Probe Metals Inc. (TSX-V: PRB)
(“
Probe” or the “
Company”) is
pleased to announce positive results from the independent
Preliminary Economic Assessment (“
PEA”) for its
100% owned Val-d’Or East project (the “
Project”)
located near Val-d’Or, Québec. The PEA provides a base case
assessment of developing the Val-d’Or East mineral resource by open
pit and underground mining, and gold recovery with a standard free
milling flowsheet, incorporating gravity and leaching of the
gravity tails, with 50% estimated to be recovered via gravity. The
economic model supports an operation with low capital cost and high
rate of return over a 12.5-year mine life, with significant average
annual production of 207,000 ounces. The PEA was prepared by
Ausenco Engineering Canada Inc. (“
Ausenco”) in
accordance with National Instrument 43-101 – Standards of
Disclosure for Mineral Projects (“
NI 43-101”).
David Palmer, President and CEO of Probe,
states, “Our goal for Probe Metals has always been to find a
project that could sustain profitable mining operations of 200,000
gold ounces per year for a minimum of 10 years. We are very pleased
to say that we have not only been successful in achieving that
goal, but that we have actually exceeded it with Val-d’Or East. The
current PEA shows that Val-d’Or East is a large, sustainable mining
project that is highly leveraged to gold price and can
produce over 200,000 ounces of gold a year for at least 12.5 years,
with an average of over 230,000 ounces a year in the first eight
years. To have a project like this in Canada is remarkable,
but to have a project like this in an established mining camp like
Val-d’Or, which still has tremendous exploration upside and growth
potential is even more rare. We have explored less than 15% of
our property and will be accelerating our programs to capture this
exploration upside while continuing to increase confidence in the
resource. We will continue advancing the project on all fronts as
we build Val-d’Or East into one of the preeminent Canadian
development stories.”
Yves Dessureault, COO of Probe, states, “We are
extremely pleased at the results of our first PEA on the Val-d’Or
East project. It has exceeded all of our expectations in terms of
size, annual production, initial capital costs and financial
returns such as NPV and IRR. It truly is one of the more robust
development projects in Canada, and being situated in the heart of
mining infrastructure, 25 kilometres from downtown
Val-d’Or and directly linked to power and rail, provides us
with low execution risk. The project has performed extremely well
in initial planning and we see many opportunities to further
improve upon this study as we advance into the next phase of work.
We also see potential for this project to be a leader in
environmental and socially responsible mining, with low
environmental impact, ore sorting, use of dry stacked tailings and
access to green electricity for electrification of mining
operations being just a few of the initiatives we will be working
on. We look forward to unlocking further value as we progress
Val-d’Or East towards development.”
Description of the Val-d’Or East Project and
PEA
The Val-d’Or East Project includes the
properties on the Pascalis Gold Trend, the Monique Gold Trend, the
Courvan Gold Trend and the Lapaska property, which are all 100%
owned by Probe. The Project benefits from world-class mining
infrastructure, expertise for underground and open-pit operations
and highly qualified personnel. It can be easily reached by roads
that are well maintained in all seasons. Several large-scale mining
operations and gold mills are currently active in the area. Since
1930, approximately 30 million ounces of gold have been
produced at Val-d’Or.
Since 2016, Probe has been consolidating its
land position in the highly prospective Val-d’Or East area in the
province of Québec. The Val-d’Or East Project is a district-scale
land package comprising 436 square kilometres and represents one of
the largest consolidated land holdings in the Val-d’Or mining camp.
The current total resource stands at 1,800,900 ounces of gold in
the Measured and Indicated category (M&I) and 2,309,600 ounces
of gold in the Inferred category.
Ausenco was appointed as lead consultant in
November of 2020 to prepare the PEA in accordance with NI 43-101,
and was assisted by Moose Mountain Technical Services for the mine
design.
The independent PEA was prepared through the
collaboration of the following firms: Ausenco Engineering Canada
Inc. (Ausenco), Moose Mountain Technical Services (MMTS), Goldminds
Geoservices (Goldminds), Geologica Inc., Richelieu Hydrogéologie
Inc., Lamont Inc. and Rock Engineering Consulting Services. These
firms provided mineral resource estimates, design parameters and
cost estimates for mine operations, process facilities, major
equipment selection, rock and tailings storage, reclamation,
permitting, and operating and capital expenditures.
Financial Analysis
The economic analysis was performed assuming a
5% discount rate. On a pre-tax basis, the NPV5% is $991 million,
the IRR is 47.2% and the payback period is 1.8 years. On an
After-Tax basis, the NPV5% is $598 million, the IRR is 32.8% and
the payback period is 2.7 years. A summary of the Project
economics, and the projected annual gold production is listed in
Table 1 and Figure 1, respectively.
Table 1: Summary of Project
Economics
General |
|
LOM Total / Avg. |
Gold Price (US$/oz) |
|
$1,500 |
Exchange Rate (US$:C$) |
|
0.75 |
Mine Life (years) |
|
12.5 |
Total Waste Tonnes Mined (kt) |
|
366,924 |
Total Mill Feed Tonnes (kt) |
|
45,199 |
Strip Ratio (tonnes of waste: tonnes of mineralized material
(pre-ore sorting) |
|
6.42 x |
Production |
|
|
Mill Head Grade (g/t) |
|
1.88 |
Mill Recovery Rate (%) |
|
94.7% |
Total Mill Ounces Recovered (koz) |
|
2,584 |
Total Average Annual Production (koz) |
|
207 |
Operating Costs |
|
|
Mining Cost (C$/t Mined) |
|
$4.49 |
Processing Cost (C$/t Milled) |
|
$13.26 |
G&A Cost (C$/t Milled) |
|
$2.72 |
Refining & Transport Cost (C$/oz) |
|
$2.50 |
Total Operating Costs (C$/t Milled) |
|
$58.81 |
Cash Costs (US$/oz Au) |
|
$786 |
AISC (US$/oz Au) |
|
$965 |
Capital Costs |
|
|
Initial Capital (C$M) |
|
$353 |
Sustaining Capital (C$M) |
|
$602 |
Closure Costs (C$M) |
|
$30 |
Salvage Costs (C$M) |
|
($13) |
Financials |
Pre-Tax |
After-Tax |
NPV (5%) (C$M) |
$991 |
$598 |
IRR (%) |
47.2% |
32.8% |
Payback (years) |
1.8 |
2.7 |
Notes:* Cash costs consist of
mining costs, processing costs, mine-level G&A and refining
charges and royalties** AISC includes cash costs plus sustaining
capital, closure costs, and salvage valueCautionary Statement - The
reader is advised that the PEA summarized in this news release is
intended to provide only an initial, high-level review of the
project potential and design options. The PEA mine plan and
economic model include numerous assumptions and the use of inferred
mineral resources. Inferred mineral resources are considered to be
too speculative to be used in an economic analysis except as
allowed for by NI 43-101 in PEA studies. There is no guarantee that
inferred mineral resources can be converted to indicated or
measured mineral resources, and as such, there is no guarantee the
project economics described herein will be achieved.
Projected gold production averages 231,000 ounces
per year over years one to eight, peaking at 283,000 ounces in year
seven. The LOM production averages 207,000 ounces per year.
Figure 1: Val-d’Or East Project Annual
Gold
Productionhttps://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/2bace8a0-abf1-4623-88bf-b1667e244903
Mine Design and Production ScheduleThe PEA
considers open-pit mining from Monique, Courvan, Pascalis and
Lapaska gold trends. Underground mining is used to extract material
outside of the Monique, Courvan and Pascalis open pits. Underground
mining areas are accessed from the bottom or ramps in the open pits
after open-pit mining is completed in each respective area. The
underground mining methods considered in this study are longhole
retreat and mechanized drift and fill.
Measured, Indicated and Inferred Resources are
all considered as potential economic mill feed in this PEA. The
reader is cautioned that Inferred Resources are considered too
speculative geologically to have economic considerations applied to
them that would enable categorization as Mineral Reserves. There is
no certainty that Inferred Resources will be upgraded to Reserves.
Mineral Resources that are not Mineral Reserves do not have
demonstrated economic viability. The scheduled mill feed Resources
by type are as follows: 9% Measured, 42% Indicated and 49%
Inferred.
The owner-operated mining fleet will utilize
conventional truck and shovel methods with 11 cubic metre loaders
and 90-tonne haul trucks on 10m benches. Non-mineralized material
will be placed as near as possible to the pit rims to reduce
haulage costs. Mineralized material will be directed to stockpiles,
the mineral-sorting facility or direct fed to the mill. Mineralized
material will be hauled to the mill using 40-tonne highway capable
trucks.
The project considers application of new
technology such as ore sorting to increase the head grade to the
mill and expand the resource. Ore sorting is applied to all
open-pit material with gold grades between 0.25 g/t and 0.80 g/t.
In general, lower-grade mineral sorted material (0.25 <= Au
(g/t) < 0.38) is stockpiled and sorted/processed towards the end
of the mine life. Material with Au >= 0.8 g/t is direct fed to
the mill.
Underground material is also direct fed to the
mill. Only mineral in the grade range of 0.38-0.8 g/t Au is
processed by the mineral sorter to upgrade and increase the feed
grade to the downstream plant. The average mill feed head grade
during the first five years is 1.99 g/t. The project has
strategically applied ore sorting to only marginal grade material
and maximized Au extraction at lower cost.
The mining schedule considers one year of
pre-production, followed by approximately 12.5 years of mill feed
at 10,000 tonnes per day (tdp) throughput. During the first three
years of production, only material with Au >= 0.8 g/t is planned
for processing. In total there are 45.2 million tonnes of mill feed
planned with an average mill feed head grade of 1.88 g/t. The mill
feed is comprised of 38.1 million tonnes of open-pit material and
7.1 million tonnes of underground material. The average tonnage
strip ratio is 6.42. Over the mine life, total payable gold
production is forecasted to be 1,877koz from open-pit and 707koz
from underground operations.
Metallurgy and Mineral Processing
The Val-d’Or East process plant employs gravity
concentration, standard leaching with carbon-in-pulp (CIP)
technology for gold recovery. The plant includes 3 stages of
crushing followed by ball milling, classification, gravity
concentration, leach and CIP, and cyanide detoxification before
tailings filtration. The filtered tailings will be dry-stacked. The
process plant will treat 3.65 Mt of material per year at an average
throughput of 10,000 tpd.
The Val-d’Or East crushing plant will be
expanded in Year 4 of production to include ore sorting facilities.
By applying ore sorting, the mine production and crusher feed is
increased to 16,746 tpd but the mill feed is maintained at 10,000
tpd by rejecting the non-valuable material and upgrading the feed
to the mill. The mill head grade from open pit ROM increases from
1.32 g/t to 1.62 g/t with application of ore sorting.
The mill design availability is 8,059 hours per
year or 92%. The crushing and ore sorting design availability is
5,694 hours per year or 65%. The tailings filtration design
availability is 7,183 hours per year or 82%. The plant has been
designed to realize an average recovery of 94.7% of the gold over
the life of the Project based on metallurgical test work completed
at COREM in Québec City, Québec in 2020-2021. Of this, 50% of the
gold will be extracted by gravity and a further 44.7% by the
leach/CIP process.
Figure 2: Val-d'Or Process
layouthttps://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/88c218f6-f185-449b-bae7-cefe1cbc8186
Site Location and Infrastructure
The Val-d’Or East Project is located
approximately 25 kilometres east of the city of Val-d’Or in the
province of Québec. The Project is in a rich mining area with easy
access to power, labour, communities, highways, and a national
railway adjacent to the proposed process plant. Figure 3 shows the
site plan with pit locations, rock storage facilities, overburden
stockpiles, water collection ponds, the process plant and
buildings, and the dry tailings storage facility, among others.
The process plant site location selection
considered various factors including social, environmental,
topographic, accessibility, proximity to existing infrastructure
and overall flow of material to the dry tailings disposal and ore
sorting rejects stockpile. Centralized administration facilities,
truck shop, wash bay, tire store, refueling station, warehousing
and explosive magazine are optimized for efficient use of
facilities.
Based on the preliminary environmental
characterization and the geology of the various deposits (see news
release of December 10th, 2020), it can be considered that the
waste rock, mineralized material and tailings should not be
acid-generating nor leachable. These positive characteristics for
the project (simplified operation, easier water management and
reduced closure risks) were incorporated into the project
design.
Based on a preliminary siting and deposition
study for the Val-d’Or Project, it was decided to filter the
tailings and place them in a dry stack tailings facility (DSTF).
Dry stacking tailings is one of the most sustainable methods for
storing tailings as there is no need for a dam to hold them in
place or potential long-term storage issues. The DSTF has been
designed to safely accommodate the life of mine tailings production
as described in the PEA. Tailings produced from the process plant
will be filtered at the tailings filters immediately north of the
main process plant. The filtered tailings (cake) will be conveyed
to a stockpile immediately northwest of the tailings filters and
loaded into haul trucks for deposition on the DSTF, approximately
2.8 kilometres north of the processing plant, by road. The filtered
tailings will be end-dumped, spread in thin lifts, and compacted
with dozers and compactors to improve overall stability of the
DSTF. Waste rock may be used to create transportation corridors to
improve trafficability for haul trucks during wet weather
operation, if required. As lifts are completed, it is planned that
they will be progressively closed by grading the outer slopes and
covering them with a growth media and revegetated to reduce erosion
and help stabilize the slopes.
Runoff from the tailings storage facility, as
well as waste rock storage facilities and over burden stockpiles
will be collected in series of water management ponds and drainage
ditches. Consideration was taken for the main watershed between the
Courvan and Pascalis to reroute the fish-bearing streams – as
indicated on the site layout. There are at present two public roads
running through the site, namely Chemin Perron and Chemin Pascalis.
Consideration was taken for the relocation of these roads as
indicated on the site layout.
Figure 3: Val-d'Or East Site
Layouthttps://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/bd07abb3-fec8-45fb-bead-622ebdcefbb2
Operating Cost
Operating costs were derived using benchmark
information in the region and are estimated at $58.81 per tonne
milled (Table 2).
Table 2: Total Life of Mine Operating
Costs
COST AREA |
LOM($M) |
ANNUALAVG.
COST($M) |
AVG. LOM($/T MINED) |
AVG.LOM($/TMILLED) |
AVG. LOM(CAD$/OZ) |
OPEX(%) |
Mine Operating |
$1,936 |
$155 |
$4.49 |
$42.83 |
$750 |
73% |
Mill Processing |
$600 |
$48 |
$1.39 |
$13.26 |
$232 |
23% |
G&A |
$123 |
$10 |
$0.28 |
$2.72 |
$48 |
5% |
Total |
$2,658 |
$213 |
$6.16 |
$58.81 |
$1,029 |
100% |
Capital Cost
The total initial capital cost for the Val-d’Or
East Project is estimated to be $353MM including allowances for
indirect costs. Sustaining capital costs are estimated at $602M,
including plant expansion for ore sorting in Year 4. The plant
expansion is supported by underground mining that commences in Year
4 at Courvan, and then with contribution from either Monique,
Pascalis and Courvan up to year 13.
Table 3: Total Capital
Costs
DESCRIPTION |
INITIAL CAPITAL COST(CAD$M) |
SUSTAINING CAPITAL COST (CAD$M) |
TOTAL CAPITAL COST (CAD$M) |
MINING |
$75.3 |
$484.0 |
$559.2 |
MINING INFRASTRUCTURE |
$10.2 |
$5.7 |
$15.9 |
ON SITE INFRASTRUCTURE |
$50.0 |
$26.9 |
$76.9 |
PROCESS PLANT |
$129.4 |
$36.3 |
$165.7 |
OFF SITE INFRASTRUCTURE |
$4.2 |
- |
$4.2 |
TOTAL DIRECTS |
$269.1 |
$552.9 |
$822.0 |
PROJECT INDIRECTS |
$7.8 |
$2.8 |
$10.5 |
PROJECT DELIVERY |
$27.3 |
$7.9 |
$35.2 |
OWNER'S COSTS |
$9.7 |
- |
$9.7 |
PROVISIONS |
$38.8 |
$38.0 |
$76.8 |
TOTAL INDIRECTS |
$83.5 |
$48.7 |
$132.2 |
PROJECT TOTAL |
$352.6 |
$601.6 |
$954.1 |
The $484M in sustaining mining capital includes
$153M for the mining fleet and $331M for underground (“UG”)
development, expected to be self-funded through operating
cashflows. While the incremental underground production demands
substantial capital injection, all underground mining enhances
overall production profile and project value with the $1,500/oz
gold price (base case for the PEA mine planning), while offering
additional leverage to a potential increase in the gold price. Each
UG operation will be evaluated in more details in the next phase to
ensure that the sustaining and UG capital is providing incremental
value.
Cashflow Analysis
The projected cash flow and sensitivities are
indicated below.The Year 4 expansion to include ore sorting as well
as the supporting underground development and infrastructure will
be self-funded.
Figure 4: Projected Annual and
Cumulative LOM After-Tax Unlevered Free Cash
Flowhttps://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/a9c5e330-7f09-4bc8-9c31-8e16585f8f4a
SensitivitiesA sensitivity analysis was
conducted on the base case pre-tax and after-Tax NPV and IRR of the
Project, using the following variables: metal price, initial capex,
total operating costs, and foreign exchange. Table 4 summarises the
after-tax sensitivity analysis results.
As shown in Table 5 and Table 6, the sensitivity
analysis revealed that the project is most sensitive to changes in
gold prices, and foreign exchange and less sensitive to initial
capex and operating costs.
Table 4: After-Tax Sensitivity
Summary
Gold PriceUS$/oz |
$1,300 |
$1,400 |
$1,500Base Case |
$1,600 |
$1,700 |
$1,800 |
After-Tax NPV5% |
$288M |
$444M |
$598M |
$751M |
$902M |
$1,051M |
IRR |
19.1% |
26.2% |
32.8% |
39.2% |
45.5% |
51.6% |
NPV5%/Capex |
0.82x |
1.26x |
1.70x |
2.13x |
2.56x |
2.98x |
Payback (Years) |
5.1 |
3.8 |
2.7 |
2.1 |
1.8 |
1.6 |
Table 5: After-Tax
NPV5% Sensitivity
Gold Price |
After-Tax NPV (5%) |
Initial CAPEX |
Total OPEX |
FX |
US$/oz |
Base Case ($M) |
(-20%) |
(+20%) |
(-20%) |
(+20%) |
(-20%) |
(+20%) |
$1,300 |
$288 |
$357 |
$219 |
$528 |
$10 |
$789 |
($92) |
$1,400 |
$444 |
$513 |
$375 |
$680 |
$186 |
$977 |
$58 |
$1,500 |
$598 |
$667 |
$529 |
$831 |
$357 |
$1,161 |
$205 |
$1,600 |
$751 |
$820 |
$682 |
$979 |
$513 |
$1,344 |
$340 |
$1,700 |
$902 |
$970 |
$833 |
$1,125 |
$668 |
$1,525 |
$470 |
$1,800 |
$1,051 |
$1,120 |
$982 |
$1,271 |
$821 |
$1,705 |
$598 |
Table 6: After-Tax IRR
Sensitivity
Gold Price |
IRR |
Initial CAPEX |
Total OPEX |
FX |
US$/oz |
Base Case |
(-20%) |
(+20%) |
(-20%) |
(+20%) |
(-20%) |
(+20%) |
$1,300 |
19.1% |
26.4% |
14.2% |
29.3% |
5.6% |
40.8% |
-% |
$1,400 |
26.2% |
35.1% |
20.2% |
35.6% |
14.6% |
48.6% |
8.0% |
$1,500 |
32.8% |
43.3% |
25.8% |
41.8% |
22.6% |
56.2% |
15.2% |
$1,600 |
39.2% |
51.4% |
31.2% |
47.8% |
29.7% |
63.7% |
21.5% |
$1,700 |
45.5% |
59.3% |
36.5% |
53.7% |
36.4% |
71.1% |
27.3% |
$1,800 |
51.6% |
67.0% |
41.6% |
59.6% |
43.0% |
78.4% |
32.8% |
Opportunities for Project Enhancement
Recommendation has been made to investigate a
trade-off between trucking vs. conveying the mineralized material
from Monique to the plant location as part of the next phase.
Additional testing is planned to optimize grind
size and leaching conditions with the intent of improving capital
and operating costs. Recovery in gravity concentration was
conservatively estimated based on available information. Additional
gravity concentration testing across a range of samples may
increase this value due to the presence of significant free
gold.
Conservative recoveries were applied to ore
sorting. Future testwork should be conducted to investigate
conditions that provide higher recoveries. There is also an
opportunity to investigate the sale of ore sorting rejects as
aggregate material. The reject stockpile is in close proximity to a
CN railway line and an access road for easy transport.
The project still has substantial exploration
potential which could enable longer mine life beyond 12.5 years
outlined in the PEA, and possibly increase annual production
volumes.
Mineral Resource Estimate
The Val-d’Or East Project includes the
properties on the Pascalis Gold Trend, the Monique Gold Trend and
the Courvan Gold Trend, which are 100% owned by Probe.
Table 7: Val-d’Or East Property (100%
interest)
All Deposits / Category |
Pit-Constrained Resources |
Underground Resources |
Total |
Tonnes |
Grade(Au1
g/t) |
Gold(oz.) |
Tonnes |
Grade(Au g/t) |
Gold(oz.) |
Tonnes |
Grade(Au g/t) |
Gold(oz.) |
Measured |
5,111,000 |
2.12 |
347,600 |
660,000 |
2.43 |
51,500 |
5,771,000 |
2.15 |
399,100 |
Indicated |
21,404,000 |
1.56 |
1,072,700 |
2,602,000 |
3.08 |
257,900 |
24,006,000 |
1.72 |
1,330,600 |
Measured & Indicated |
26,515,000 |
1.67 |
1,420,300 |
3,262,000 |
2.95 |
309,400 |
29,777,000 |
1.81 |
1,729,700 |
Inferred |
20,702,000 |
1.58 |
1,053,800 |
8,230,000 |
3.43 |
906,500 |
28,932,000 |
2.11 |
1,960,400 |
1 Au symbol for GoldNotes:
- Mineral resources which are not
mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. The
estimate of mineral resources may be materially affected by
environmental, permitting, legal, title, market or other relevant
issues. The quantity and grade of reported inferred resources are
uncertain in nature and there has not been sufficient work to
define these inferred resources as indicated or measured
resources.
- The database used for this mineral
estimate includes drill results obtained from historical to the
recent 2020 drill program.
- The pit-constrained updated Mineral
Resources are reported at a cut-off grade of 0.42g/t Au for the
Monique deposit and 0.40g/t for the other deposits. These cut-offs
were calculated at a gold price of US$1,600 with an exchange rate
of 1.333 US$/C$ per troy ounce. They were based on the following
parameters: mining cost 3.00 or 3.50$/t, processing + G&A costs
$21.50/t, transport cost to the central processing facility based
on distance on existing roads @ $0.15/t.km, Au recovery 95%, pit
slopes from 48° to 59° as per the press release of February 23rd,
2021.
- The underground Mineral Resources
were based on two main mining methods, long-hole retreat at $82/t
depending on width of stopes, and mechanized cut & fill at
$110/t and the same above ground unit cost as for the
pit-constrained scenario, resulting in cut-off grades of 1.65 and
2.05 g/t Au. These cut-off grades were then used to delineate
continuous underground mineral shapes above the calculated cut-off
grades. Blocks within those UG mineral shapes that are below the
cut-off were included as dilution material and the grade reported
represents the average of all UG mineral shapes thus
delineated.
- The geological interpretation of
the deposits was based on lithologies and the observation that
mineralized domains occur either within or proximal to sub-vertical
dykes, deformation zones or as low dipping quartz tourmaline vein
sets.
- The mineral resource presented here
were estimated with a block size of 5m X 5m X 5m for the Monique
pit-constrained Mineral Resource and a block size of 2.5m X 2.5m X
2.5m for all others.
- The blocks were interpolated
from equal length composites calculated from the
mineralized intervals. Prior to compositing, high-grade gold
assays were capped (capping maximum ranges from 28 to 100 g/t Au
depending on the deposit). Depending on the deposit, the composites
were 1.0 metre or 1.5 metres.
- The mineral estimation was
completed using the inverse distance to the square methodology
utilizing three passes. For each pass, search ellipsoids followed
the geological interpretation trends were used.
- The Mineral Resources have been
classified under the guidelines of the CIM Standards on Mineral
Resources and Reserves, Definitions and Guidelines prepared by the
CIM Standing Committee on Reserve Definitions and adopted by CIM
Council (2019), and procedures for classifying the reported Mineral
Resources were undertaken within the context of the Canadian
Securities Administrators NI 43-101.
- In order to accurately estimate the
resources, underground voids (shaft, ramp and drifts) and the
existing pits were subtracted from the mineralized bodies modeled
prior to the pit optimization.
- Tonnage estimates are based on
measured rock densities by Gold Trend. 2.82 tonnes per cubic metre
for the Courvan Gold Trend, 2.83 for the Pascalis Gold Trend and
2.88 for the Monique Gold Trend. Results are presented undiluted
and in situ for the pit-constrained resources and diluted for the
UG resources.
- This mineral resource estimate is
dated June 1, 2021 and the cut-off date for the drillhole database
used to produce this updated mineral resource estimate is May 8,
2021. Tonnages and ounces in the tables are rounded to nearest
thousand and hundred respectively. Numbers may not total due to
rounding.
- Additional details are included in
the technical report.
As part of its land consolidation strategy for
the Val-d’Or East Project, Probe earned a 60% interest in the
Cadillac Break East Property in joint venture with O3 Mining Inc.,
which includes the Sleepy deposit. The Company also owns a
100%-interest in the Val-d’Or East Lapaska and Senore
properties.
Table 8: Val-d’Or East Other
Properties
Deposit / Category |
Pit-Constrained Resources |
Underground Resources |
Total |
Tonnes |
Grade(Au g/t) |
Gold(oz.) |
Tonnes |
Grade(Au g/t) |
Gold(oz.) |
Tonnes |
Grade(Au g/t) |
Gold(oz.) |
Lapaska1Total Inferred |
512,000 |
1.47 |
24,200 |
460,000 |
3.19 |
47,200 |
972,000 |
2.28 |
71,300 |
Senore1Total Inferred |
549,000 |
1.78 |
31,400 |
38,000 |
2.68 |
3,300 |
587,000 |
1.84 |
34,700 |
Sleepy2Total Inferred |
|
|
|
1,113,000 |
4.70 |
167,900 |
1,113,000 |
4.70 |
167,900 |
1 NI 43-101 Technical Report Val-d’Or East
Project – October 2019, 100% interest2 NI 43-101 Technical
Report Sleepy Project – December 2014, Option to earn 60%, 60%
presented
The Company has demonstrated with a series of
performance tests that ore sorting technology works very well with
the type of mineralization found at the Val-d’Or East Project. By
applying ore sorting to mineralized waste with very conservative
gold recoveries, the below cut-off grade material may be converted
to valuable ore and hence expand the mineral resource of the
project.
Table 9: Val-d’Or East Project –
Additional Pit Constrained Resource from Ore sorting
Resources Category |
Tonnes |
Grade (Au g/t) |
Ounces (oz.) |
Measured |
996,000 |
0.32 |
10,300 |
Indicated |
5,799,000 |
0.33 |
60,900 |
Measured & Indicated |
6,795,000 |
0.33 |
71,200 |
Inferred |
7,438,000 |
0.31 |
75,300 |
Notes:
- This additional pit-constrained
Mineral Resource represents low grade material between a cut-off of
0.25g/t and the cut-off grade of 0.40 or 0.42g/t Au of the
pit-constrained Mineral Resource from Table 1. This lower cut-off
was based on the following parameters: ore sorting cost $2.00/t,
Gold recovery in the ore sorting process 75% with an overall gold
recovery with gravity and leaching at 68%, mass recovery in the ore
sorting process 40%.
Qualified Person: The PEA has
been prepared by the following “Qualified Persons”, all of whom are
considered to be independent consultants of Probe for the purposes
of section 1.5 of NI 43-101, and all of whom have reviewed the
information in this press release that is summarized from the PEA
in their areas of expertise:
- Tomasso Roberto Raponi, P.Eng.,
Metallurgy Process (Ausenco)
- Jesse Aarsen, P. Eng., Mining
(MMTS)
- Merouane Rachidi, Ph.D. P.Geo.,
Resource and Reserve Estimation (Goldminds)
Non-IFRS Financial MeasuresThe Company has
included certain non-IFRS financial measures in this news release,
such as initial capital cost, sustaining capital cost, total
capital cost, AISC, and capital intensity, which are not measures
recognized under IFRS and do not have a standardized meaning
prescribed by IFRS. As a result, these measures may not be
comparable to similar measures reported by other corporations. Each
of these measures used are intended to provide additional
information to the user and should not be considered in isolation
or as a substitute for measures prepared in accordance with IFRS.
Non-IFRS financial measures used in this news release and common to
the gold mining industry are defined below.
Total Cash Costs and Total Cash Costs per
OunceTotal cash costs are reflective of the cost of production.
Total cash costs reported in the PEA include mining costs,
processing and water treatment costs, general and administrative
costs of the mine, off-site costs, refining costs, transportation
costs and royalties. Total cash costs per ounce is calculated as
total cash costs divided by payable gold ounces.
AISC and AISC per OunceAISC is reflective of all
of the expenditures that are required to produce an ounce of gold
from operations. AISC reported in the PEA includes total cash
costs, sustaining capital, closure costs and salvage, but excludes
corporate general and administrative costs. AISC per ounce is
calculated as AISC divided by payable gold ounces.
About Ausenco:Ausenco is a
global company based across 26 offices in 14 countries, with
projects in over 80 locations worldwide. Combining deep technical
expertise with a 30-year track record, Ausenco delivers innovative,
value-add consulting studies, project delivery, asset operations
and maintenance solutions to the mining & metals, oil & gas
and industrial sectors.
About Probe Metals:Probe Metals
Inc. is a leading Canadian gold exploration company focused on the
acquisition, exploration and development of highly prospective gold
properties. The Company is committed to discovering and developing
high-quality gold projects, including its key asset the
multimillion-ounce Val-d’Or East Gold Project, Québec. The Company
is well-funded and controls a strategic land package of
approximately 1,000-square-kilometres of exploration ground within
some of the most prolific gold belts in Québec. The Company was
formed as a result of the $526M sale of Probe Mines Limited to
Goldcorp. Eldorado Gold Corporation currently owns approximately
11.5% of the Company.
On behalf of Probe Metals Inc., Dr.
David Palmer, President & Chief Executive Officer
For further information:
Please visit our website at www.probemetals.com
or contact:
Seema SindwaniDirector of Investor
Relationsinfo@probemetals.com+1.416.777.9467
Forward-Looking Statements
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation
Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the
TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or
accuracy of this release. This News Release includes certain
"forward-looking statements" which are not comprised of historical
facts. Forward-looking statements include estimates and statements
that describe the Company’s future plans, objectives or goals,
including words to the effect that the Company or management
expects a stated condition or result to occur. Forward-looking
statements may be identified by such terms as “believes”,
“anticipates”, “expects”, “estimates”, “may”, “could”, “would”,
“will”, or “plan” and include, but are not limited to, statements
with respect to: the results of the PEA, including future Project
opportunities, future operating and capital costs, closure costs,
AISC, the projected NPV, IRR, timelines, permit timelines, and the
ability to obtain the requisite permits, economics and associated
returns of the Project, the technical viability of the Project, the
market and future price of and demand for gold, the environmental
impact of the Project, and the ongoing ability to work
cooperatively with stakeholders, including the local levels of
government. Since forward-looking statements are based on
assumptions and address future events and conditions, by their very
nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Although
these statements are based on information currently available to
the Company, the Company provides no assurance that actual results
will meet management’s expectations. Risks, uncertainties and other
factors involved with forward-looking information could cause
actual events, results, performance, prospects and opportunities to
differ materially from those expressed or implied by such
forward-looking information. Forward looking information in this
news release includes, but is not limited to, the Company’s
objectives, goals or future plans, statements, exploration results,
potential mineralization, the estimation of mineral resources,
exploration and mine development plans, timing of the commencement
of operations and estimates of market conditions. Factors that
could cause actual results to differ materially from such
forward-looking information include, but are not limited to failure
to identify mineral resources, failure to convert estimated mineral
resources to reserves, the inability to complete a feasibility
study which recommends a production decision, the preliminary
nature of metallurgical test results, delays in obtaining or
failures to obtain required governmental, environmental or other
project approvals, political risks, inability to fulfill the duty
to accommodate First Nations and other indigenous peoples,
uncertainties relating to the availability and costs of financing
needed in the future, changes in equity markets, inflation, changes
in exchange rates, fluctuations in commodity prices, delays in the
development of projects, capital and operating costs varying
significantly from estimates and the other risks involved in the
mineral exploration and development industry, and those risks set
out in the Company’s public documents filed on SEDAR. Although the
Company believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing
the forward-looking information in this news release are
reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such
information, which only applies as of the date of this news
release, and no assurance can be given that such events will occur
in the disclosed time frames or at all. The Company disclaims any
intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking
information, whether as a result of new information, future events
or otherwise, other than as required by law.
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