- River Valley is the largest undeveloped primary PGM resource in Canada, the March 2018 NI 43-101 has updated the 2012 resource. The River Valley PGM Project has excellent infrastructure and is within 100 kilometers of the Sudbury Metallurgical Complex. The project is 100% owned by New Age Metals.
- 4,626,250 PdEq ounces, with 2,713,933 ounces in Inferred at a 0.4 g/t cut-off.
- Our stated objective of increasing the resource beyond 1Moz in the northern portion was achieved.
- Footwall PGM mineralization, “The Pine Zone/T3”, a new discovery and additional source of PGMs at the River Valley Project (RVP), was included in the new resource model.
- Winter ground IP geophysics report to be interpreted by Alan King to help identify further drilling in the northern portion of the project and the new targets from T3-T9.
- Geological interpretation of the March 2018 NI 43-101 geophysical report is ongoing to target and better define the summer/fall 2018, winter 2019 drill programs.
- Advanced stage mineralogical testing is ongoing in Sudbury at Expert Process Solutions (XPS).
- Lithium Division: A minimum of $500,000 will be expended in 2018 on the companies Lithium division by New Age Metals option/joint venture partner Azincourt Energy Corp. (TSX.V: AAZ) (see news release dated January 15th, and February 22nd, 2018). The 2018 budget will allow for 2 out of the 3 drill ready projects to be drilled. New Age Metals technical team is the field manager.
March 21st 2018 Rockport, Canada – New Age Metals Inc.(NAM) (TSX.V: NAM; OTCQB: PAWEF; FSE: P7J.F) Harry Barr, Chairman & CEO, stated; “The company is pleased to update our shareholders with the new March 2018 NI 43-101 resource estimation of the River Valley Platinum Group Metals (PGM) Project. WSP Canada Inc. (WSP) under the supervision of Todd McCracken, P. Geo., completed the resource estimation. Management believes this study has upgraded the bulk mining potential of this project. The River Valley PGM Project continues to grow and we are focusing our efforts on creating shareholder value with distinct project objectives. The first objective is establishing a minimum ounce bank in the northern portion of the project that would allow the company to economically open pit mine, crush, and concentrate on site and then ship the concentrates to the Sudbury Metallurgical Complex. The second objective is to continue to explore and develop the entire 16 kilometers of mineralization throughout the contact zone (current established resource) and test the new footwall discovery that has potential to extend throughout the overall project.” (See Figure 1 and 2)
New NI 43-101 Compliant Resource Estimation
WSP Canada, under the supervision of Todd McCracken, P. Geo (Manager-Mining at WSP Canada) has recently completed the new NI 43-101 compliant resource estimation of the River Valley PGM Deposit in the Sudbury Mining District of Ontario, Canada. The new resource estimation has incorporated all the past data, geophysics, new drilling since 2015 and the River Valley Extension (RVE), including the additional drilling in the new footwall discoveries Pine Zone and T3.
The results of the new resource estimation are tabulated in Table 1 below (0.4 PdEq cut-off).
Notes:
- CIM definition standards were followed for the resource estimation.
- The 2018 resource models used Ordinary Krig grade estimation within a three-dimensional block model with mineralized zones defined by wireframed solids.
- A base cut-off grade of 0.4 % g/t PdEq was used for reporting resources.
- Palladium Equivalent (PdEq) calculated using (US$): $1,000/oz Pd, $1,000/oz Pt, $1,350/oz Au, $1750/oz Rh, $3.20/lb Cu, $5.50/lb Ni, $36/lb Co.
- Numbers may not add exactly due to rounding.
- Mineral Resources that are not mineral reserves do not have economic viability
- The quantity and grade of reported inferred resources in this estimation are uncertain in nature and there has been insufficient exploration to define these inferred resources as an indicated or measured mineral resource and it is uncertain if further exploration will result in upgrading them to an indicated or measured mineral resource category.
Trevor Richardson, New Age Metals President & COO stated: “To date, approximately 40 million dollars has been expended on our combined River Valley and River Valley Extension project. We are pleased with the current significant defined resource on the project. However the project is a long way from being drilled out, in the past all of the focus has been on the contact mineralization. The contact extends throughout the 16 kilometers of the project. We are most excited about the newly defined footwall mineralization, which we have only completed 3,000 meters of geophysics on and have already identified the Pine and T3 Zone discoveries. Our stated objective to increase the resource beyond 1Moz in this northern portion was achieved. The plan is to take this geophysics and drilling program from North to South over our entire project. Our ultimate goal is to bulk mine a series of open pits throughout our 16 kilometers, concentrate on site, and ship the concentrates to the long-established Sudbury Metallurgical Complex.”
River Valley 2018 Exploration & Development Objectives
- Complete ground IP geophysics from T3 south to T9 (Q1-Q2 2018);
- Utilize the new resource estimation to establish further drill targets (Q1-Q2 2018);
- Continue with drilling in the northern portion of the project (slated for Q3-Q4 2018 & Q1 2019);
- Explore more target areas based on recommendations of the updated 43-101 and the 2018 geophysics (slated for Q3-Q4 2018 & Q1-Q2 2019);
- Complete mineralogical studies (Q2 2018);
- Continue to advance the River Valley PGM Project towards a Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) on the River Valley PGM Deposit; and
- Our Corporate Mandate is to build a series of open pits (bulk mining) over the 16 kilometers of mineralization. We will mine, crush, and concentrate on site, then ship the concentrates to Sudbury. The objective of the company was to increase the northern portion (Pine Zone/Dana North) to 1Moz and the company achieved this.
Ground IP Geophysics
In 2017, the company had a ground IP survey conducted over the area of the newly discovered Pine Zone (2015-2016) footwall PGM mineralization (News Release: June 19th, 2017). The geophysical survey was a high-resolution OreVision® IP survey performed by Abitibi Geophysics, (Thunder Bay, Ontario). OreVision IP can reveal targets at four times the depth of conventional IP without compromising near-surface resolution. Recently a second phase of ground IP geophysics has been completed on an area south of the Pine Zone and over the T4 to T9 target anomalies. The new survey area represents a strike length of approximately 2000 metres. The final report from Abitibi Geophysics is being compiled. The company will outline a series of drill programs to test the new geophysical anomalies generated from the survey and outline additional drilling in the Pine Zone area.
Mineralogy
Expert Process Solutions (XPS), based in Falconbridge, Ontario has been engaged to perform mineralogical studies of the PGM mineralization. Management believes that a better understanding and characterization of the River Valley PGM mineralization will be a guide in future endeavors and development work including improved flowsheet and processing options in preparation for a Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) Report. Further updates in the mineralogy will be forthcoming.
The Yellow Band represents the footwall potential area of the River Valley Deposit based on the results of the Pine Zone where footwall mineralization was noted to extend 150 meters eastward from the Pine Zone/ T3 main deposit. At present the only area that has confirmed footwall mineralization is in the Pine Zone (defined from 2015 to 2017 drilling). Geophysics and exploration are in progress to test other areas of the project. Management’s specific focus is to outline a sufficient economic resource in the northern portion of the project, and then develop a series of open pits (bulk mining), crush, and concentrate on site, then ship the concentrates to Sudbury. Our stated objective was to increase the northern portion of the project (Pine Zone/Dana Zone/Lismer Zone/Banshee) to 1 Moz and the March 2018 43-101 has achieved this objective.
River Valley PGM Exploration Plan Going Forward
To date an approximate 140,659 meters (461,480 feet) in 628 drill holes have been conducted by the company as operator on the River Valley Project. Several independent NI 43-101 compliant resource estimations have previously been generated for the deposit through the exploration and development phases. In 2016, the company purchased 100% of Mustang Minerals’ southern portion of the River Valley contact (River Valley Extension, News Release – Oct 5th, 2016). This added 4 kilometers of mineralized strike length to the southern portion of the company’s main River Valley Project. The River Valley Deposit’s present resource, with approximately 4.6M PdEq ounces in Measured Plus Indicated mineral resources (0.4 g/t cut-off) and near-surface mineralization, covers over 16 kilometers of continuous strike length. The acquisition of the RVE adds an additional 4 kilometers for a total of 16 kilometers of strike. The March 2018 NI 43-101 report added a new inferred resource of PdEq (Oz) for a total of 729,658 ounces at a 0.4 g/t PdEq cut off on the River Valley Extension (RVE). The company continues to explore and enhance the River Valley PGM Deposit.
Third Party Analytical Reports
In January 2018, we received a second detailed analytical report conducted by Siddharth Rajeev of Fundamental Research Corporation. The FRC report is currently available to view on www.newagemetals.com for further information please email Paul Poggione in Corporate Development at paulp@newagemetals.com or call 613-659-2773.
Current Market Awareness Program
Conferences This Quarter
In early February, our President Trevor Richardson was in South Africa attending 3 conferences with a full schedule, including two 1-2-1 style conferences with over 25 pre-booked meetings with mine finance companies, major mine companies, institutions, stock brokers, and high net worth individuals. In mid-February, Harry Barr (CEO) and Paul Poggione (Corporate Development), had a minimum of 25 pre-booked meetings at the Capital Event Conference in Whistler to meet new and existing investors, stockbrokers and institutions. In March, the entire New Age Metals team assembled in Toronto. We attended the RAI$E Capital 1-2-1 event, where at least 25 different groups were presented NAM’s corporate mandate via our slide deck. On the Saturday before the Prospectors and Developers Association Convention (PDAC), we had various meetings at the Metals Investor Forum Conference. Our main event, the PDAC in Toronto, the world’s largest mining convention, is where our company hosted a small hospitality room that doubled as a boardroom and over 40 meetings were completed to continue our New Age Metals market awareness program. Several meetings were held with prospectors, junior mining companies, and major mining companies, to advance our objectives. Our President, Trevor Richardson was asked to speak in two packed rooms, one for the Canada-China Investment Conference and the second in the Ontario Pavilion, both talks were focused on advanced stage mineral projects in Ontario. Management of NAM believes that the 2018 PDAC was one of the best attended and most positive mining conferences in recent years.
Third Party Social Media, Digital Marketing, and U.S. Radio Campaigns
In the first quarter of 2018, NAM signed contracts with Stockhouse.com, Investing News Network (a fully owned subsidiary of Dig Media Inc.), and International Mining Research. These programs will augment our existing programs with Palisade Global, Agoracom, Alpha Stoxx, and Star IR. We are pleased to be working with these companies whose platforms provide content and contact with thousands of investors every day. In early March, to add to our U.S. marketing program and our OTC listing (U.S. Trade Symbol: PAWEF), NAM has signed contracts with NYC Radio, LLC, Corporate Profile Minute on the Larry Kudlow Show, which is featured on over 150 radio stations coast to coast, and the Ellis Martin Report, which is broadcasted on 100 terrestrial stations in the United States and worldwide via the VoiceAmerica Business Channel.
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ABOUT NAM’S PGM DIVISION
NAM’s flagship project is its 100% owned River Valley PGM Project (NAM Website – River Valley Project) in the Sudbury Mining District of Northern Ontario (100 km east of Sudbury, Ontario). Presently the River Valley Project is Canada’s largest undeveloped primary PGM deposit with Measured + Indicated resources of 160 million tones @ 0.44 g/t Palladium, 0.17 g/t Platinum, 0.03 g/t Gold, with a total metal grade of 0.64 g/t at a cut-off grade of 0.4 g/t equating to 3,297,173 ounces PGM plus Gold and 4,626,250 PdEq Ounces. This equates to 4,626,250 PdEq ounces M+I and 2,713,933 PdEq ounces in inferred.
ABOUT NAM’S LITHIUM DIVISION
The Company has five pegmatite hosted Lithium Projects in the Winnipeg River Pegmatite Field, located in SE Manitoba. Three of the projects are drill ready. This Pegmatite Field hosts the world class Tanco Pegmatite that has been mined for Tantalum, Cesium and Spodumene (one of the primary Lithium ore minerals) in varying capacities, since 1969. NAM’s Lithium Projects are strategically situated in this prolific Pegmatite Field. Presently, NAM is one of the largest mineral claim holder for Lithium in the Winnipeg River Pegmatite Field. On January 15th 2018, NAM announced an agreement with Azincourt Energy Corporation (see Jan 15, 2018 and Feb 22nd, 2018 Press Releases) whereby Azincourt will commit up to $3.85 million dollars in exploration, up to 3 million shares of Azincourt stock to NAM, up to $210,000 in cash, and a 2% net smelter royalty on all 5 projects. Exploration plans for 2018 are currently in progress.
Qualified Person
The contents contained herein that relate to Exploration Results or Mineral Resources is based on information compiled, reviewed or prepared by Carey Galeschuk, a consulting geoscientist for New Age Metals. Mr. Galeschuk is the Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the technical content of this news release.
The Mineral Resources for the River Valley Project disclosed in this news release have been calculated by Mr. Todd McCracken, P.Geo., an employee of WSP and independent of New Age Metals. By virtue of his education and relevant experience, Mr. McCracken is a “Qualified Person” for the purpose of National Instrument 43-101. The Mineral Resource has been classified in accordance with CIM Definition Standards for Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves, (May 2014). Mr. McCracken, P.Geo., has read and approved the contents of this press release as it pertains to the disclosed Mineral Resource estimations.
On behalf of the Board of Directors
Harry Barr
Harry G. Barr
Chairman and CEO
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Should you have additional inquiries, please contact Paul Poggione, Corporate Development, Tel: 1-613-659-2773, email: PaulP@NewAgeMetals.com.
New Age Metals
Ontario Field Office: 59 Burtch’s Lane |1000 Islands, Rockport, ON, K0E 1V0
info@newagemetals.com
+1-613-659-2773
www.newagemetals.com
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Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements: This release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. These statements may differ materially from actual future events or results and are based on current expectations or beliefs. For this purpose, statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. In addition, forward-looking statements include statements in which the Company uses words such as “continue”, “efforts”, “expect”, “believe”, “anticipate”, “confident”, “intend”, “strategy”, “plan”, “will”, “estimate”, “project”, “goal”, “target”, “prospects”, “optimistic” or similar expressions. These statements by their nature involve risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially depending on a variety of important factors, including, among others, the Company’s ability and continuation of efforts to timely and completely make available adequate current public information, additional or different regulatory and legal requirements and restrictions that may be imposed, and other factors as may be discussed in the documents filed by the Company on SEDAR (www.sedar.com), including the most recent reports that identify important risk factors that could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements. The Company does not undertake any obligation to review or confirm analysts’ expectations or estimates or to release publicly any revisions to any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. Investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.