11-29 - Cornerstone and Thundermin Exercise Their Option to Acquire a 100% Interest in the Little Deer Copper Deposit, Springdale Area, Newfoundland
In order to fully exercise the option and acquire a 100% interest in the Deposit and certain adjoining property, Cornerstone will issue 2,351,916 shares and Thundermin will issue 5,075,188 shares to Weyburn. Further details on the terms of the agreement with Weyburn can be found in a news release dated May 1, 2007 and on Cornerstone's and Thundermin's respective websites and on SEDAR.
H. Brooke Macdonald, President of Cornerstone said "We are extremely pleased with the continued advancement of the Little Deer project over the past four years, and acquisition of a 100% interest in the deposit, along with our partner Thundermin, represents another significant milestone. Results of an internal scoping review currently being carried out by P&E Mining Consultants Inc. are expected to be received shortly, and will provide management with preliminary information on the economic viability of developing a new copper mine at Little Deer".
Mineral Resources
On June 22, 2011, Cornerstone and Thundermin reported a National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101") compliant mineral resource estimate for the Deposit comprising Indicated Resources of 1,911,000 tonnes at an average grade of 2.37% Cu (99.8 million pounds of copper) and Inferred Resources of 3,748,000 tonnes at an average grade of 2.13% Cu (175.9 million pounds of copper). The mineral resource estimate was prepared under the supervision of Mr. Eugene J. Puritch, P. Eng., President of P&E Mining Consultants Inc. of Brampton, Ontario. Mr. Puritch is an independent Qualified Person in accordance with NI 43-101.
Metallurgy
On October 19, 2010, Cornerstone and Thundermin announced excellent metallurgical results from scoping level test work on core samples from the Deposit. This work, which was undertaken at SGS Lakefield Research Limited of Lakefield, Ontario, indicates that a clean, high grade copper concentrate grading over 28% copper with over 97% recovery can be produced from the Deposit.
Little Deer Joint Venture
Under the terms of its joint venture agreement with Cornerstone, Thundermin has the right to increase its interest in the Little Deer property to 75% by completing a feasibility study and by arranging 100% of the necessary bank financing required to place the property into commercial production. Details on the Deposit and the terms of the agreement with Cornerstone can be found in numerous news releases between May 1, 2007 and June 22, 2011 and on Cornerstone's and Thundermin's respective websites and on SEDAR.
Project Infrastructure
The Little Deer Copper Deposit is located on a brownfield site and is well situated to take advantage of Newfoundland's developed infrastructure. The Deposit lies approximately 16 km from the Tran-Canada Highway and is easily accessed by a 10 km network of paved and gravel roads north of Springdale, where there is an available skilled mining workforce. The site is approximately 8 km from a major power substation and there is a plentiful supply of fresh water in the area. The former tailings impoundment facility for the Whalesback Mine, which may be able to be upgraded and used to store additional tailings, is located only 1.2 km north of the Deposit. There is also good access to several deep water ports for any future shipment of copper concentrates. The Duck Pond base metal concentrator, which is owned by Teck Resources Inc., is located approximately 165 km by paved and gravel roads from the Little Deer site, 70 km of which is along the Trans-Canada Highway and 65 km of which is on a secondary paved road.
The recovery of a substantial quantity of archived data has also given Cornerstone and Thundermin a better understanding of the underground infrastructure that exists on the property. This infrastructure dates from 1966 to 1972 and 1972 to 1974 when a portion of the upper part of the Deposit was developed and mined by British Newfoundland Exploration Limited ("BRINEX") and Green Bay Mining Company ("Green Bay"), respectively. BRINEX accessed the Deposit from the adjoining Whalesback Mine, which is also controlled by Cornerstone and Thundermin, and Green Bay accessed the Deposit via a ramp. Three ventilation raises and substantial lateral development in unmined copper mineralization are known to exist on the property. This existing infrastructure may potentially afford substantial cost savings for access underground for future definition drilling and mining.
Legal Disclaimer:
EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.
