Corvus Gold Final Leach Gold Recovery Results Average 88% for Mayflower Deposit, North Bullfrog Project, Nevada
Potential for Run Of Mine Operation
TSX: KOR OTCQX: CORVF
VANCOUVER, Jan. 17, 2013 /PRNewswire/ – Corvus Gold Inc. (“Corvus” or the
“Company”) – (TSX: KOR), (OTCQX: CORVF) announces the final results of
a series of column leach tests on large diameter core sample composites
from the Mayflower deposit at the North Bullfrog Project, Nevada. The
final results averaged 88% gold recovery at a crush size of nominally 80% passing 19mm (-3/4 inch), which
represents a 10% greater gold recovery than the 78% gold recovery
assumed in the December 6, 2012 Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA).
These encouraging results suggest that the potential exists to operate
the Mayflower project on a Run Of Mine (ROM) basis, although at lower
recoveries than would be achieved by crushing.
The impact of ROM processing could significantly reduce both capital and
operating costs per tonne for the Mayflower deposit where gold
production is anticipated for late 2014. The Company is currently conducting large ROM testing on large diameter
material and working with mining consultants on optimizing blasting
configurations to maximize fragmentation to assess this option.
The final recovery data (Table 1) support the high gold leachability of
the Mayflower oxide material even at grades as low as 0.16 g/t. The
impact of this increased recovery data will be integrated into the
Company’s upcoming Mayflower Feasibility Study scheduled for the first
quarter of 2013.
Carl Brechtel, COO of Corvus, stated: “The current gold recovery results
continue to be very encouraging and fully support the Mayflower deposit
as an attractive mining project with potential to continue to improve.
These results, linked with the discovery of the Yellow Jacket
high-grade zone in the North Area which has yet to be incorporated into
the resource base, provide high potential for continued enhancement of
the overall North Bullfrog project in 2013.”
Table 1
Mayflower PQ Core Composite Samples, Phase I Drilling, North Bullfrog
Project Final Gold Recovery in Column Leach Tests at 90-156 days of
Leach Time Nominal Particle Size 80% -19 mm (-3/4 inch)
________________________________________________________
| |MF PQ 1|MF PQ 2|MF PQ 3|MF PQ 4|MF PQ 5|
|________________|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|
|% Gold Recovery*| 88.5% | 89.7% | 77.2% | 89.0% | 85.7% |
|________________|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|
*-based on Au calculated head grade
In addition, a series of ROM vat leach tests are ongoing on particles at
75 mm, 150 mm and 200 mm to provide data to evaluate gold recovery at
larger particle size. These results will be integrated with further
column tests at larger crush size and blasting studies to fully assess
operating the Mayflower project as a ROM operation which could provide
a major cost and operational benefit.
About the North Bullfrog Project, Nevada
Corvus controls 100% of its North Bullfrog Project, which covers
approximately 68 square kilometres in southern Nevada just north of the
historic Bullfrog gold mine formerly operated by Barrick Gold Corp.
The property package is made up of a number of private mineral leases
of patented federal mining claims and 758 federal unpatented mining
claims. The project has excellent infrastructure, being adjacent to a
major highway and power corridor.
The project currently includes numerous prospective gold targets with
four (Mayflower, Sierra Blanca, Jolly Jane and Connection) containing
an estimated Oxidized Indicated Resource of 27 Mt at an average grade
of 0.28 g/t gold for 246,810 ounces of gold and an Oxidized Inferred
Resource of 234.5 Mt at 0.18 g/t gold for 1,387,870 ounces of gold
(both at a 0.1 g/t gold cutoff), with appreciable silver credits.
Unoxidized Inferred mineral resources are 221.6 Mt at 0.19 g/t for
1,361,000 ounces of gold (at a 0.1 g/t gold cutoff).
Mineralization occurs in two primary forms: (1) broad stratabound
bulk-tonnage gold zones such as the Sierra Blanca and Jolly Jane
systems; and (2) moderately thick zones of high-grade gold and silver
mineralization hosted by structural zones with breccias and
quartz-sulphide vein stockworks such as the Mayflower and Yellowjacket
targets. The Company is actively pursuing both types of
mineralization.
A video of the North Bullfrog project showing location, infrastructure
access, and 2010 winter drilling is available on the Company’s website
at http://www.corvusgold.com/investors/video/.
Qualified Person and Quality Control/Quality Assurance
Jeffrey A. Pontius (CPG 11044), a qualified person as defined by
National Instrument 43-101, has supervised the preparation of the
scientific and technical information (other than the resource estimate)
that form the basis for this news release and has approved the
disclosure herein. Mr. Pontius is not independent of Corvus, as he is
the CEO and holds common shares and incentive stock options.
Carl E. Brechtel, PE, a qualified person as defined by National
Instrument 43-101, is responsible for planning and execution of the
technical and engineering studies at North Bullfrog. He is responsible
for the preparation of this news release and has approved the
disclosure herein. He has over 30 years of experience in the mining
industry, is a registered professional engineer in the States of
Colorado and Nevada, and is a Registered Member of SME. Mr. Brechtel is
not independent of Corvus, as he is the COO and holds common shares and
incentive stock options.
Mr. William J. Penstrom, Jr., a consulting process engineer and
President of Pennstrom Consulting, Inc., has acted at the Qualified
Person, as defined by NI 43-101, for evaluation of the metallurgical
testing data presented herein. He has over 30 years of experience in
mineral process design and operation, and has been an independent
process and metallurgical consultant for the mining industry for the
last 10 years. He is a Registered Member of the Society of Mining,
Metallurgy and Exploration (SME Member # 2503900). Mr. Pennstrom and
Pennstrom Consulting Inc. are both independent of the Company under NI
43-101.
Mr. Gary Giroux, M.Sc., P. Eng (B.C.), a consulting geological engineer
employed by Giroux Consultants Ltd., has acted as the Qualified Person,
as defined in NI 43-101, for the Giroux Consultants Ltd. mineral
resource estimate. He has over 30 years of experience in all stages of
mineral exploration, development and production. Mr. Giroux
specializes in computer applications in ore reserve estimation, and has
consulted both nationally and internationally in this field. He has
authored many papers on geostatistics and ore reserve estimation and
has practiced as a Geological Engineer since 1970 and provided
geostatistical services to the industry since 1976. Both Mr. Giroux
and Giroux Consultants Ltd. are independent of the Company under NI
43-101.
The work program at North Bullfrog was designed and is supervised by
Russell Myers (CPG 11433), President of Corvus, a Qualified Person
defined by NI 43-101, and by Mark Reischman, Corvus Nevada Exploration
Manager, who are responsible for all aspects of the work, including the
quality control/quality assurance program. On-site personnel at the
project log and track all samples prior to sealing and shipping.
Quality control is monitored by the insertion of blind certified
standard reference materials and blanks into each sample shipment. All
resource sample shipments are sealed and shipped to ALS Chemex in Reno,
Nevada, for preparation and then on to ALS Chemex in Reno, Nevada, or
Vancouver, B.C., for assaying. ALS Chemex’s quality system complies
with the requirements for the International Standards ISO 9001:2000 and
ISO 17025:1999. Analytical accuracy and precision are monitored by the
analysis of reagent blanks, reference material and replicate samples.
Finally, representative blind duplicate samples are forwarded to ALS
Chemex and an ISO compliant third party laboratory for additional
quality control. McClelland Laboratories Inc. prepared composites from
duplicated RC sample splits collected during drilling. Bulk samples
were sealed on site and delivered to McClelland Laboratories Inc. by
ALS Chemex or Corvus personnel. All metallurgical testing reported here
was conducted or managed by McClelland Laboratories Inc.
About Corvus Gold Inc.
Corvus Gold Inc. is a resource exploration company, focused in Nevada,
Alaska and Quebec, which controls a number of exploration projects
representing a spectrum of early-stage to advanced gold projects.
Corvus is focused on advancing its 100% owned Nevada, North Bullfrog
project towards a potential development decision and continuing to
explore for new major gold discoveries. Corvus is committed to
building shareholder value through new discoveries and leveraging
noncore assets via partner funded exploration work into carried and or
royalty interests that provide shareholders with exposure to gold
production.
On behalf of
Corvus Gold Inc.
(signed) Jeffrey A. Pontius
Jeffrey A. Pontius,
Chief Executive Officer
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements and
forward-looking information (collectively, “forward-looking
statements”) within the meaning of applicable Canadian and US
securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of
historical fact, included herein including, without limitation,
statements regarding the anticipated content, commencement and cost of
exploration programs, anticipated exploration program results and the
timing thereof, the discovery and delineation of mineral
deposits/resources/reserves, the potential for a run-of-mine heap leach
operation at Mayflower, the potential for a run of mine operation at
Mayflower to have lower capital and operating costs, the proposed
completion of a feasibility study for either Phase 1 (Mayflower) or
Phase 2 (North Project), or both, at the North Bullfrog project and the
timing thereof, the potential for a production decision to be made for
either Phase 1 or Phase 2, the potential commencement of any
development of a mine at North Bullfrog following a production
decision, the potential for any mining or production at North Bullfrog,
whether by 2014 or at all, the potential for the Company to secure or
receive any royalties in the future or to provide its shareholders with
exposure to gold production, the potential to secure partners to fund
additional work on some of the Company’s properties, business and
financing plans and business trends, are forward-looking statements.
Information concerning mineral resource estimates and the preliminary
economic analysis thereof also may be deemed to be forward-looking
statements in that it reflects a prediction of the mineralization that
would be encountered, and the results of mining it, if a mineral
deposit were developed and mined. Although the Company believes that
such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such
expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements are
typically identified by words such as: believe, expect, anticipate,
intend, estimate, postulate and similar expressions, or are those,
which, by their nature, refer to future events. The Company cautions
investors that any forward-looking statements by the Company are not
guarantees of future results or performance, and that actual results
may differ materially from those in forward looking statements as a
result of various factors, including, but not limited to, variations in
the nature, quality and quantity of any mineral deposits that may be
located, variations in the market price of any mineral products the Company may
produce or plan to produce, the Company’s inability to obtain any
necessary permits, consents or authorizations required for its
activities, significant increases in the cost of labour, materials,
equipment and supplies required to develop and operate any mine at
North Bullfrog, the Company’s inability to produce minerals from its
properties successfully or profitably, to continue its projected
growth, to raise the necessary capital or to be fully able to implement
its business strategies, and other risks and uncertainties disclosed in
the Company’s latest Annual Information Form and interim Management
Discussion and Analysis filed with certain securities commissions in
Canada. All of the Company’s Canadian public disclosure filings may be
accessed via www.sedar.com and readers are urged to review these materials, including the technical
reports filed with respect to the Company’s mineral properties.
Cautionary Note Regarding References to Resources and Reserves
National Instrument 43 101 – Standards of Disclosure for Mineral
Projects (“NI 43-101″) is a rule developed by the Canadian Securities
Administrators which establishes standards for all public disclosure an
issuer makes of scientific and technical information concerning mineral
projects. Unless otherwise indicated, all resource estimates contained
in or incorporated by reference in this press release have been
prepared in accordance with NI 43-101 and the guidelines set out in the
Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (the “CIM”)
Standards on Mineral Resource and Mineral Reserves, adopted by the CIM
Council on November 14, 2004 (the “CIM Standards”) as they may be
amended from time to time by the CIM.
United States shareholders are cautioned that the requirements and
terminology of NI 43-101 and the CIM Standards differ significantly
from the requirements and terminology of the 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. Mineral resources which are not
mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability, and US
investors are cautioned not to assume that all or any part of a mineral
resource will ever be converted into reserves. Further, inferred
resources have a great amount of uncertainty as to their existence and
as to whether they can be mined legally or economically. It cannot be
assumed that all or any part of the inferred resources will ever be
upgraded to a higher resource category. Under Canadian rules,
estimates of inferred mineral resources may not form the basis of a
feasibility study or prefeasibility study, except in rare cases. The
SEC normally only permits issuers to report mineralization that does
not constitute SEC Industry Guide 7 compliant “reserves” as in-place
tonnage and grade without reference to unit amounts. The term
“contained ounces” is not permitted under the rules of SEC Industry
Guide 7. In addition, the NI 43-101 and CIM Standards definition of a
“reserve” differs from the definition in SEC Industry Guide 7. In SEC
Industry Guide 7, a mineral reserve is defined as a part of a mineral
deposit which could be economically and legally extracted or produced
at the time the mineral reserve determination is made, and a “final” or
“bankable” feasibility study is required to report reserves, the
three-year historical price is used in any reserve or cash flow
analysis of designated reserves and the primary environmental analysis
or report must be filed with the appropriate governmental authority.
Caution Regarding Adjacent or Similar Mineral Properties
This news release contains information with respect to adjacent or
similar mineral properties in respect of which the Company has no
interest or rights to explore or mine. The Company advises US
investors that the mining guidelines of the US Securities and Exchange
Commission (the “SEC”) set forth in the SEC’s Industry Guide 7 (“SEC
Industry Guide 7″) strictly prohibit information of this type in
documents filed with the SEC. Readers are cautioned that the Company
has no interest in or right to acquire any interest in any such
properties, and that mineral deposits on adjacent or similar properties
are not indicative of mineral deposits on the Company’s properties.
This press release is not, and is not to be construed in any way as, an
offer to buy or sell securities in the United States.
SOURCE Corvus Gold Inc.
