True Gold Adds 1.66 Million Ounces of Gold and Doubles In-Pit Leachable Resource at Karma's Largest Deposit
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Significant new leachable resource at North Kao adds to Karma's production profile potential
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - Mar 13, 2014) - True Gold Mining Inc. (TSX VENTURE:TGM) ("True Gold" or the "Company") is pleased to announce an initial Inferred resource estimate for North Kao at the Karma Gold Project (the "Karma Project") in Burkina Faso, West Africa. The North Kao deposit represents the contiguous northern extension of the Kao deposit- the largest of five deposits within the Karma Mine Plan1.
"In our view, Karma is one of the premium development-stage, shovel-ready projects globally due to its low-cost production attributes, strong growth profile, metallurgy and jurisdiction," stated Mark O'Dea, Executive Chairman of True Gold. "We have already built the foundation to become a leading mid-tier gold producer, including the receipt of key mining permits and a strong treasury to fund development, with North Kao clearly demonstrating the potential to boost our production profile."
North Kao Highlights:
- North Kao Resource: Total In-pit Inferred Mineral Resource (oxide, transition and sulphide) of 1,662,000 ounces gold (Au), contained within 47.8 million tonnes (Mt) at an average grade of 1.08 grams/tonne gold (g/t Au).
- North Kao Leachable Material (included in total resource): Total In-pit Inferred Mineral Resource of 423,000 ounces of leachable gold (oxide and transition) contained within 16.4 Mt at an average grade of 0.80 g/t Au. This complements the current Probable Mineral Reserves at the adjacent Kao Deposit, which hosts 340,000 ounces Au contained within 10.9 Mt at 0.96 g/t Au.
- Metallurgy: 137 bottle roll tests indicate excellent metallurgical recoveries averaging 96% and 92% respectively for the oxidized and transition material. Feasibility metallurgical results for the adjacent Kao deposit established that bottle roll test results are highly indicative of the ultimate column test work results.
- Deep Leachable Horizon: The combination of an exceptionally deep (~120 m) weathering profile, along with the shallow dip (~30 degrees), and near surface nature of mineralization makes North Kao amenable to open pit mining with additional potential mineralization down dip.
- Confirms Organic Growth: North Kao extends the Kao deposit more than 1.6 km to the north, demonstrating the exceptional continuity of this mineralized system and exemplifies both Karma's leachable resource growth potential and its potential for a systematic approach to production expansion.
"The discovery of high-quality, near-surface oxide material that could potentially add to our current open pit mineral reserves is a key part of our growth strategy," stated Dwayne Melrose, President and CEO, True Gold. "The simple and flexible mine plan at Karma, as laid out in our Feasibility Study, is specifically designed to integrate opportunities such as North Kao, as new potential mining centres emerge across the Karma Project. In addition to our success at North Kao, discoveries at four other target areas have the potential to meaningfully add to our current resource base through further drilling."
North Kao In-Pit Inferred Mineral Resource:
Cut-off Grade (g/t Au) | Zone | Tonnes | Grade (g/t Au) | Ounces |
0.20 | Oxide | 14,212,000 | 0.79 | 360,000 |
0.22 | Transition | 2,200,000 | 0.89 | 63,000 |
Subtotal | Leachable | 16,412,000 | 0.80 | 423,000 |
0.50 | Sulphide | 31,396,000 | 1.23 | 1,239,000 |
TOTAL | 47,808,000 | 1.08 | 1,662,000 | |
The Mineral Resource estimate is quoted at the same cut-off grades and economic parameters for the constrained pit optimization were used in the Karma Feasibility Study: 0.20 grams per tonne ("g/t") gold ("Au") for Oxide, 0.22 g/t Au for Transition and 0.5 g/t Au for Sulphide, and a gold price of US$1,300/oz (refer to NI 43-101 technical report "Updated Resource Estimate and Feasibility Study on the Karma Gold Project, Burkina Faso, West Africa", dated December 17, 2013 and filed on SEDAR on January 27, 2014) |
To view a map showing the North Kao gold zone in relation to the Karma Project site plan, please click here: http://www.truegoldmining.com/sites/default/files/KarmaSitePlan1413.pdf
To view a table of True Gold's previously reported reserves and resources, based on the December 17, 2013 Feasibility Study, please click here: http://truegoldmining.com/our-projects/karma-project#field-project-tab-tab-2
True Gold will initiate a Preliminary Economic Assessment on the new North Kao resource to evaluate the potential economic impacts of an increased production profile and/or the potential to extend the mine life laid out in the Karma Feasibility Study. The overall Karma project area remains largely under-explored and True Gold will continue to pursue the near term goal of adding reserves and resources of near surface leachable material.
Metallurgy
Results from 137 bottle roll tests on sample rejects from the North Kao drilling, crushed to a P85 of 75 um, mirror the Karma feasibility results for the Kao deposit, with average oxide and transition recoveries of 96% and 92%, respectively. Metallurgical test work in the Karma feasibility study showed a strong correlation between column leach and bottle roll tests, such that the column tests yielded comparable results to bottle rolls between 75 um and 1.7 mm. North Kao is expected to perform in a metallurgically similar manner to the Kao deposit, due to its identical geological setting and enhanced weathering profile.
Mineralization
The North Kao deposit is predominantly intrusive-hosted and consists of a stacked sequence of structurally-controlled tabular bodies, defined by pervasive quartz-sericite-pyrite (QSP) alteration, breccia and locally distributed stockwork, shear and extension QSP veins. Gold is closely associated with each of these features, with the breccia and QSP veins carrying the highest grades. Sediment-hosted mineralization is more vein-dominated and localized at intrusive contacts, either with the main granodiorite intrusion, or related felsic dykes.
Mineralized zones are up to 86 metres thick and exhibit extraordinary lateral continuity over 1.6 km along strike and more than 1.0 km down-dip. In comparison to the Kao deposit, the zones at North Kao tend to be slightly narrower and higher grade, such that the grade thickness profiles of each deposit are nearly indistinguishable.
The weathering profile is extensive at the North Kao deposit, gradually deepening from approximately 60 to 120 metres from south to north, which results in almost twice the leachable resource ounces per horizontal metre of strike length when compared to the Kao deposit.
Resource Model
The resource model is based on 161 new drill holes (43 core holes, 118 reverse circulation holes) drilled on a regular grid spacing of 100 x 100 metres. The intrusive-hosted mineralization occurs within seven stacked tabular zones that were modeled using the vein modeling tool in Leapfrog Geo software. Mineralized intervals were selected using a nominal cut-off of 0.2 g/t Au on samples for inclusion, as well as, for the grade for the full composited interval. Three of the seven zones exhibit good continuity across the entire strike length of the deposit within the intrusive rocks. The other four zones are more locally developed.
Sediment-hosted mineralized domains are more irregular in shape and distribution and were therefore modeled using a Leapfrog interpolation on indicators representing mineralized (1) and unmineralized (0) material, using a threshold of 0.2 g/t Au. These zones account for less than 5% of the modeled mineralization.
The mineralized zones all have a broadly consistent shallow dip at approximately 10 degrees to the east, but selected intervals show vertical offset that are clearly fault-controlled in some areas, but may also reflect local undulations in the mineralized bodies in other areas. Two major faults are included in the model with vertical offsets of up to 70 metres. The largest offset is on a northwest trending fault that is parallel to the high grade northwest trending structure in the main Kao deposit, and hosts one of the best intercepts to date (KAO13DD-233: 1.5 g/t Au over 90 metres, see news release dated January 21, 2014).
Estimation Methods
Sample assays were composited to 2 metre intervals within the mineralization wireframes. Mineralized domains were capped at 5 or 8 g/t Au, depending on the grade profile of each individual zone. Four of the zones did not require capping, and a total of 6 out of 2,037 samples were capped, amounting to a metal reduction of approximately 4%.
Grades were interpolated into a 5 x 5 x 5 metre block model using ID3 weighting in three passes. The first pass used a search radius of 50 x 50 x 10 metres, a minimum of 3 samples and maximum of 12, with a maximum of 2 samples per drill hole. The second pass used a search radius of 50 x 50 x 10 metres, a minimum of 2 samples and maximum of 12, with a maximum of 2 samples per drill hole. The third pass used a search radius of 200 x 200 x 40 metres, a minimum of 1 sample and maximum of 12, with no constraint on the number of samples per drill hole.
Validations were done using comparisons with ID2 and nearest-neighbour models, visual and statistical comparisons between block grades and composite grades, and swath plots. Block grades show an acceptable degree of smoothing compared to the composites, with approximately 15% lower average grade.
Due to the wide spacing of the drill holes, all blocks are classified as Inferred.
Mineral Resources are reported within an optimized pit shell that was optimized using the following parameters: Au: $1,557/oz, Refining: $4.60/oz, Royalty: 4%, oxide recovery: 90%, transition recovery: 80%, sulphide recovery: 85%, oxide mining: $1.61/tonne mined, transition mining: $1.94/tonne mined, sulphide mining: $2.05/tonne mined, oxide/transition process: $7.25/tonne milled, sulphide process: $19/tonne milled, G&A: $1.35/tonne milled, pit slopes: 50 degrees.
Management Update
True Gold also announces the resignation of Mr. Rodrigo Romo as Corporate Secretary of the Company. True Gold would like to thank Mr. Romo for his contributions to the Company and wish him the best in his future endeavours.
Qualified Persons
The North Kao mineral resource estimate was completed by Yungang Wu, P.Geo., of P&E Mining Consultants Inc. (P&E), an Independent Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101") in accordance with the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum ("CIM") Standards on Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves, adopted by the CIM Council, as amended. The resource model was constructed internally, by Christopher Lee, M.Sc., P.Geo., the Company's Chief Geoscientist, then delivered to P&E Mining Consultants for estimation.
Scott Heffernan, M.Sc., P.Geo., the Company's Vice President Exploration, and Christopher Lee, are the designated Qualified Person for this news release within the meaning of NI 43-101. Eugene Puritch, P.Eng., President of P&E has also reviewed and verified that the technical information contained in this release is accurate and approves of the written disclosure of same.
(1) See Technical Report, entitled "Updated Resource Estimate and Feasibility Study on the Karma Gold Project," prepared by P&E Mining Consultants Inc. dated effective December 17, 2013, a copy of which is available under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.
About True Gold
True Gold Mining Inc. is where gold comes to life. We are committed to growing a successful gold exploration, development and production company, by focusing on projects with low costs, low technical risks and solid economics. The Company's board, management and technical teams have proven track records in gold exploration, development, operations and production worldwide.
Additional information about the Company and its activities may be found on the Company's website at www.truegoldmining.com and under the Company's profile at www.sedar.com.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD
Dwayne Melrose, President & CEO
Neither 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.
Certain statements made and information contained in this news release and elsewhere constitutes "forward-looking statements" and "forward-looking information" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation. Any statements that express or involve discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance are not statements of historical fact and may constitute forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are based on certain assumptions and are subject to risks and uncertainties which could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those reflected in the forward-looking statements and forward-looking information, including, without limitation, with respect to statements regarding the potential accretive nature that newly discovered mineralization at the two drill targets discussed herein may have on the Karma Project, the potential for growth and scalability of the Karma Project including, but not limited to, potential for additional mining centres, continued exploration success, the assumptions set forth in this news release and in the Company's news releases of December 17, 2013, and risks and uncertainties relating to the interpretation of drill results and the estimation of mineral resources and reserves, the geology, grade and continuity of mineral deposits, the possibility that bottle roll tests will be indicative of ultimate column test results, the possibility that future exploration and development results in the Karma Project will not be consistent with the Company's expectations, the potential initial resource estimate on the Kao North discovery, accidents, equipment breakdowns, risk of undiscovered, title defects and surface access, labour disputes, the potential for delays in exploration and permitting activities, the potential for unexpected costs and expenses, commodity price fluctuations, currency fluctuations, political risk and other risks and uncertainties, including those described under Risk Factors in each management discussion and analysis and in the Company's annual information form which are available under the Company's profile at www.sedar.com.
Forward-looking statements and information is based on various assumptions including, without limitation, the expectations and beliefs of management, the assumed long term price of gold, that the Company will receive required permits and access to surface rights, that the Company can access financing, appropriate equipment and sufficient labour and that the political environment within Burkina Faso will continue to support the development of environmentally safe mining projects. Should one or more of these risks and uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in forward-looking statements. Accordingly, readers are advised not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any of the forward-looking statements or forward-looking information in this presentation, other than as may be required by applicable laws.
United States investors are cautioned that the requirements and terminology of NI 43-101 and the CIM Standards on Mineral Resources and Reserves - Definitions and Guideline ("CIM Standards") differ significantly from the requirements and terminology of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") set forth in the SEC's Industry Guide 7 ("SEC Industry Guide 7"). Accordingly, the Company's disclosures regarding mineralization may not be comparable to similar information disclosed by companies subject to SEC Industry Guide 7. Without limiting the foregoing, while the terms "mineral resources", "inferred mineral resources", "indicated mineral resources" and "measured mineral resources" are recognized and required by NI 43-101 and the CIM Standards, they are not recognized by the SEC and are not permitted to be used in documents filed with the SEC by companies subject to SEC Industry Guide 7. In addition, the NI 43-101 and CIM Standards definition of a "mineral reserve" differs from the definition in SEC Industry Guide 7.
Contact
Vancouver Office:
604-801-5020
info@truegoldmining.com
Investor inquiries:
Alex Holmes
604-632-4677
aholmes@truegoldmining.com