Hello Frank
OFF THE WIRE
Monday June 10, 9:32 am Eastern Time
Press Release
SOURCE: Twin Mining Corporation
Twin Mining Reactivates Atlanta Gold Project
TORONTO, June 10 /CNW/ - Twin Mining Corporation ("Twin Mining") (TWG - TSX) is pleased to announce that Montgomery Watson Harza ("MWH") of Boise, Idaho U.S.A. has been selected to carry out an Environmental Audit in preparation of resuming work on the Environmental Impact Statement which is on the critical path towards completing a bankable feasibility study for the Atlanta Gold project.
Background
The Atlanta Gold Project is located in Elmore County, Idaho, U.S.A. approximately 60 miles east-northeast of the state capital, Boise. It consists of 35 patented and 113 unpatented, contiguous mining claims. The Atlanta Gold Property covers 1,840 acres of mineral rights and includes several former gold producers. The Atlanta Gold Property is a former gold producer (400,000 ounces prior to 1960) and is 81.3% owned and operated by Twin Mining.
Since 1985, over Cdn.$20,000,000 have been spent on the property by Twin Mining's predecessor companies and its partner. Extensive drilling, metallurgy testing, a draft EIS and consultant reports have been done on the property. Behre Dolbear completed a Technical & Economic Feasibility Study in 1989, a Prefeasibility Analyses of the Atlanta Gold Project in 1997, a Scoping Study in 1998 and a January 1999 update. The earlier studies focused on gold recovery using a mill and the latter studies focus on gold recovery using heap leaching techniques.
Resources & Reserves
As part of their 1998 Scoping Study, and the January 1999 update. Behre Dolbear & Company Inc. of Denver, Colorado calculated an open pit, measured and indicated Mineral Resource. (See Table below), that contains an estimated 1,083,000 ounces of gold and 3,217,000 ounces of silver. Behre Dolbear concluded that the Atlanta Gold Project should proceed with a Final Feasibility Study and advance to production as a conventional open-pit, cyanide heap leach mine.
Open Pit - Measured, Indicated & Inferred Mineral Resource (1997)(x)
Resource Area Ore Grade Contained Ounces
------------- --- ----- ----------------
(000 tons) (ounces per ton)
Measured &
Indicated
Resource Gold Silver Gold Silver
Monarch Pit(x) 10,979 0.067 0.233 735,593 2,558,107
Idaho Pit(x) 8,911 0.039 0.074 347,529 659,414
Total(x) 19,890 0.055 0.162 1,083,122 3,217,521
Inferred
Resources
Tahoma Zone 1.000 0.085 85,000
Monarch
Extension 1,500 0.068 102,000
Total 2,500 0.748 187,000
(x) Cut off is .020 opt Au. Measured & Indicated Mineral Resource
includes Open Pit Mineral Reserves.
Underground - Inferred Mineral Resource (Behre Dolbear 1997)
Resource Area Diluted Tons of Ore Diluted Grade Contained Gold
ozs/ton (oz)
East Block 328,300 .310 101,750
Central Block 44,700 .337 15,080
West Block 411,100 .300 123,340
Total 784,100 .306 240,170
Open Pit Mineral Reserves(x) - Behre Dolbear & Company Inc (1997)
Proven & Ore Gold Grade Gold Ozs Waste Strip
Probable (000 tons) oz/ton (000 tons) Ratio
Monarch 7,862 0.072 566,000 29,118 3.70
Idaho 4,581 0.042 193,000 6,203 1.35
Total 12,443 0.061 759,000 35,231 2.84
(x) The Mineral Reserves contains a mining dilution factor of 6 percent
and a mine recovery factor of 95%. The Mineral Reserves produced by
Behre Dolbear conformed to US Security & Exchange Commission
guidelines for reporting reserves.
Results
The Atlanta Gold Project has several advantages which make it an
attractive investment:
1. Location in the mining friendly State of Idaho, U.S.A.
2. Easy access via public roads.
3. Gold reserves are located on private property.
4. Attractive operating and capital costs: Based on the 1998 Behre
Dolbear & Company Inc. Scoping Study and the January 1999 Update, key
financial results are as follows:
Considering a US$ 300/oz gold price:
Gold Recovery 62.37% 65.37%
Recoverable ounces of gold 469,000 492,000
Production ounces / year 78,000 82,000
Capital Costs (inc. Working Capital) US$31,2 million US$31,2 million
Cash Costs / oz U.S.$165.00 U.S.$157.00
NPV(at) 5% US$22.0 million US$27.5 million
Internal Rate of Return 20.3% 24.4%
5. Behre Dolbear believes that the ultimate mineral reserve could grow to
1.5 million ounces of contained gold or 1.0 million ounces of
recoverable gold.
Mr. Derek Rance P.Eng., Behre Dolbear & Company Inc.'s Canadian President, is Twin Mining's "Qualified Person" as defined by National Instrument 43-101.
New Feasibility Study
In addition to updating the EIS study, Twin Mining plans foresee a 2,000 meter HQ (63.5mm diameter) drilling program with the purpose of collecting sufficient fresh gold ore to perform a series of independent gold leach tests. Once the metallurgical tests are completed, the Twin Mining anticipates commissioning a bankable feasibility study for a conventional cyanide heap leach gold extraction process.
The successful completion of the feasibility study would allow debt financing and construction of the Atlanta Gold Mine.
For further information on the Atlanta gold project, consult Twin Mining's website www.twinmining.com and its Annual Reports for 1998 and 1999 found on Sedar.
Other
Twin Mining, in addition to the gold mining project in Idaho, U.S.A. is exploring the Jackson Inlet diamond project on Baffin Island and the TORNGAT diamond project on the east side of Ungava Bay in northern Quebec.
Regards
Vaughn |
