Twin Mining's Atlanta drill program under way
Twin Mining Corp TWG
Shares issued 73,404,344 Nov 13 close $0.36
Thu 14 Nov 2002 News Release
Mr. Hermann Derbuch reports
TWIN MINING FAST-TRACKING METALLURGICAL DRILLING FOR ATLANTA ... A 1,200-metre (4,000-foot) core drilling program is under way at Twin
Mining's Atlanta gold project which is located in Elmore county,
south-central Idaho. The 12-hole program (HQ core -- 63.5 millimetres in
diameter) is designed to produce representative ore-grade samples from the Monarch and Idaho gold ore zones for a metallurgical leach test program. The results of this program will be incorporated into a feasibility study for a 31.1-tonne-per-year (100,000-ounce) open-pit heap leach operation with estimated cash costs of $160 (U.S.) per ounce. The return of the Atlanta gold project to Twin Mining's active asset list
adds significant shareholder value and complements the company's
high-quality diamondiferous kimberlite discoveries in Canada's eastern Arctic, Torngat and Jackson Inlet. These diamond properties are located in a similar favourable environment as the Nanisivik zinc mine, an example for low capital and low operating costs in the eastern Arctic. Results from
Torngat North kimberlite sample processing and the Jackson Inlet
exploration program will be announced as soon as they are available.
The Atlanta gold deposit is located on a three-kilometre-long
(two-mile-long) shear zone. Historic production from the shear zone has been estimated at 12.4 tonnes (400,000 ounces) of gold and 28 tonnes (900,000 ounces) of silver. The 1997 prefeasibility study, completed by Behre Dolbear and Lyntek Inc., outlined a measured mineral resource of 18,042,000 tonnes (19,889,000 tons) grading 1.86 grams per tonne Au (0.054 of an ounce/ton) and 5.6 g/t Au (0.162 of an ounce/ton) in the Monarch and Idaho open-pit deposits for a gold resource of 33.7 tonnes (1,083,000 ounces). The resource calculation is based upon 325 reverse circulation drill holes and 22 core holes. Behre Dolbear used a six-metre-by-six-metre
(20-feet-by-20-feet) block model with gold grades determined by ordinary kriging within a defined geologic envelope. Additional exploration potential exists along the Atlanta lode both on
surface and underground. A preliminary underground inferred mineral
resource of 711,300 tonnes (784,100 tons) with a diluted grade of 10.57 g/t (0.306 of an ounce/ton) gold was also estimated in the 1997 study. Two new surface zones, the East extension and the Tahoma, have undergone initial drilling programs with positive results. Plans have been made to infill drill these zones in the future. Twin Mining has selected Behre Dolbear & Company to complete a feasibility
study for project development financing. Behre Dolbear is an
internationally recognized engineering firm and has previously prepared a feasibility study (1989), a prefeasibility study (1997), a scoping study
(1998) and other engineering work on the Atlanta gold project. Behre Dolbear has told Twin Mining that, based upon its prior work, Behre Dolbear believes that the Atlanta gold project will prove to be both technically and economically feasible. Derek Rance, PEng, Behre Dolbear's Canadian president, is Twin Mining's qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101. Twin Mining's financing campaign has already exceeded the initial offering of flow-through units at 50 cents for gross proceeds of $2,705,000. Due to subscriber demand the offering was increased and is expected to be completed shortly. |
