Renforth boosts Parbec gold project’s size by 29%

A new resource estimate for Renforth Resources’ (CSE: RFR; US-OTC: RFHRF) Parbec gold project in western Quebec raises the deposit’s size by about one-third, the company says.

Measured and indicated resources in the open pit now total 9.61 million tonnes grading 0.86 grams per tonne gold, Renforth said Monday in a statement. Gold ounces now stand at 265,800, Renforth said.

The new estimate demonstrates “not only Parbec’s growth but also growing maturity as a reliable gold deposit with a fantastic location and logistical advantage,” Renforth CEO Nicole Brewster said in the statement. “With this growth Parbec also presents us with new drill targets within the deposit to target gaps within the drill spacing and increase the confidence in the remaining inferred ounces, with more drilling.”

Open-pit and underground-hosted inferred resources at Parbec now total 2.55 million tonnes grading 1.18 grams gold for 97,000 contained ounces.

Some 87% of the gold in the resource estimate is contained within the open pit.  

Overall, 12% of the new estimate is in the measured category and 61% is indicated, Renforth said. This means that almost three-quarters the deposit is in the resource categories that offer the most confidence.

Parbec is located just outside Malartic, Que., on the Cadillac Break, arguably one of Canada’s deepest and most productive gold structures.  

Renforth considers Parbec to be a small-scale replica of Agnico Eagle Mines’ (TSX, NYSE: AEM) adjacent Canadian Malartic mine. Mineralization at Parbec starts on surface and is almost entirely enclosed within a whittle pit. It’s open on strike in both directions and at depth.

Assumptions used in preparing the new estimate include a mining recovery rate of 95%, a mining dilution of 5%, a processing recovery of 95%, a processing cost of $12.75 per tonne, general and administration costs of $1.50 per tonne, and open-pit mining costs of $2.5 per tonne for ore, $2 per tonne for waste and an underground mining cost of $66 per tonne.