Probe Metals (PRB-V) has drilled a 22.9-metre near-surface interval averaging 19.2 grams of gold per tonne at Monique on its Val d'Or East property in northwestern Quebec. Much of the gold sat within a one-metre bonanza-grade vein that averaged 427 grams per tonne, without which the remaining 21.9 metres averaged just 0.58 gram of gold per tonne.
The assays included a second three-digit assay, as a one-metre zone managed 227.8 grams per tonne, but the bulk of the results from the 79 new holes were more pedestrian. This year's drilling focused on resource expansion and upgrading in the area within and surrounding the area considered in last year's preliminary economic assessment. Today's big data dump aside, Probe has plenty more assays to come from its energetic drill program.
Before he rambled onward into an early holiday season message of good cheer, Mr. Palmer, president and chief executive officer, offered a short burst of enthusiasm for his new assays. "Remarkably," he gushed, "Monique continues to provide us with better and better results," adding that the new assays include another record gold interval, putting the company "in the enviable position of having a deposit that remains open in all directions, with the potential to continue growing and improving."
That 2021 dream sheet was based on nearly 30 million tonnes measured and indicated at 1.81 grams of gold per tonne, and nearly as much inferred at 2.11 grams per tonne, a total of 3.69 million ounces of gold -- 2.47-million of which were deemed within open-pittable rock. The proposed plan called for a $353-million initial outlay to get a 10,000-tonne-per-day mine running, but the bottom line was encouraging, with a discounted net present value of nearly $600-million after taxes and an internal rate of return of 32.8 per cent.
Business Reporter |
