Toronto, February 10, 2016 – Minera Alamos Inc. (TSX-V:MAI) (the “Company” or “Minera Alamos”) today provided additional details regarding their acquisition of the La Fortuna Gold Project located in Durango Mexico (“La Fortuna”) announced in their press release dated January 18, 2016.
“One of the primary factors in our decision to acquire La Fortuna is its advanced stage of development”, said Chris Frostad, Minera Alamos’ CEO. “The scope of previous test work that is available gives us a significant head start on the development timeline. We expect to be able to complete a Preliminary Economic Assessment (“PEA”) of La Fortuna by this summer”.
“The ability to pre-concentrate the gold mineralization at La Fortuna using crushed rock sorting equipment presents a number of interesting opportunities for the project”, said Darren Koningen, President of Minera Alamos. “It appears that sorting equipment can effectively reject coarse crushed rock containing less than 0.6-0.8 g/t gold which would reduce the amount of material needing to be processed for gold recovery by 75% or more. Obviously this could have significant and positive impact on the overall project economics”.
Highlights:
- Comprehensive mineralogical analyses demonstrating that the gold in the deposit occurs as free grains;
- Metallurgical testwork demonstrating the potential for exceptional recoveries*1 by most common gold recovery techniques including gravity (~90%) and cyanide leaching (98%);
- Heap leach recoveries in excess of 60% with the potential to increase recoveries further through fine crushing (< ¼”);
- Ore sorting testwork completed on production scale equipment has demonstrated the potential for +90% gold recoveries with approximately 25% mass recovery from coarse crushed rocks (approx. 1-1.5”);
- Ability to recover +95% of gold from coarsely ground mineralized rock (+200 microns) into a flotation concentrate with only 10-15% of the original rock mass;
- Work has now commenced to identify capital equipment required for the preparation of the PEA. Minera Alamos would like to take advantage of the surplus of used equipment currently available in Mexico and North America;
- The Company intends to target the release of the PEA in Q3 of 2016.
La Fortuna Project
The La Fortuna Gold Project includes the historic La Fortuna mine together with the surrounding concessions, totaling 994 hectares. The property is located in the northwestern corner of the State of Durango, Mexico, about 70 kilometers northeast of the city of Culiacan, Sinaloa.
Initial development of La Fortuna followed the 1884 discovery of the gold-bearing oxidized outcrop. Between 1886 and 1892 a 200 TPD gravity mill was built near the site to process the ore which was selectively mined underground. Reportedly, about 200,000 tonnes of material, grading 20 g/t was mined and processed during this period. In 1987 an 80 tonne per day flotation mill was installed in order to process the sulfide ore, operating intermittently until 1990.
Between 1991 and 2008 numerous exploration surveys were performed which included detailed mapping and sampling of the underground workings and the drilling in the immediate La Fortuna Mine area. These programs culminated in the development of a resource block model which produced a Measured and Indicated resource of 4,800,000 tonnes at 2.0 g/t gold (308,000 contained ounces) at a 0.50 g/t gold cut-off grade as detailed below:
La Fortuna Resources:
| Measured Category | Indicated Category | Measured & Indicated | ||||
Cutoff Grade Au g/t | Tonnes (000) | Au g/t | Tonnes (000) | Au g/t | Tonnes (000) | Au g/t | Au Oz. (000) |
0.8 | 1,322 | 3.332 | 2,681 | 1.731 | 4,003 | 2.260 | 290.8 |
0.5 | 1,538 | 2.956 | 3,287 | 1.533 | 4,824 | 1.986 | 308.1 |
Notes:
- Resources are as reported in the NI 43-101 Technical Report titled “La Fortuna Project, Durango, Mexico, Updated Technical Report for Castle Gold” by Toren K. Olson, P.Geo. and dated November 21, 2008.
- Based on a total of 127 drill holes comprising 19,400 metres, including 121 original holes (18,885 metres) plus 6 twin holes comprising 515 meters.
- Assays normally included silver as well as gold. However, in some cases silver values were not available and as a result of the inconsistency of this sampling resources of silver were not calculated.
- To the best of knowledge, information and belief of Minera Alamos, there is no new material scientific or technical information that would make the disclosure of the mineral resources set out in the foregoing Technical Report inaccurate or misleading.
- Mineral Resources are not Mineral Reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability. There is no certainty that all or any part of the Mineral Resources will be converted into Mineral Reserves.
Pursuant to the terms of the binding LOI, the Company will pay the vendor USD $750,000 on closing. An additional USD $250,000 will be paid 9 months after the closing and USD $1,000,000 will be paid upon the announcement of a construction decision. The vendor is also entitled to a 2.5% net smelter returns royalty subject to a maximum amount of USD $4,500,000. The closing of the transaction is subject to regulatory approval.
About Minera Alamos
Minera Alamos is a junior exploration and development company. Its flagship project is the Los Verdes open pit copper-molybdenum project in Sonora, Mexico that is currently in development.
Mr. Darren Koningen, P. Eng., Minera Alamos Inc.’s President, is the Qualified Personresponsible for technical content of this release under National Instrument 43-101. Mr. Koningen has supervised the preparation of, and approved the scientific and technical disclosures utilized in this news release.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward?Looking Statements
This press release contains "forward looking statements" and "forward-looking information" under applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking information includes, but is not limited to, information with respect to the proposed transaction, timing of the closing of proposed transaction and the Company’s consideration of the proposed production plans. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects", "estimates", "intends", "anticipates" or "believes" or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might", or "will be taken", "occur", or "be achieved". Forward-looking information is based on the reasonable assumptions, estimates, analysis and opinions of management made at the date that such statements are made.
Forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information, including the risk factors disclosed elsewhere in the Company's public disclosure. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The forward-looking information contained herein is presented for the purposes of assisting readers in understanding the Company's plans and objectives and may not be appropriate for other purposes. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.
NEITHER THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE.
For further information please contact:
Minera Alamos Inc.
Chris Frostad
(416) 306-0990
www.mineraalamos.com
