Tiberon announces 23% increase in reserves, BFS study & moves offices to Toronto from Calgary.
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Tiberon Minerals Ltd. - Increased Resource Estimate for Nui Phao & Award of Key Contracts for Bankable Feasibility Study
Thursday October 9, 9:00 am ET
TORONTO, Oct. 9 /CNW/ - Tiberon Minerals Ltd., (TBR:TSX) is pleased to announce the final updated mineral resource estimate for its Nui Phao tungsten fluorite deposit in Vietnam. This resource estimate includes 45 in-fill and step-out drill holes and 9 metallurgical drill holes, in addition to the 110 drill holes that formed the basis of the last mineral resource estimate issued in December 2002. The increase in the combined measured and indicated resource estimate amounts to a 23% rise over the last resource estimate and represents a significant increase in the overall metal content of the deposit.
The following table details the Measured Resource, Indicated Resource and Inferred Resource estimates for the deposit, based upon a 0.20% WO3 equivalent cut-off grade:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
WO3 eq WO3 CaF2 Cu Au Bi
Category Tonnes (%) (%) (%) (%) (g/t) (%)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Measured 25,070,000 0.68 0.25 8.4 0.23 0.26 0.108
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Indicated 35,450,000 0.54 0.17 8.3 0.15 0.16 0.081
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Inferred 27,420,000 0.50 0.16 7.1 0.17 0.15 0.078
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: Based on a 0.20% WO3 equivalent cut-off grade; WO3 eq:
WO3 + CaF2 + Cu + Au + Bi, converted to a WO3 equivalent grade. The
tungsten trioxide equivalent grade was calculated using assumed prices of
US $5475/tonne for contained WO3, US $140/tonne for fluorite concentrate,
US $0.85/pound for copper, US $325/ounce for gold and US $3.20/pound for
bismuth. The commodity prices are based on long-term average prices.
The resource estimate was completed by AMEC E&C Services Ltd. ("AMEC") and is classified to conform to the CIM definitions referred to in National Instrument 43-101. Stephen Juras, P.Geo., Principal Geologist of AMEC, served as the Qualified Person for this work. The resource estimates were made from 3-dimensional block models utilizing commercial mine planning software (MineSight(R)). The modelling procedure used industry-accepted methods in creating interpolation domains based on mineralized geology and grade estimation based on ordinary kriging. All three previous resource estimates for the Nui Phao deposit have been completed by AMEC and have been filed on SEDAR.
Mineral resources that are not reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. Measured and indicated mineral resources are that part of a mineral resource for which quantity and grade can be estimated with a level of confidence sufficient to allow the application of technical and economic parameters to support mine planning and evaluation of the economic viability of the deposit. An inferred mineral resource is that part of a mineral resource for which quantity and grade can be estimated on the basis of geological evidence and limited sampling and reasonably assumed, but not verified.
The resource outlined in the Measured and Indicated mineral resource category is contained in a tabular body occuring from near surface to a maximum depth of 200 meters, which is over 1300 meters long in an east-west direction and approximately 300 meters wide in a north-south direction. The Nui Phao deposit remains open at depth to the west. The resource is amenable to open pit mining methods, with a stripping ratio of approximately 1.6 to 1 (waste to ore) as determined by the Prefeasibility Study. It should be noted that the majority of operating tungsten mines are underground with grades of approximately 0.3% WO3 and usually with no secondary credits.
Tiberon does not anticipate conducting any additional drilling on the deposit for the purposes of the Bankable Feasibility Study. The updated mineral resource estimate includes the integration of a newly completed 1-meter topographic survey of the deposit area. This new resource information will provide the basis for the refinement of the open pit design and mine plan for the Nui Phao Bankable Feasibility Study.
In addition, Tiberon Minerals Ltd. has recently awarded the first two key contracts of the Nui Phao Bankable Feasibility Study of its tungsten fluorite deposit in Vietnam. The final Environmental-Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) contract was awarded to Knight Piesold of Vancouver, BC. All previous base-line and preliminary environmental studies have been conducted by Knight Piesold.
The final metallurgical testwork contract was awarded to SGS Lakefield Research in Lakefield, ON. The metallurgical testwork, which includes pilot plant testing, will be used to design the optimum process plant, maximising metallurgical performance of the Nui Phao deposit. Previous preliminary metallurgical testwork confirmed recoveries for the Prefeasibility Study (released January 15 2003) of 80% of the tungsten, 70% of the fluorite, 75% of the copper, 20% of the gold and 10% of the bismuth using conventional gravity and flotation processing techniques.
Tiberon also wishes to announce that its Head Office has relocated to Suite 505, 330 Bay Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
About Tiberon Minerals
Tiberon Minerals Ltd. (TBR:TSX) is a Canadian company that holds a 70% interest in the Nui Phao polymetallic property, with the minority interest being equally divided between two Vietnamese partners. Located within the South China Plate, Nui Phao is in the same geological setting as a number of large-scale producing mines in neighboring China. The underlying economics of the Nui Phao project are attractive and it has the potential to be a profitable, low cost, open pit producer of a number of in-demand commodities.
For further information
Mr. Mario Caron, P. Eng., President & CEO, Tiberon Minerals Ltd., Phone: (416) 214-1877, Fax: (416) 214-0091, info@tiberon.com, www.tiberon.com |
