New Millennium Iron Corp. Reports 28% Increase in DSO Project Indicated Resource Estimate Based on 2011 Drill Results
31.05.2012 | Marketwire
NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO US NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATESCALGARY, ALBERTA -- (Marketwire - May 31, 2012) - New Millennium Iron Corp. ("NML" or the "Corporation") (TSX:NML) announced today the results of 2011 drill program conducted by Tata Steel Minerals Canada Ltd. ("TSMC"), a joint venture between NML and Tata Steel. Three deposits were drilled in Area 4: Kivivic 1C, Kivivic 2 and Kivivic 5 (Figure 1.) The drilling consisted of 40 exploration holes for a total of 1,991 meters resulting in a 28% increase in the indicated and 43% increase in the inferred resource estimate compared to the current resource estimate (NR 10-12). New Millennium established the estimate of additional Mineral Resources internally and was reviewed by Qualified Persons as defined by National Instrument 43-101 and who have experience with the Project and relevant expertise.
Dean Journeaux, President and CEO of NML, said: "This notable increase of NI 43-101 compliant resources gives TSMC the option to potentially increase mine life or consider a higher production rate. This is consistent with TSMC's plan to discover the full potential of the DSO Project through on-going exploration activities. We look forward to the results of the planned 2012 program intended to further expand the resource base."
Summary of Mineral Resource Estimate:
The primary objective of the drilling program was to convert additional historical resources to NI 43-101 compliant Mineral Resources. A summary of the Mineral Resource estimate, based on the additional 2011 drilling is reported in Table 1. The current Resource Estimate is contained in Table 2 of NR 10-12, dated July 8, 2010. The new estimate consists of approximately 85.1 million tonnes of Measured and Indicated Mineral Resources at an average grade of 59.2% Fe on a dry basis plus an additional 10.3 million tonnes of Inferred Mineral Resources at 58.3% Fe.
Table 1
Summary of Updated Resource Estimate based on 2011 Drilling
(Using cut-off grades of Fe ≥ 50%, SiO 2 < 18% and Mn < 3.5%)
Resource Tonnes (millions) Tonnes (millions)
Classification 2008-9 Drilling With 2011 Drilling % increase % Fe % SiO2 % Mn
Measured 26.5 26.5 0 % 59.6 6.3 0.13
Indicated 45.7 58.6 28.1 % 59.0 9.07 0.47
Total M+I 72.2 85.1 17.8 % 59.2 8.21 0.37
Inferred 7.2 10.3 42.9 % 58.3 9.48 0.56
Of the total 85.1 million tonnes of Measured and Indicated Resources, 21.1 million tonnes and 43.0 million tonnes are in the Proven and Probable reserve categories respectively. Mine planning currently in progress is expected to further enhance the proven and probable reserves.
Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves have not yet been demonstrated as economically viable to mine. Mineral resource estimates do not account for mineability, selectivity, mining loss and dilution. These mineral resource estimates include inferred mineral resources that are normally considered too speculative geologically to have economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves. There is also no certainty that these inferred mineral resources will be converted to measured and indicated mineral resource categories through further drilling, or into mineral reserves once economic considerations are applied.
Results of 2011 Program:
Based on drill hole ore intersection, the overall grade of the three deposits, Kivivic 1C, Kivivic 2 and Kivivic 5 average 60.90%, 60.21% and 58.34% iron (Fe) with SiO2 values at 6.06%, 9.82% and 12.49% respectively (Appendix 1, Table 6). Fe contents in the Kivivic deposits are approximately 2% higher than the average for all the DSO deposits. Resource models for these deposits were completed by NML. The following Table 2 provides the classified resources. All these deposits require additional drilling to upgrade and expand the resource base. Figures 2, 3 and 4 in Appendix 1 show the surface extent of the deposits with holes drilled to date and Figures 5 to 7 in Appendix 1 show the sections.
Table 2
Summary of Resource Estimate based on 2011 drilling
(Using cut-off grades of Fe ≥ 50%, SiO2 < 18% and Mn < 3.5%)
Deposit Classification K tonnes Fe (%) SiO2 (%) Mn (%)
Kivivic 1C Indicated 3,124 60.63 7.12 0.05
Kivivic 1C Inferred 1,073 62.33 2.45 0.05
Kivivic 2 Indicated 8,598 61.39 8.46 0.26
Kivivic 5 Indicated 3,324 60.94 9.62 0.12
Kivivic 5 Inferred 2,524 60.93 9.84 0.06
Total Indicated 15,046 61.13 8.44 0.18
Total Inferred 3,597 61.35 7.63 0.06
In Table 3 below, the current resource estimate for Kivivic 5 based on 2008 and 2011 drilling is compared to the previous estimate, which was based solely on 2008 drilling. The overall Fe grade is 60.94% for Indicated and 60.93% for Inferred Resources.
Table 3
Summary of Kivivic 5 Resource Estimate based on 2008 and 2011 drilling
(Using cut-off grades of Fe ≥ 50%, SiO2 < 18% and Mn < 3.5%)
Resource Tonnes (millions) Tonnes (millions)
Classification 2008 Drilling 2008 & 11 Drilling Increase % Fe % SiO2 % Mn
Indicated 2.20 3.32 51 % 60.94 9.62 0.12
Inferred 0.52 2.52 389 % 60.93 9.84 0.06
Resource Estimation Methodology:
The methodology used to estimate the mineral resources of the DSO deposits is 3D block modeling with Inverse Square Distance interpolation. This estimate was limited to a mineralized envelope interpreted on vertical cross-sections and later meshed into solid shapes. Different lithologies were modeled and estimated separately. Two sources of drill holes were used to estimate the mineral resources: historical drilling from the previous owners available in the public domain and drill holes from the TSMC 2011 drilling campaign. Drill holes intersecting the mineralized envelopes were composited into 3-meter composites. Each composite was assigned a lithological unit based on the interpreted geology and corresponding 3D solid.
The classified mineral resources are the accumulation of the individual blocks inside the mineralized rock types and inside each classification zone. Only the blocks having a Fe grade above 50%, a Mn grade below 3.5% and a SiO2 grade below 18% are considered as mineralized.
2012 Summer Exploration Program:
Based on the 2011 drill results of deposits Kivivic 1C, Kivivic 5 and Kivivic 2, TSMC announced plans to carry out additional in-fill reverse circulation drilling in deposits Kivivic 1C, Kivivic 5, and Kivivic 2 to increase the Mineral Resources and upgrade to the Measured and Indicated category, and exploration drilling in Leroy 1. The objective of the drilling in Leroy 1 deposit is to convert the historical resources to NI 43-101 compliant Mineral Resources. In addition, hydrogeological drilling will be carried out in Leroy 1 deposit. Table 4 shows the details of the program.
Table 4
2012 Drilling Program
Area Deposit In-fill Drilling, No. of holes Proposed total depth (m)
Area 4 Kivivic 1C, Kivivic 2, Kivivic 5 20 1,400
Leroy 1 20 1,000
Leroy 1 3 (hydrogeology drilling) 300
About New Millennium
The Corporation controls the emerging Millennium Iron Range, located in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador and in the Province of Quebec, which holds one of the world's largest undeveloped magnetic iron ore deposits. In the same area, the Corporation and Tata Steel Limited, one of the largest steel producers in the world, are advancing a DSO Project to near term production. Tata Steel Limited owns approximately 27% of New Millennium and is the Corporation's largest shareholder and strategic partner.
Tata Steel exercised its exclusive option to participate in the DSO Project and has a commitment to take the resulting production (see news release 10-16 dated September 14, 2010). The DSO Project is owned and operated by TSMC, which in turn is 80% owned by Tata Steel and 20% owned by NML. The DSO project contains 64.1 million tonnes of Proven and Probable Mineral Reserves at an average grade of 58.8% Fe, 21.0 million tonnes of Measured and Indicated Mineral Resources at an average grade of 59.2% Fe, 10.3 million tonnes of Inferred Resources at an average grade of 58.3% Fe and about 25.0-30.0 million tonnes of historical resources that are not currently in compliance with NI 43-101 (see news release 09-03 dated February 11, 2009, news release 09-05 dated March 4, 2009, news release 09-16 dated December 9, 2009 and news release 10-12 dated July 8, 2010). A qualified person has not done sufficient work to classify the historical estimate as current mineral resources or mineral reserves, the Corporation is not treating the historical estimate as current mineral resources or mineral reserves and the historical estimate should not be relied upon.
The Millennium Iron Range currently hosts two advanced projects: LabMag contains 3.5 billion tonnes of Proven and Probable reserves at a grade of 29.6% Fe plus 1.0 billion tonnes of Measured and Indicated resources at an average grade of 29.5% Fe and 1.2 billion tonnes of Inferred resources at an average grade of 29.3% Fe (see news release 06-13 dated July 5, 2006 and news release 07-11 dated July 17, 2007); KéMag contains 2.1 billion tonnes of Proven and Probable reserves at an average grade of 31.3% Fe, 0.3 billion tonnes of Measured and Indicated resources at an average grade of 31.3 % Fe and 1.0 billion tonnes of Inferred resources at an average grade of 31.2% Fe (see news release 09-01 dated January 16, 2009). Tata Steel also exercised its exclusive right to negotiate and settle a proposed transaction in respect of the LabMag Project and the KéMag Project (see news release 11-09 dated March 6, 2011).
The Millennium Iron Range now hosts another taconite deposit, Lac Ritchie located at its north end. The initial 2011 drilling of 40 holes in this property revealed Indicated Resources of 3.330 billion tonnes at an average grade of 30.3% Fe and 1.437 billion tonnes of Inferred Resources at 30.9% Fe (see news release NR 12-11, dated April 02, 2012).
The Corporation's mission is to add shareholder value through the responsible and expeditious development of the Millennium Iron Range and other mineral projects to create a new large source of raw materials for the world's iron and steel industries.
For further information, please visit www.NMLiron.com, www.tatasteel.com, www.tatasteelcanada.com, and www.tatasteeleurope.com.
Dean Journeaux, Eng., and Thiagarajan Balakrishnan, P. Geo., are the Qualified Persons as defined in National Instrument 43-101 who have reviewed and verified the scientific and technical mining disclosure contained in this news release.
Forward-Looking Statements
This document may contain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation and the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this document and the Corporation does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements.
Forward-looking statements relate to future events or future performance and reflect management of the Corporation's expectations or beliefs regarding future events and include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to the estimation of mineral reserves and resources, the realization of mineral reserve estimates, the timing and amount of estimated future production, costs of production, capital expenditures, success of mining operations, environmental risks, unanticipated reclamation expenses, title disputes or claims and limitations on insurance coverage. In certain cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved" or the negative of these terms or comparable terminology.
By their very nature forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Corporation to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among others, risks related to actual results of current exploration activities; changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined; future prices of resources; possible variations in ore reserves, grade or recovery rates; accidents, labour disputes and other risks of the mining industry; delays in obtaining governmental approvals or financing or in the completion of development or construction activities; as well as those factors detailed from time to time in the Corporation's interim and annual financial statements and management's discussion and analysis of those statements, all of which are filed and available for review on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Although the Corporation 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 not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward looking statements.
To view Appendix 1, please click the following link: http://file.marketwire.com/release/a531nml.pdf
Contact Information
New Millennium Iron Corp.
Dean Journeaux, President & CEO
(514) 935-3204
New Millennium Iron Corp.
Andreas Curkovic, Investor Relations
(416) 577-9927
www.NMLiron.com