Candente Gold Signs Letter of Intent for Processing Agreement of Mexico Mine Tailings
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - Feb. 24, 2015) - Candente Gold Corp. (TSX:CDG) ("Candente Gold" or the "Company") is pleased to announce it has signed a Letter of Intent ("LOI") for an agreement pertaining to the Mexico Mine Tailings Reprocessing Operation planned at El Oro, Mexico.
The LOI is between Candente Gold and Minera Arcu S.A. de C.V ("Minera Arcu"), which has extensive experience and technical expertise in developing and operating tailings reprocessing projects in Mexico. In addition to their expertise, Minera Arcu agrees to invest capital required in respect of the acquisition and installation of equipment related to both testing and operating of the mineral concentration and recovery processes for the Tailings. During the testing period Candente Gold will receive all revenues from gold and silver sales. If the test work is successful, then Candente Gold will evaluate the installation of a full size plant. The LOI provides for all profits from gold and silver sales to be shared by Candente Gold and Arcu 50/50.
The testing will be conducted in two stages. Stage One will start this week and is expected to process up to 50 tonnes through a pilot plant during a calibration stage. Stage Two will start as soon as permits are received, which is expected by the second half of March 2015. During Stage Two it is anticipated that approximately 2,500 tonnes will be processed.
Joanne Freeze, President and CEO said the Company is very pleased to be proceeding with definitive test work for a potentially viable option for reprocessing the Tailings (with Arcu) without requiring the Company to provide capital expenditures for the operation.
Candente Gold reserves the exclusive right to decide to proceed or not with the Minera Arcu process, or to proceed with an alternate method of reprocessing the Tailings if such alternate method, in the sole determination of the Company, is considered technically superior and/or projected to provide better financial returns to Candente Gold. Concurrently, the Company is continuing with testing of other methods for recovery in order to determine the Company's options for maximum profitability from the Tailings.
The Mexico Mine Tailings contain an Inferred Resource* of 1,267,400 Tonnes grading 2.94 Au g/t, 75.12 Ag g/t containing 119,900 ounces of gold and 3,061,200 ounces of silver.
*Note: Mineral Resources are not Mineral Reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability. All figures have been rounded to reflect the accuracy of the estimate. For more information see "National Instrument 43-101 Technical Report on the Inferred Mineral Resource Estimate of the Mexico Mine Tailings" prepared by Nadia Caira, P.Geo. and Allan Reeves, P.Geo., dated August 25, 2014 with an effective date of July 8, 2014 (the "Technical Report") available at www.sedar.com.
On another matter, on February 20, 2015 the Company closed a second tranche of the previously announced non-brokered private placement (the "Private Placement") such that total proceeds of $571,999.89 have been raised and 19,066,663 shares have been issued at a price of $0.03 per Share. The Private Placement was oversubscribed however TSX rules did not permit the additional subscriptions. All Shares issued pursuant to the Private Placement are subject to a four-month hold period.
Considering both tranches, Joanne C. Freeze, President and CEO of Candente Gold, Paul H. Barry and Dr. Kenneth Thomas, all directors of Candente Gold, subscribed for and were issued 2,000,000, 2,089,043 and 400,001 Shares respectively.
The net proceeds of the Private Placement will be used for funding evaluations of the Company's El Oro project, including metallurgical test work, and for general corporate purposes.
Joanne C. Freeze, P.Geo., CEO and Sean I. Waller are the Qualified Persons as defined by National Instrument 43-101 for the project discussed above. Ms. Freeze and Mr. Waller have reviewed and approved the contents of this release.
About Candente Gold
Candente Gold's flagship asset is El Oro, a district scale gold project encompassing the largest and most prolific high grade gold dominant silver epithermal vein system in Mexico. Modern understanding of epithermal vein systems indicates that several of the El Oro district's veins hold multi-million ounce discovery potential, particularly below and adjacent to the historic workings of the San Rafael Vein, which was mined to an average depth of only 200 metres.
In addition to the exploration potential at El Oro, Candente Gold has acquired the Mexican Mine Tailings Deposit. The Company's current corporate strategy is to process the tailings to generate short-term cash flow and then focus on remnant high grade mineralization left behind by historic mining and, in the future, return to exploration concentrating on 31 recently-delineated targets for new mineralized veins or zones.
Forward-looking Information
This news release may contain forward-looking information (as such term is defined under Canadian securities laws) including but not limited to information regarding the processing of tailings to generate short-term cash flow, the potential for discovery in the El Oro district and other statements that are not historical facts. While such forward-looking information is expressed by Candente Gold in good faith and believed by Candente Gold to have a reasonable basis, they address future events and conditions and are therefore subject to inherent risks and uncertainties including those set out in Candente Gold's MD&A. Factors that cause the actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking information include, without limitation, gold prices, results of exploration and development activities, regulatory changes, defects in title, availability of materials and equipment, timeliness of government approvals, potential environmental issues, availability of capital and financing and general economic, market or business conditions. Candente Gold expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.
On behalf of the Board of Candente Gold Corp.
Joanne Freeze, P.Geo., President & CEO
NR 043
Contact
Walter Spagnuolo
Manager, Investor Relations
mobile: +1 (604) 306-8477
local: + 1 (604) 689-1957 ext 3
toll free: 1 (877) 689-1964 ext 3
Nataly Reategui
Investor Relations, Peru
Tel.: (511) 715-2001 ext 107
Fax: (511) 717-1233
info@candentegold.com