Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Strategies & Market Trends : Dino's Bar & Grill -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Goose94 who wrote (10835)	3/5/2015 9:54:53 PM
From: Goose94	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 203034

Zinc market to reach ‘pinch point’ in 2016/17 as mine closures outweigh new output Profit margins for zinc miners will probably rise strongly over the next five years, boosted by expected price increases on the back of a widening supply deficit. According to advisory firm Wood Mackenzie (Woodmac) analyst Jonathan Leng, the next two years, 2016 and 2017, represented the “pinch point” of concentrate supply, with mine-closure-related cuts expected to outweigh new output from projects. New mines in the pipeline were not nearly as large, and did not boast the high grades that were previously commonplace. Leng noted that while the price outlook for zinc was dull for 2015, there was potential for an uptick at the end of the year. The main driver of the zinc market and prices would be the structural issue of whether mine supply growth could keep pace with rising consumption. “Global zinc consumption is expected to grow steadily by around 500 000 t/y to 2035, which needs to be met by higher mine and smelter output. Meeting this requirement has been made all the more difficult by recent and some major pending closures such as Century and Lisheen,” Leng told an audience during the 2015 Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada’s yearly convention. Zinc was currently an important industrial metal, adding about 12 times the strength to steel when used as zinc galvanized steel, while about 37.5 lb of zinc went into each new car. Zinc used in fertiliser had also been shown to improve crop yields by up to 30%. Leng noted that the emerging use of zinc in fertilisers had the potential to add about one-million tonnes to the demand side in the long term. GROWING DEFICIT Woodmac had forecast 2015 to be the fourth year of global refined deficit and the year when the sustained drawdown of general inventories could start to manifest itself in the form of lower exchange stocks, which was expected to support a sharp rise in the zinc price. “A projected tight refined market, with overall inventory well below the historical average, and sharply declining exchange stocks, lent momentum to further price increases to a cyclical high in 2018,” he advised. Leng said closures, attrition and demand growth would create the need for 3.8-million tonnes a year of new zinc production by 2020. However, even if the entire population of currently identified possible and probable projects were built, it would only replace 2.7-million tonnes of the requirement, at an estimated cost of $8.4-billion. While there was no shortage of projects, few of the more than 400 probable and possible mines had the required quality, or were already at an advanced stage of development, to dampen the widening supply deficit. Many of these projects were also facing technical challenges or political issues. He pointed out that while the majors had mostly pulled out of zinc project development, leaving it up to the juniors and midsized companies, these companies were dealing with a financing crisis. “Financing for zinc mine projects remains a key issue. Mining majors are able to access finance to proceed with project development, such as Vedanta, which is advancing the Gamsberg project, in South Africa. “However, few zinc projects are owned by majors or State-owned entities and financing for juniors continues to be a challenge,” Leng emphasised. Further, the average cash operating costs at existing mines and advanced-stage projects were forecast to rise by around 11% in real terms over the next five years, with the largest contribution to cash operating cost inflation coming from treatment charges. Higher zinc prices could trigger the reopening of higher cost mines, which would further raise the average operating cost. “Mine capital cost escalation has eased since 2006/07, but it is still above global inflation,” Leng highlighted. Overall, strong demand growth, restricted supply and falling stockpiles were pointing to a bright outlook for zinc.

To: Goose94 who wrote (10835)

5/5/2015 8:03:23 AM

From: Goose94

Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 203034

Canadian Zinc (CZN-T) May 5, '15 is pleased to report that assays have been received for the first four drill holes of the current underground drill program at the Prairie Creek Mine in the Northwest Territories, Canada.

Exploration drilling from the underground drill station #8, in the 870m decline tunnel on section 51000N, is testing for new areas of mineralization in proximity to the mine workings and further detailing Inferred resources with the objective of converting part of the large Inferred Mineral Resource to the Indicated category for potential inclusion in an update of the Preliminary Feasibility Study scheduled to be completed later this year. All of the four holes intercepted the anticipated hosting structures.

In this particular area of the mine, the mineralization occurs either in the Main Quartz Vein ("MQV"), which is a high-grade, steeply dipping, fault structure that hosts the majority of the defined reserves and resources or in the Stockwork Zone ("STK"), which is a series of narrow high-grade veins occurring at an oblique angle to the MQV. All four holes intercepted significant MQV and STK mineralization.

Highlights of Drilling:

The MQV structure was intersected in all four holes. Hole PCU-15-53 returned the highest grade intercept of 27.5% Pb, 30.5% Zn, 289 g/t Ag over an estimated true width of 3.03 metres.

Multiple intercepts of STK mineralization were also intersected in all holes in the footwall of the MQV structure, except for PCU-15-54, which had to be abandoned in the MQV prior to penetrating the footwall rocks.

The best STK intercept occurred in PCU-15-52 which assayed 7.2% Pb, 11.9% Zn, 89 g/t Ag over an estimated true width of 3.63 metres, and with other narrower intercepts with grades over 20% zinc or lead in three of the four holes.

The multiple intercepts of STK mineralization occur mostly outside, but adjacent to, the calculated Indicated Resource and this information will add to the STK database and improve resource modelling.

Assay results from the program are as follows:

Drillhole	Mineral Style	From (m)	To (m)	Core Interval (m)	Est. True Width (m)	Pb (%)	Zn (%)	Ag (g/t)	Cu (%)
PCU-15-52	MQV	105.50	107.50	2.00	1.96	14.29	6.05	203.5	0.542
PCU-15-52	STK	119.32	123.32	4.00	2.72	2.36	5.14	61.0	0.172
PCU-15-52	STK	129.24	134.60	5.36	3.63	7.17	11.93	89.2	0.163
PCU-15-52	STK	135.70	137.70	2.00	1.35	5.83	16.82	51.0	0.056
PCU-15-52	STK	149.05	153.50	4.45	2.94	4.47	4.14	49.6	0.063
PCU-15-52	STK	158.22	159.72	1.50	0.98	1.03	7.99	23.2	0.074
PCU-15-52	STK	161.60	162.60	1.00	0.65	7.76	21.20	67.0	0.054
PCU-15-52	STK	173.01	174.01	1.00	0.65	1.37	8.33	43.0	0.153
PCU-15-52	STK	176.80	177.88	1.08	0.71	2.54	7.22	41.0	0.094
PCU-15-52	STK	191.60	192.60	1.00	0.66	0.38	3.87	18.7	0.064
PCU-15-52	STK	193.80	194.58	0.78	0.52	5.91	6.82	65.0	0.077
PCU-15-52	STK	196.00	197.00	1.00	0.67	0.78	3.71	12.2	0.023
PCU-15-52	STK	206.00	207.00	1.00	0.66	0.45	6.91	8.9	0.017
PCU-15-52	STK	210.00	211.00	1.00	0.66	0.11	2.51	58.0	0.131
PCU-15-52	STK	214.48	215.48	1.00	0.66	5.01	5.57	57.0	0.072
PCU-15-52	STK	220.10	221.10	1.00	0.66	9.87	23.50	115.0	0.181
PCU-15-52	STK	238.50	240.49	1.99	1.31	1.98	4.35	17.0	0.013
PCU-15-53	Vein	98.76	101.80	3.04	2.80	3.02	3.76	32.0	0.052
PCU-15-53	MQV	103.33	106.38	3.05	3.03	27.47	30.45	289.4	0.070
PCU-15-53	STK	124.66	126.60	1.94	1.42	0.32	4.11	6.5	0.012
PCU-15-53	STK	130.76	132.28	1.52	1.11	8.66	5.14	76.0	0.028
PCU-15-53	STK	149.20	152.50	3.30	2.39	2.81	20.81	117.8	0.494
PCU-15-53	STK	153.62	154.67	1.05	0.76	0.54	12.10	62.0	0.297
PCU-15-53	STK	161.26	162.86	1.60	1.15	0.45	16.90	41.0	0.198
PCU-15-53	STK	173.43	178.00	4.57	3.27	8.17	11.03	79.2	0.120
PCU-15-53	STK	189.00	190.00	1.00	0.71	3.71	3.05	30.0	0.038
PCU-15-53	STK	193.00	194.00	1.00	0.71	2.37	5.25	25.0	0.020
PCU-15-54	MQV*	167.34	176.70	9.36	6.63	5.95	6.87	112.0	0.328
PCU-15-54	STK	181.90	182.57	0.67	0.43	3.94	7.69	84.0	0.214
PCU-15-55	MQV	121.60	123.25	1.65	1.50	8.24	2.69	61.4	0.084
PCU-15-55	STK	131.61	132.32	0.71	0.43	1.80	6.62	48.0	0.153
PCU-15-55	STK	141.95	143.02	1.07	0.66	31.00	12.00	357.0	0.403
PCU-15-55	STK	144.78	146.00	1.22	0.75	2.82	6.94	83.0	0.203
PCU-15-55	STK	148.00	149.05	1.05	0.65	5.24	8.53	170.0	0.567
PCU-15-55	STK	149.92	151.07	1.15	0.71	11.50	15.40	117.0	0.148
PCU-15-55	STK	154.08	155.00	0.92	0.57	1.05	9.97	15.0	0.028
PCU-15-55	STK	158.69	160.75	2.06	1.27	3.89	23.94	271.7	1.119

* Hole abandoned within the MQV due to technical difficulties. Overall recoveries in PCU-15-54 were approximately 40%. In general, recoveries for all holes averaged approximately 70% from the MQV and 100% for the STK.

Underground Exploration Program

The planned program will comprise about 6,000 metres of diamond drill coring over 21 holes on four, 50-metre sections from three existing diamond drill stations. These initial four holes cover only the upper 300m panel of the mine resource on the 51000N section. The next three deep holes also from this section are awaiting analytical results.

Drilling is presently continuing on the third hole of a proposed ring of six holes on the adjacent 51050N section from underground drill station #9 in the decline tunnel of the 870m Level.

Quality Assurance/Quality Control

The drill core samples were cut by diamond saw and securely, through chain of custody, shipped to AGAT Laboratories for initial multi-element assay by ICP-OES analysis. Further assays and analysis was completed where appropriate standards, duplicates and blanks were inserted and included within the analysis.

Alan Taylor, P. Geo., Chief Operating Officer & Vice President Exploration and a Director of Canadian Zinc Corporation, is responsible for the exploration program, and is a Qualified Person for the purposes of NI 43-101 and has approved this press release.

About the Prairie Creek Mine

The Prairie Creek Mine contains a partially developed infrastructure including an almost complete flotation mill, workshops, accommodations, and support facilities. The Company holds a Type "A" Water Licence which, along with previously issued permits and licences, permits the operation of a mine at Prairie Creek. An update Resource Estimate was recently completed by AMC Mining Consultants (Canada) in March 2015 (refer to March 26, 2015 press release) with overall results as follows:

OVERALL RESOURCE ESTIMATE: MARCH 2015
TOTAL MQV+STK+SMS	TONNES	Zn %	Pb %	Ag g/t
MEASURED	1,279,000	13.2	11.6	211
INDICATED	5,309,000	9.5	9.0	131
MEASURED & INDICATED	6,588,000	10.2	9.5	147
INFERRED	7,078,000	11.7	9.6	177

The on-going underground diamond drill program is mainly targeting MQV and STK zones with the goal of upgrading part of the Mineral Resource from Inferred to an Indicated classification and in testing for new areas of mineralization in the proximity to the mine workings. The additional Indicated Resources could then be incorporated into a new mine plan to support a longer mine life.

The Company plans to update the 2012 Preliminary Feasibility Study following completion of the current program of underground drilling.

Canadian Zinc Corporation
John F. Kearney
Chairman & Chief Executive
(416) 362-6686

Canadian Zinc Corporation
Alan B. Taylor
Vice President Exploration & Chief Operating Officer
(604) 688-2001
Tollfree: 1-866-688-2001

Canadian Zinc Corporation
Steve Dawson
Vice President Corporate Development
(416) 203-1418
invest@canadianzinc.com
www.canadianzinc.com