Science & Technology
Science and Technology
Science and Technology
Wed, July 14, 2010
REPEAT: Treasury Metals' Preliminary Economic Assessment Confirms Potential Economic Viability for Goliath Gold Project
TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - July 14, 2010) - Treasury Metals Inc. ("Treasury" or the "Company") (TSX:TML) is pleased to announce the results of a National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101") compliant Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA") on its wholly-owned Goliath Gold Project located about 20 kilometres east of the City of Dryden, Ontario. The PEA was completed by independent consultant A.C.A. Howe International Limited ("Howe").
Scott Jobin-Bevans, Treasury's President and CEO, commented, "I am very pleased that Howe has validated the Project and our exploration efforts to date. This initial analysis of the Thunder Lake gold deposit, which only contemplates about 50% of the current contained ounces, already demonstrates its economic potential and provides us with the parameters necessary to develop the Project and increase its economic profile." He added, "In anticipation of the positive results from this study, we began targeted infill drilling during the recent drilling program in order to upgrade the inferred resources to the indicated category. Our focus will now turn to implementing the recommendations contained in the PEA in an effort to move the Project towards development and ultimately into production."
Goliath Gold PEA Highlights
Howe concludes that the Project has potential economic viability under base case assumptions.
Surface and underground mining operations with stand-alone gravity/flotation milling complex.
Approximately 390,000 ounces Au recovered over 8 ½ years at a production rate of 1,500 tonnes per day; average annual recovery of 48,000 ounces Au.
At US$850 per oz (base case gold spot price): after-tax NPV@5% of $23 million and IRR of 15%.
At US$1,200 per oz (current gold spot price): after-tax NPV@5% of $91 million and IRR of 43%.
Estimated initial capital expenditure of $76 million; Life of Mine capital expenditure of $117 million; and, payback period of 4 years at US$850 per ounce gold, or 2 ½ years at US$1,200 per ounce gold.
Howe concludes that Treasury should continue to advance the Project toward Pre-Feasibility, recommending:
Infill drilling to upgrade Inferred Resources to Indicated Resources, aimed at increasing total gold ounces to be considered in future economic/production models.
Collect material for further metallurgical test work to include gravity, flotation and cyanidation mineral processing, optimised to confirm recoveries used in the economic model.
Collect geotechnical information to be used for surface and underground mine planning.
Optimization of economic model by investigating purchase of a used mill instead of construction of new mill.
Initiation of Environmental Baseline studies as soon as possible.
Dr. Jobin-Bevans continued, "Drill results to date have been consistent in substantiating the potential of the deposit and our plan is to further evaluate and develop the known gold resources on the Goliath Gold project. In addition to the recommendations outlined in the PEA, we will work to expand the surface and underground resources along strike to the west and northeast of the deposit where we have seen excellent historical high-grade intercepts. We will also continue to target the potential high-grade underground resources below 800 metres depth where our recent drilling has shown excellent potential." Commenting on the region, he added, "We have long believed in the potential of the Kenora Gold District and we look forward to potentially building a mill and mine in the area as we also work towards realizing the benefits of consolidating this extensive and prospective gold region in northwestern Ontario."
Economic Sensitivity
The base case considers the development of surface and underground mining operations on the Thunder Lake gold deposit and a stand-alone gravity/flotation milling complex at the Goliath Gold Project. Howe concludes that under base case assumptions of 1,500 tonnes per day production and US$850 per ounce gold, and assuming 100% equity financing and an even exchange rate against the US$, the Project has potential economic viability with an after-tax Internal Rate of Return ("IRR") of 15%, a 5% discounted Net Present Value ("NPV") of $23 million and an estimated payback period of four years.
The following table summarizes the results of the PEA, assuming a production rate of 1,500 tonnes per day:
| Gold Price | NPV (0%)* | NPV (5%) | NPV (10%) | ||
| (US$/oz) | (CDN$M) | (CDN$M) | (CDN$M) | IRR | |
| $850 | $43 | $23 | $10 | 15 | % |
| $1,000 | $81 | $52 | $33 | 28 | % |
| $1,200 | $132 | $91 | $63 | 43 | % |
| $1,400 | $182 | $129 | $93 | 57 | % |
| * Equivalent to cumulative after-tax profit. |
The PEA is an estimate of the economic viability of the Project and does not contemplate the full spectrum of engineering and regulatory factors, which would be required prior to making a production decision. All amounts are in Canadian Dollars except the gold price, which is quoted in US dollars.
Mineral Resource Estimate – Updated
The PEA also includes an updated Mineral Resource Estimate ("Resource Estimate") for the Thunder Lake gold deposit, based on diamond drilling completed as at December 2009. This Resource Estimate does not take into account the results from the +10,000 metres completed in 2010 and does not incorporate potential metal credits from silver and by-product metals of lead, zinc and copper; these metals are also not included in the current PEA.
Resources were defined using a block cut-off grade of 0.5 g/t Au for surface resources (<100 metres deep) and 2.0 g/t Au for underground resources (>100 metres deep). Surface plus underground Indicated Resources total 3.4 million tonnes with an average grade of 2.5 g/t Au, for 270,000 ounces. Surface plus underground Inferred Resources total 10.6 million tonnes with an average grade of 2.7 g/t Au, for 930,000 ounces. The Main Zone contained the majority of resources from both categories and is the primary target for underground mining. A summary of mineral resources by resource category is as follows:
| Category | Block Cut-off Grade (g/tonne) | Tonnes Above Cut-off | Average Au Grade (g/tonne) | Contained Au (ounces) | Average Ag Grade (g/tonne) | Average Cu Grade (ppm) | Average Pb Grade (ppm) | Average Zn Grade (ppm) |
| Indicated | ||||||||
| Surface | 0.5 | 2,900,000 | 1.9 | 180,000 | 5.4 | 86 | 820 | 1,700 |
| Underground | 2.0 | 490,000 | 5.7 | 90,000 | 13.8 | 100 | 710 | 1,500 |
| Subtotal, Indicated | 3,400,000 | 2.5 | 270,000 | 6.6 | 88 | 800 | 1,670 | |
| Inferred | ||||||||
| Surface | 0.5 | 5,400,000 | 1.1 | 190,000 | 2.5 | 72 | 360 | 880 |
| Underground | 2.0 | 5,200,000 | 4.4 | 740,000 | 14.7 | 90 | 630 | 1,220 |
| Subtotal, Inferred | 10,600,000 | 2.7 | 930,000 | 8.5 | 81 | 490 | 1,050 |
| Notes: | |
| 1. | Cut-off grade for mineralised zone interpretation was 0.5 g/tonne. |
| 2. | Block cut-off grade for surface resources (less than 100 metres deep) was 0.5 g/tonne. |
| 3. | Block cut-off grade for underground resources (more than 100 metres deep) was 2 g/tonne. |
| 4. | Gold price was US$850 per troy ounce. |
| 5. | Zones extended up to 150 metres down-dip from last intercept. Along strike, zones extended halfway to the next cross-section. |
| 6. | Minimum width was 2 metres. |
| 7. | Non-diluted resources. |
| 8. | Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. |
| 9. | A specific gravity (bulk density) value of 2.78 was applied to all blocks (based on 30 samples). |
| 10. | Un-cut. Top-cut analysis of sample data suggested no top cut was needed and removal of high grade outliers would not materially affect the global block model grade. |
The Resource Estimate, which uses a combination of historical and current drilling results, includes 41 additional holes up to drill hole TL09-86, drilled in late 2009 with results reported in early 2010. The Resource Estimate was prepared by Doug Roy, M.A.Sc., P.Eng., Associate Mining Engineer with Howe.
Qualified Person
Technical information related to the PEA contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Doug Roy, an independent Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101, with the ability and authority to verify the authenticity and validity of this data. The report titled "Technical Report and Preliminary Economic Assessment on the Goliath Gold Project", with an effective date of July 9th, 2010 has been prepared by Doug Roy, Patrick Hannon, Ed Thornton and Ian D. Trinder of A.C.A. Howe International Limited.
About Treasury Metals
Treasury Metals Inc. is a Canadian mining company that is focussed on expanding the Company's gold resources and developing its 100% owned flagship Goliath Gold Project located in the Kenora Gold District of northwestern Ontario. Treasury Metals obtains significant royalty revenue from an NSR on Goldgroup Mining Inc.'s Cerro Colorado Mine located in Mexico.
For additional information on Treasury Metals and its projects, including updated technical information as it pertains to this news release, please visit the Company's website at [ www.treasurymetals.com ].
Forward-looking Statements
Securities regulators encourage companies to disclose forward-looking information to help investors understand a company's future prospects. This press release contains statements about our future financial condition, results of operations and business. These are "forward-looking" because we have used what we know and expect today to make a statement about the future. Forward-looking statements usually include words such as may, expect, anticipate, believe or other similar words. We believe the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable. However, actual events and results could be substantially different because of the risks and uncertainties associated with our business or events that happen after the date of this press release. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. As a general policy, we do not update forward-looking statements except as required by securities laws and regulations.
