WHITEHORSE, YT, Feb. 23, 2022 /CNW/ - Minto Metals Corp. ("Minto"
or the "Company") (TSXV: MNTO) today announced receipt of a 10-year
Class 4 Quartz Mining Land Use Permit from the Yukon Government for
exploration activities on its claims and provided an overview of
its 2022 Exploration Program.
Minto received approval from the Chief of Mining Land Use for
the Yukon for a 10-year Class 4
Quartz Mining Land Use Permit #: LQ00565. The Permit, subject
to certain restrictions and conditions, enables Minto to diamond
drilling, geophysical surveys and other associated exploration
land-use activities on its mining claims. The Permit includes
the Minto Mine Property which falls entirely within the R-06A
Settlement Lands of the Selkirk First Nation and comprises 164
Quartz Mining Claims covering an area of 26 km2.
Refer to Figures 1 & 2 showing Minto's land position in the
Yukon and the Land Use Permit,
LQ00565, quartz mining claims, respectively.
Minto's long-term Exploration strategy mandates minimal
disturbance which can be achieved through the utilization of modern
state-of-the-art techniques in targeting and data
acquisition. Minto is fully committed to conducting
exploration activities in a socially and environmentally
responsible manner.
"The issuance of this Exploration Permit is a key part of our
strategy to reignite exploration efforts on the Minto claims after
nearly a decade of no exploration drilling happening on this
property. We are excited to begin drill testing previously
unexplored, high potential targets close to our existing mine
operations infrastructure and hope to build upon our current 23
million tonne resource," added Chris
Stewart, President and Chief Executive Officer for
Minto. "We continue to work closely with the Selkirk First
Nation and the Yukon Government on our permitting requirements and
are pleased to have received our Exploration permit at this
time."
2022 Exploration Programming
The Board of
Directors recently approved a CDN$9.2M exploration program for 2022. The
program will consist of:
- 30,000 meters of surface diamond drilling which will explore
historical untested, high priority targets within 2 km of our
existing mine operations as well as some delineation and infill
drilling of potential new resource zones. Paycore Drilling
(paycoredrilling.com) has been retained as our surface diamond
drilling contractor. Figure 3 identifies the drill pad and
collar locations for Exploration drilling in 2022 as they relate to
current and past orebodies. Figure 4 identifies the the drill
pad and collar locations for Exploration drilling in 2022 as
related to First Vertical Derivative Magnetics imagery from a 2019
UAV Magnetics survey.
- Surface geophysics which will include:
- Borehole Pulse Electromagnetic surveys of all-new drill
holes.
- Passive Magnetotellurics survey to identify new drilling
targets at depth beneath the current Mine
infrastructure.
- Remote Sensing: procured Exploration Mapping out of
Denver, CO will supervise and task
a 1,993 km2 Worldview-3 Spectral Mapping satellite
survey over Minto properties. The Worldview-3 satellite
captures information across the visible, near-infrared, and
short-wave infrared regions of the electromagnetic spectrum and is
the highest spatial and spectral resolution satellite imagery
commercially available.
https://explorationmapping.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/1_a_WorldView-3_Benefits.pdf
- Minto has partnered with Goldspot Discoveries Corp. ("Goldspot"
TSX.V: SPOT and OTCQX: SPOFF) to support Exploration efforts at
Minto Metals. Goldspot (https://goldspot.ca/) will assist by
compiling and re-processing Minto geological data to support
artificial intelligence and data science exploration methods. This
will include re-processing and interpreting historical local and
regional geophysics datasets, and developing enhanced geochemical
models. Identification of new surface and underground targets are a
priority, as well as an updated 3-D geological model.
Minto has also engaged Equity Exploration Consultants Ltd. to
compile and maintain the company's geoscientific and mining
databases and to monitor ongoing Quality Assurance / Quality
Control performance. Minto has retained Bureau Veritas
(https://group.bureauveritas.com/) for geochemistry services in
2022.
"2022 is going to be an exciting year for Minto," stated
David Benson. "We look forward
to working with our stakeholders, principally, the Selkirk First
Nation, in advancing exploration within their traditional
territory."
The 2022 drill program has been designed to try and create
resource additions in the near term and on an ongoing basis moving
forward. A large inventory of untested, high-priority
exploration targets remain from previous operators where initial
drill testing has not been conducted since 2012. These
untested, high potential targets include possible extensions to the
Minto North, Area 2 and Ridgetop orebodies as well as zones at a
depth between the Minto Main Pit and Minto
North Pit.
All the current and historical orebodies were discovered via
drill-testing chargeability targets generated from a Titan-24 DC-IP
survey circa 2009-2010. Minto will focus the 2022 drill plan
on the remaining targets from that survey and will further
supplement the target database and drill test new targets generated
by the magnetotellurics survey in 2022. This survey should
identify additional targets below the penetrative depth of the
Titan-24 survey.
Qualified Person(s)
The technical contents of this news release have been reviewed
and approved by both David Benson,
P.Geo. Vice President of Exploration and Chris Stewart, P.Eng., President & CEO of
Minto Metals. Both people are Qualified Persons as defined by
Canadian Securities Administrators National Instrument 43-101 -
Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.
Grant of Stock Options
In addition, the Company announced that its Board of Directors
has approved the grant of stock options (the "Options") exersiable
for an aggregate of 705,626 common shares to the senior
leadership team and executive officers of the Company in lieu of
cash payments due under the 2021 Short Term Incentive
Program. The Options were granted pursuant to the Company's
2021 Long Term Incentive Plan and are subject to the terms of the
applicable option agreements and the requirements of the TSX
Venture Exchange. The Options are exercisable at a price of
$2.60 per share for a period of five
years from the date of grant. The Options vested fully on the
grant date.
About Minto Metals Corp.
Minto owns and operates the producing Minto mine located in the
Minto Copper Belt of the Yukon,
Canada. The Minto mine has been in operation since 2007 with
underground mining commencing in 2014. Since 2007, approximately
500Mlbs of copper have been produced from the Minto mine.
Capstone Mining (previous owners) put the Minto mine into care
& maintenance in 2018 and the mine operations were shut
down. In mid-2019 Minto (formerly Minto Explorations Ltd.)
purchased the Minto mine operation and restarted the mine. The
current Minto mine includes underground mining operations, a
processing plant that produces a high-grade copper, gold and silver
concentrate, and all supporting infrastructure associated with
operating a remote mine located in Yukon. The Minto mine property is located on
the Selkirk First Nation's Territory, sitting about 20 km WNW of
Minto Landing on the west side of
the Yukon River. Minto Landing
is located on the east side of the Yukon River approximately 250
road-km north of the City of
Whitehorse, the capital city of the Yukon.
Forward-Looking Information
This news release contains "forward-looking information" and
"forward-looking statements" (collectively, "forward-looking
statements"), within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities
laws and "forward-looking information" within the meaning of
applicable U.S. securities laws, which we refer to collectively as
"forward-looking statements". Forward-looking statements are
statements and information regarding possible events, conditions,
or results of operations that are based upon assumptions about
future conditions and courses of action. All statements and
information other than statements of historical fact may be
forward-looking statements. In some cases, forward-looking
statements can be identified by the use of words such as "seek",
"expect", "anticipate", "budget", "plan", "estimate", "continue",
"forecast", "intend", "believe", "predict", "potential", "target",
"may", "could", "would", "might", "will" and similar words or
phrases (including negative variations) suggesting future outcomes
or statements regarding an outlook. Forward-looking statements or
assumptions in this press release include, but are not limited to:
newly permitted diamond drilling and other associated exploration
land-use activities, reigniting exploration efforts on the Minto
claims, beginning drill testing previously unexplored, high
potential targets close to Minto's existing mine operations
infrastructure, building upon Minto's current resource in the near
term and on an ongoing basis moving forward, and details regarding
Minto's 2022 exploration program.
Such forward looking statements are based on a number of
material factors and assumptions, including, but not limited to:
expectations in connection with Company's 2022 exploration program
being met, the successful completion of development and exploration
projects, planned expansions and other projects within the
timelines anticipated and at anticipated production levels;
interest and exchange rates; that required financing and permits
will be obtained; general economic conditions; no labour disputes
or disruptions, flooding, ground instability, geotechnical failure,
fire, failure of plant; that equipment and processes continue
to operate as anticipated and other risks of the mining industry
will not be encountered; that contracted parties provide goods or
services in a timely manner; that there is no material adverse
change in the price of copper, gold or other metals; competitive
conditions in the mining industry; title to mineral properties;
costs; taxes; the retention of the Company's key personnel; no
changes in laws, and no material worsening of the direct and
indirect impact of COVID-19 including rules and regulations
applicable to Minto.
Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks,
uncertainties, and other factors which may cause actual results,
performance, or achievements to differ materially from those
anticipated in such forward-looking statements. The Company
believes the expectations reflected in such forward-looking
statements are reasonable, but no assurance can be given that these
expectations will prove to be correct and you are cautioned not to
place undue reliance on forward-looking statements contained
herein. Some of the risks and other factors which could cause
actual performance and results to differ materially from those
expressed in the forward-looking statements contained in this news
release, include, but are not limited to: changes in commodity
prices, general economic conditions, the speculative nature of
exploration and project development, including the risks of
obtaining necessary licenses and permits, mineral reserve and
mineral resource estimates may change and may prove to be
inaccurate; Minto has a limited operating history and is subject to
risks associated with establishing new mining operations; sustained
increases in costs, or decreases in the availability, of
commodities consumed or otherwise used by the Company may adversely
affect the Company; adverse geotechnical and geological conditions
(including geotechnical failures) may result in operating delays
and lower throughput or recovery, closures or damage to mine
infrastructure; the Company's operations may encounter delays in or
losses of production due to equipment delays or the availability of
equipment; the Company's operations are subject to continuously
evolving legislation, compliance with which may be difficult,
uneconomic or require significant expenditures; the Company may be
unsuccessful in attracting and retaining key personnel; labour
disruptions could adversely affect the Company's operations; risks
related to the Company's use of contractors; the hazards and risks
normally encountered in the exploration, development and production
of copper, gold and silver; the Company's operations are subject to
environmental hazards and compliance with applicable environmental
laws and regulations; the Company's operations and workforce are
exposed to health and safety risks; the Company's title to
exploration, development and mining interests can be uncertain and
may be contested; the Company's properties may be subject to claims
by various community stakeholders; risks related to limited access
to infrastructure and water; the Company's exploration programs may
not successfully expand its current mineral reserves or replace
them with new reserves; the Company may not be able to secure
additional financing when needed or on acceptable terms; the
Company may be subject to litigation; and those risk factors set
out in the Company's listing application dated November 12, 2021 as filed on SEDAR.
Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors
that could cause actual performance, results or events to
differ materially from those described in the forward-looking
statements, you are cautioned that this list is not exhaustive and
there may be other factors that the Company has not identified.
Furthermore, the Company undertakes no obligation to update or
revise any forward-looking statements included in or incorporated
by reference in, this news release if these beliefs, estimates, and
opinions or other circumstances should change, except as otherwise
required by applicable law.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services
Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX
Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or
accuracy of this release.
SOURCE Minto Metals Corp.