Pacific Minerals expands 217 project

Vancouver — Pacific Minerals (PMZ-V) has tabled a new, independent estimate of the gold resource at the 217 open-pit project in Inner Mongolia.

The estimate, prepared by Westervelt Engineering of Vancouver, indicates that the Southwest zone, which lies 1,800 metres south of the main deposit, has an inferred resource of 14.8 million tonnes averaging 1.25 grams gold per tonne. The estimate, which is based on a stripping ratio of 2-to-1, works out to 595,000 contained oz.

“The new estimation has significantly enhanced the size, grade and scope of the 217 project,” says Pacific Minerals President Daniel Kunz. “Of particular economic significance, the gold grade of the inferred resources in the Southwest zone is 28% higher than the grade of the in-pit resources delineated to date in the Northwest [main] zone. Since this deposit outcrops along its strike length, it lends itself to efficient open-pit mining.”

The new resource estimate will be incorporated into an independent scoping study, to be released later this year. The study will outline various development options. In addition to examining the economic viability of the 217 project, the scoping study will propose a strategy to achieve early production from near-surface open pits in the Northeast and Southwest zones.

The measured and indicated in-pit resource at the Northeast zone is pegged at 29.2 million tonnes averaging 0.95 gram gold per tonne, or 889,899 contained ounces. Inferred resources stand at 6.7 million tonnes averaging 0.98 gram gold, or 213,407 oz.

Mineralization at the 217 property extends over a strike length of 4.5 km. The Southwest zone represents an area where small-scale mining has occurred. Pacific Minerals believes this zone offers important potential for expansion of the open-pit resources.

The 36-sq.-km project area is about 650 km northwest of Beijing and 120 km south of Ivanhoe Mines’ (IVN-T) copper and gold discovery at Turquoise Hill (also known as Oyu Tolgoi) in southern Mongolia. Pacific Minerals, through a subsidiary, holds the right to earn a 96.5% interest in the property. The project is being developed under a 50-50 joint-venture agreement with Ivanhoe Mines.