Manicouagan upgrades Brabant Lake resource

Tag : zinc rod
Manicouagan upgrades Brabant Lake resource Tuesday , 29 Jul 2008
TORONTO, July 29, 2008 - Manicouagan Minerals Inc. (TSXV - MAM)announced today a new resource estimate for its wholly ownedBrabant Lake Zinc deposit in Saskatchewan. The resource estimatewas completed by MPH Consulting Limited of Toronto ("MPH") inconjunction with P&E Mining Consultants Inc. of Brampton,Ontario ("P&E").
This new resource estimate supersedes the prior NI 43-101 compliantinferred resource estimate previously determined by Deptuck et alin 1994 and disclosed in a NI 43-101 Technical Report completed byMPH with an effective date of September 15, 2006. This report isavailable with Manicouagan's filings on SEDAR or atwww.manicouaganminerals.com.
The current and prior resource estimates are tabulated below.
1) The resource for the Brabant Lake Zinc deposit was estimated onthe basis of approximate $US three year trailing average metalprices of $1.27/lb zinc, $3.02/lb copper, $0.86/lb lead, $12.49/ozsilver and $663/oz/gold, and a $US exchange rate of $0.912. An NSRcut-off of $75/tonne for underground mining and milling wasutilized to report the resource.
2) Mineral resources which are not mineral reserves do not havedemonstrated economic viability. The estimate of mineral resourcesmay be materially affected by environmental, permitting, legal,title, taxation, sociopolitical, marketing, or other relevantissues.
3) The quantity and grade of reported inferred resources in thisestimation are uncertain in nature and there has been insufficientexploration to define these inferred resources as an indicated ormeasured mineral resource and it is uncertain if furtherexploration will result in upgrading them to an indicated ormeasured mineral resource category.
4) Contained metals, expressed in pounds (lbs) and troy ounces(oz), presented in the table above are the product of resourcetonnes multiplied by metal grades and are provided for informationpurposes only and not meant to imply recoverable product as mineralresources which are not mineral reserves do not have demonstratedeconomic viability.
The 1994 Deptuck Resource estimate and the 2008 MPH/P&EResource Estimate are not directly comparable due to differingresource categories and estimation methodologies.
The bulk of the mineralization classified as an indicated resourcein the 2008 MPH/P&E Resource Estimate is a direct result of theCompany's 2006-2008 drilling campaign, which focused on the largelyunexplored Lower Zone of the Brabant Lake Zinc Deposit. The gradesof zinc (9.18%) and copper (0.79%) reported in the indicatedcategory represent a significant improvement - 77% and 39%,respectively - as compared to the previously estimated resourcegrades. There is potential to expand the indicated resourceinventory with additional drilling of the inferred resource areas.
Joseph Baylis, Manicouagan's President and CEO stated that "we arevery pleased with the results of our focused drilling on the highergrade Lower Zone which has resulted in the delineation of anindicated resource with significantly higher grades than thosepreviously included in the inferred category. The Brabant Lake Zincdeposit has excellent infrastructure and consequently we expectthat the economic threshold will be lower than for projects in moreremote locations. The next step will be to incorporate the newresource estimate into a preliminary assessment/scoping study todetermine a course of action to advance this project."
The 2008 MPH/P&E NI 43-101 Resource Estimate incorporatesprevious drilling by Westore-Paramount in 1956-1958 (39 drillholes, 4,267 metres), Bison in 1964 (2 drill holes, 962 metres),Rio Tinto in 1965-1966 (15 drill holes, 3,686 metres), Gamsan in1988 (18 drill holes, 3,716 metres), Phelps Dodge in 1992-1993 (5drill holes, 2,333 metres) and Manicouagan Minerals in 2006-2008(50 drill holes (48 completed), 15,605 metres).
In calculating the new resource estimate, sulphide mineralizationwas outlined on nominal 25 metre spaced sections in the mainportion of the deposit with nominal 50 metre spaced sections forthe strike extensions. Dip lengths occur up to 650 metres and theoverall strike length of the deposit is approximately 800 metres.Sixty-six (66) drill holes that intersected mineralization on thesesections form the basis of the resource estimate, while anadditional sixty-three (63) holes were incorporated to build thetotal geological model. Inverse distance squared gradeinterpolation was utilized to determine block model grades.
The mineral resources in this press release were estimated usingthe Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM),CIM Standards on Mineral Resources and Reserves, Definitions andGuidelines prepared by the CIM Standing Committee on ReserveDefinitions and adopted by CIM Council December 11, 2005.
Eugene Puritch, P.Eng. and Antoine Yassa, P.Geo of P&E MiningConsultants Inc., and Gerald Harron, P.Eng. of MPH ConsultingLimited are the authors of the Resource Estimate Technical Reporton the Brabant Lake Zinc deposit to be filed within 45 days of thisnews release with Manicouagan's filings on SEDAR. They areindependent Qualified Persons in accordance with NI 43-101 -Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, and have reviewed andare responsible for the information presented in this news release.
Exploration programs are being carried out under the supervision ofRod Thomas, Vice President - Exploration of the Company. Mr.Thomas, a professional geologist, has reviewed and verified thetechnical content of this press release on behalf of ManicouaganMinerals and is a "Qualified Person" as defined in NationalInstrument 43-101. Manicouagan employs 43-101 compliant QA/QCprocedures at all points in the sampling, handling, storage andshipment of samples. Blind standards and blanks are inserted intothe sample sequence in the field. Analytical services are providedby TSL Laboratories of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Samples arecrushed, riffle split and pulverized to yield a 250 gram pulp with~ 95% -150 mesh. Ag, Cu, Pb and Zn assay is by multi-aciddigestion; samples for Ag (g/tonne) and base metals (%) are weighedat 0.5 g. Samples for Au fire assay/gravimetric are weighed at 1 AT(29.16 g). Details on analytical techniques employed by TSLLaboratories (ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation may be found on thelaboratory's website at www.tsllabs.com . The Brabant Lake property consists of 21 contiguous claimsregistered as ML 5054 and is located immediately east of Highway102 some 175 km from the all services community of La Ronge,Saskatchewan.
Manicouagan Minerals Inc. (TSXV:MAM) is a Canadian basedexploration company with a diversified portfolio of Canadianexploration properties including the Brabant Lake Zinc/Copperdeposit in Saskatchewan and the Mouchalagane Nickel/Copper/PGEproject in Quebec.
Additional information about Manicouagan Minerals and itsexploration projects can be found at www.manicouaganminerals.com.
For further information contact:
Joseph Baylis, President and
Chief Executive Officer
(416) 542-3980
investorrelations@manicouaganminerals.com
The TSXV has not reviewed this news release and does not acceptresponsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.The TSXV has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of thisnews release.
All statements other than statements of historical fact, includedin this release, including, without limitation, statementsregarding potential mineralization and reserves, explorationresults, and future plans and objectives of the Company, areforward-looking statements that involve various risks anduncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements willprove to be accurate and actual results and future events coulddiffer materially from those anticipated in such statements.Important factors that could cause actual results to differmaterially from the Company's expectations are exploration risksdetailed herein and from time to time in the filings made by theCompany with securities regulators.
http://www.manicouaganminerals.com