Australian Institute of Geoscientists and Mineral
Council of Australia. There are no material differences
between the definitions of Mineral Resources or Mineral Reserves
under the applicable definitions adopted by the Canadian Institute
of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (the "CIM Definition
Standards") and the corresponding equivalent definitions in the
JORC Code for Mineral Resources.
About RNC Minerals
RNC is focused on growing gold production and reducing costs at
its integrated Beta Hunt Gold Mine and Higginsville Gold Operations
("HGO") in Western Australia. The
Higginsville treatment facility is a low-cost 1.4 Mtpa processing
plant which is fed at capacity from RNC's underground Beta Hunt
mine and open pit Higginsville mines. At Beta Hunt, a robust gold
mineral resource and reserve is hosted in multiple gold shears,
with gold intersections along a 4 km strike length remaining open
in multiple directions. HGO has a substantial historical gold
resource and highly prospective land package totaling approximately
1,800 square kilometers. In addition, RNC has a 28% interest in a
nickel joint venture that owns the Dumont Nickel-Cobalt Project
located in the Abitibi region of Quebec. Dumont contains the second largest
nickel reserve and ninth largest cobalt reserve in the world. RNC
has a strong Board and management team focused on delivering
shareholder value. RNC's common shares trade on the TSX under the
symbol RNX. RNC shares also trade on the OTCQX market under the
symbol RNKLF.
Cautionary Statement Concerning Forward-Looking
Statements
This news release contains "forward-looking information"
including without limitation statements relating to the liquidity
and capital resources of RNC, production guidance and the potential
of the Beta Hunt Mine, Higginsville Gold Operation and Dumont
Nickel Project.
Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks,
uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results,
performance or achievements of RNC to be materially different from
any future results, performance or achievements expressed or
implied by the forward-looking statements. Factors that could
affect the outcome include, among others: future prices and the
supply of metals; the results of drilling; inability to raise the
money necessary to incur the expenditures required to retain and
advance the properties; environmental liabilities (known and
unknown); general business, economic, competitive, political and
social uncertainties; results of exploration programs; accidents,
labour disputes and other risks of the mining industry; political
instability, terrorism, insurrection or war; or delays in obtaining
governmental approvals, projected cash operating costs, failure to
obtain regulatory or shareholder approvals. For a more detailed
discussion of such risks and other factors that could cause actual
results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by
such forward-looking statements, refer to RNC's filings with
Canadian securities regulators, including the most recent Annual
Information Form, available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.
Although RNC has attempted to identify important factors that
could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially
from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be
other factors that cause actions, events or results to differ from
those anticipated, estimated or intended. Forward-looking
statements contained herein are made as of the date of this news
release and RNC disclaims any obligation to update any
forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information,
future events or results or otherwise, except as required by
applicable securities laws.
Cautionary Statement Regarding Higginsville
A production decision at the Higginsville gold operations was
made by previous operators of the mine, prior to the completion of
the acquisition of the Higginsville gold operations by RNC and RNC
made a decision to continue production subsequent to the
acquisition. This decision by RNC to continue production and, to
the knowledge of RNC, the prior production decision were not based
on a feasibility study of mineral reserves, demonstrating economic
and technical viability, and, as a result, there may be an
increased uncertainty of achieving any particular level of recovery
of minerals or the cost of such recovery, which include increased
risks associated with developing a commercially mineable deposit.
Historically, such projects have a much higher risk of economic and
technical failure. There is no guarantee that anticipated
production costs will be achieved. Failure to achieve the
anticipated production costs would have a material adverse impact
on the Corporation's cash flow and future profitability. Readers
are cautioned that there is increased uncertainty and higher risk
of economic and technical failure associated with such production
decisions.
SOURCE RNC Minerals