Galane Gold Ltd. (“Galane Gold” or the “Company”) (TSX-V: GG;
OTCQB: GGGOF) is pleased to announce the release of an independent
updated National Instrument 43-101 (“NI 43-101”) technical report
supporting the positive preliminary economic assessment (“PEA”) for
its currently operating Galaxy property (the “Mine”) in South
Africa (the “Technical Report”). Unless otherwise indicated, all
references to “$” in this press release refer to United States
dollars.
Highlights
- A 60% increase, 891,773 ounces, in all resource categories when
compared to the previous technical report to give a new total of
970,904 ounces of measured and indicated mineral resources, and
1,409,764 ounces of inferred mineral resources.
- New PEA, modelled at an average gold price of $1,466 per ounce,
with:
- an initial 11 year mine plan;
- producing 413,421 ounces;
- an all in sustainable cost of $747 per ounce; and
- a peak funding requirement of approximately $600,000.
- Based on the PEA with a gold price of $1,700 per ounce and 11
year life, the project has a pre-tax internal rate of return of
1,498% and a NPV (5%) of $147 million (CAD$ 199
million).(1)(2)
Galane Gold CEO, Nick Brodie commented: “We
believe that our new independent technical report confirms that we
have a ‘generational’ asset with the potential for further
expansion in resource, throughput, and mine life with minimal
capital requirement and robust ongoing economics.
The decision to undertake a new technical report
was made so that we could advise the market on the actual potential
of Galaxy and how we plan to expand the current operation. Given
our progress to date at Galaxy in the Phase 1 ramp up to
approximately 26,000 ounces per annum, generation of positive cash
flows (as announced on November 15, 2019) at Galaxy, and upgrade of
the plant, we expect to make a decision in the near future to
implement the Phase 2 growth plan to target production of over
50,000 ounces per annum.(3)
The Galaxy mine camp currently hosts 21 known
mineralised zones and we continue our expansion objectives, by
first implementing our Phase 3 expansion plan. We have thus far
increased our compliant resource by concentrating on data already
available for the three existing orebodies we have been targeting,
and improving the economics on those orebodies. We will now start
the same process on the remaining 18 mineralised zones. In
addition, we will start a drilling campaign to prove extension of
the mineralised zones at depth. We are optimistic that we can
present a plan to double production again once we have proved the
resource to support the data.”(3)
The Technical Report entitled “NI 43-101
Technical Report on the Galaxy Gold Mine, South Africa” was issued
on July 3, 2020, with an effective date of June 29, 2020. The
Technical Report was prepared by Minxcon (Pty) Ltd and approved by
Mr. Uwe Engelmann, BSc (Zoo. & Bot.), BSc Hons (Geol.)
Pr.Sci.Nat., MGSSA, and Mr. Daniel (Daan) van Heerden, B Eng
(Min.), MCom (Bus. Admin.), MMC, Pr.Eng., FSAIMM, AMMSA, both
“qualified persons” as defined by NI 43-101, and independent of the
Company for the purposes of NI 43-101. A copy of the Technical
Report will be available under the Company’s profile on
www.sedar.com, and on the Company’s website on
www.galanegold.com.
It should be noted that the PEA is preliminary
in nature as the resources included in the PEA are comprised 54% of
Inferred Mineral Resources. Inferred Mineral Resources are
considered too speculative geologically to have the economic
considerations applied to them that would enable them to be
categorized as Mineral Reserves. There is no certainty that the PEA
will be realized.
Mineral Resource
The mineral resources for the Mine (the “Mineral
Resources”) were previously declared in a technical report titled
"A Technical Report on the Galaxy Gold Mine, Mpumalanga Province,
South Africa" issued on January 4, 2016 with an effective date of
September 1, 2015, and prepared by Minxcon (Pty) Ltd (the “2015
Report”). The Mineral Resources in the Technical Report compared to
the Mineral Resources in the 2015 Report are as follows:
Resource Category |
New Technical Report |
2015 Technical Report |
Content |
|
Tonnes |
Grade |
Ounces |
Tonnes |
Grade |
Ounces |
Change % |
Measured |
3,208,575 |
2.97 |
306,122 |
1,876,126 |
3.37 |
203,435 |
50% |
Indicated |
7,694,349 |
2.69 |
664,783 |
4,350,781 |
2.85 |
399,261 |
67% |
Total Measured and Indicated |
10,902,925 |
2.77 |
970,904 |
6,226,907 |
3.01 |
602,696 |
61% |
Inferred |
16,734,418 |
2.62 |
1,409,764 |
8,095,521 |
3.40 |
886,199 |
59% |
The Mineral Resources have been reviewed and
updated as follows:
- The Princeton orebody has been remodelled due to newly captured
historical data that was made available. This enabled the
delineation of lenses PS5, PS19 and a new middling PS12. In
addition, the previous upper and lower orebodies have been linked
to constitute one continuous model. Thickness and grade continuity
can be correlated from the upper to the lower models. An Indicated
Mineral Resource and Inferred Mineral Resource can be declared at
Princeton, with a significant increase in reported tonnage with a
slight decrease in grade. This is due to the new interpretation of
the geological models, and significant addition of tonnage linking
the upper and lower orebodies at Princeton.
- The Galaxy orebody has been re-estimated to populate the
existing manually estimated gap area. As a result of improved
variogram ranges and improved sub-celling, additional areas have
also been estimated for the 24 Level and 17 Level domains.
- The Giles and Woodbine orebodies have been reviewed in detail.
All estimation performed in 2015, is of sufficient quality to
enable reporting of Measured Mineral Resources, Indicated Mineral
Resources and Inferred Mineral Resources. The input parameters and
resulting estimate compare well with the data and can be
reproduced. Mineral Resource categories have been optimised to
increase connectivity between them. In addition, the classification
has been adjusted where less than two drillholes were utilised to
define a Measured Mineral Resource.
- The Hostel West, Woodbine West and Woodbine South tailings
storage facilities have been updated to account for mining activity
that occurred since the 2015 Report.
- A higher gold price in 2020 of $1,600/oz has been applied,
lowering the cut-off grade for the underground Mineral Resources
from 1.85 g/t (2015) to 1.4 g/t (2020).
Preliminary Economic
Assessment
A new life of mine (“LoM”) plan was created with
mining plans produced around the newly delineated resources.
The mining strategy is to produce a concentrate with a grade
greater than 25 g/t from the Princeton, Galaxy, Woodbine and Giles
orebodies. For the PEA, the cut-off grades were used instead of
pay-limits. A mine stope optimiser (“MSO”) was used to generate
optimal stope configurations for mining the Galaxy, Princeton,
Woodbine and Giles orebodies. The MSO uses a block model of the
resource and applies a set of user defined criteria including
minimum stope dimensions and economic parameters to identify the
most profitable regions within the resource. The optimisation
generates stope wireframes which were used for the mine
designs.
The stope optimiser results were analysed at a
range of cut-off grades for each orebody to determine at what
cut-offs the correct mix of tonnes and grade are obtained to
satisfy the mining strategy and provide sufficient LoM.
The processing plant was recommissioned in April
2019 and is producing and selling a gold flotation concentrate. The
plant consists of crushing, milling, flotation and concentrate
filtration circuits. The existing infrastructure was used for as
long possible, with crucial expansions and refurbishments completed
in order to meet the interim production target of 15 ktpm. Further
expansions have already commenced to meet the 30 ktpm (for Phase 1,
26,000 ounces per annum) and then eventually the 50 ktpm (for Phase
2, over 50,000 ounces per annum) production targets.(3) A new ball
mill with a capacity of 50 ktpm is being built and is due to be
commissioned. Once this has been completed the only constraint to
meeting the 50 ktpm target will be upgrading the float capacity
from its current limit of 30 ktpm.
The metallurgical recoveries of the various
orebodies are well known from both historic production and current
production.
With this information the following production
schedule for the PEA was created:
Production Values |
Item |
Measure |
|
Waste Tonnes Mined |
kt |
3,107 |
Ore Tonnes Mined |
kt |
4,335 |
Total Tonnes Mined |
kt |
7,442 |
Average Mined Grade |
g/t |
3.35 |
Total Oz in Mine Plan |
oz |
466,447 |
Grade Delivered to Plant |
g/t |
3.35 |
Recovered grade |
g/t |
2.97 |
Yield/Recovery |
% |
88.60% |
Total Oz Recovered |
oz |
413,421 |
Concentrate Tonnes Produced |
dmt |
435,819 |
Concentrate Tonnes Produced |
wmt |
479,401 |
Concentrate Grade |
g/t |
29.50 |
LoM |
Years |
11 |
About Galane Gold
Galane Gold is an un-hedged gold producer and
explorer with mining operations and exploration tenements in
Botswana and South Africa. Galane Gold is a public company and its
shares are quoted on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol “GG”
and the OTCQB under the symbol “GGGOF”. Galane Gold’s management
team is comprised of senior mining professionals with extensive
experience in managing mining and processing operations and
large-scale exploration programmes. Galane Gold is committed to
operating at world-class standards and is focused on the safety of
its employees, respecting the environment, and contributing to the
communities in which it operates.
Notes:
(1) Based on the
valuation information and assumptions contained in the Technical
Report, with the exception of the replacement of the gold price of
$1,466 as stated in the Technical Report, with a gold price of
$1,700.
(2) At a CAD:USD
exchange rate of 1:0.7378.
(3) This is
forward-looking information and is based on a number of
assumptions. See “Cautionary Notes”.
Cautionary Notes
Certain statements contained in this press
release constitute “forward-looking statements”. All statements
other than statements of historical fact contained in this press
release, including, without limitation, those regarding the
Company’s future expansion at the Mine, capital requirements for
such expansion, mining strategies at the Mine, technical, financial
and business prospects of the Company, future financial position
and results of operations, strategy, proposed acquisitions, plans,
objectives, goals and targets, and any statements preceded by,
followed by or that include the words “believe”, “expect”, “aim”,
“intend”, “plan”, “continue”, “will”, “may”, “would”, “anticipate”,
“estimate”, “forecast”, “predict”, “project”, “seek”, “should” or
similar expressions or the negative thereof, are forward-looking
statements. These statements are not historical facts but instead
represent only the Company’s expectations, estimates and
projections regarding future events. These statements are not
guarantees of future performance and involve assumptions, risks and
uncertainties that are difficult to predict. Therefore, actual
results may differ materially from what is expressed, implied or
forecasted in such forward-looking statements.
Additional factors that could cause actual
results, performance or achievements to differ materially include,
but are not limited to: the Company’s dependence on two mineral
projects; gold price volatility; risks associated with the conduct
of the Company’s mining activities in Botswana and South Africa;
regulatory, consent or permitting delays; risks relating to the
Company’s exploration, development and mining activities being
situated in Botswana and South Africa; risks relating to reliance
on the Company’s management team and outside contractors; risks
regarding mineral resources and reserves; the Company’s inability
to obtain insurance to cover all risks, on a commercially
reasonable basis or at all; currency fluctuations; risks regarding
the failure to generate sufficient cash flow from operations; risks
relating to project financing and equity issuances; risks arising
from the Company’s fair value estimates with respect to the
carrying amount of mineral interests; mining tax regimes; risks
arising from holding derivative instruments; the Company’s need to
replace reserves depleted by production; risks and unknowns
inherent in all mining projects, including the inaccuracy of
reserves and resources, metallurgical recoveries and capital and
operating costs of such projects; contests over title to
properties, particularly title to undeveloped properties; laws and
regulations governing the environment, health and safety; the
ability of the communities in which the Company operates to manage
and cope with the implications of COVID-19; the economic and
financial implications of COVID-19 to the Company; operating or
technical difficulties in connection with mining or development
activities; lack of infrastructure; employee relations, labour
unrest or unavailability; health risks in Africa; the Company’s
interactions with surrounding communities and artisanal miners; the
Company’s ability to successfully integrate acquired assets; risks
related to restarting production; the speculative nature of
exploration and development, including the risks of diminishing
quantities or grades of reserves; development of the Company’s
exploration properties into commercially viable mines; stock market
volatility; conflicts of interest among certain directors and
officers; lack of liquidity for shareholders of the Company; risks
related to the market perception of junior gold companies; and
litigation risk. Management provides forward-looking statements
because it believes they provide useful information to investors
when considering their investment objectives and cautions investors
not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information.
Consequently, all of the forward-looking statements made in this
press release are qualified by these cautionary statements and
other cautionary statements or factors contained herein, and there
can be no assurance that the actual results or developments will be
realized or, even if substantially realized, that they will have
the expected consequences to, or effects on, the Company. These
forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this press
release and the Company assumes no obligation to update or revise
them to reflect subsequent information, events or circumstances or
otherwise, except as required by law.
Information of a technical and scientific nature
that forms the basis of the disclosure in the press release has
been prepared and approved by Kevin Crossling Pr. Sci. Nat.,
MAusIMM. and Business Development Manager for Galane Gold, and a
“qualified person” as defined by NI 43-101. Mr. Crossling has
verified the technical and scientific data disclosed herein and has
conducted appropriate verification on the underlying data.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its
regulation services provider (as that term is defined in the
policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for
the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
For further information please
contact:Nick BrodieCEO, Galane Gold Ltd.+ 44 7905
089878Nick.Brodie@GalaneGold.comwww.GalaneGold.com
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