Midway Completes Core Drilling at Pan Gold Project
DENVER, CO - Midway Gold Corp. reported that it has completed a first round of diamond drilling on its Pan Gold Project, White Pine County, Nevada. A total of 1,757 meters (5,764 feet) in 14 core holes were completed in the North and South Pan areas. Assay results are pending.
The core drilling program was conducted to provide key information for our engineering, metallurgy, and permitting at the Pan deposit, said Ken Brunk, President and COO of Midway. This critical data will allow us to complete a Feasibility Study on the project early next year. The core samples also gave our geologists new understanding of the geology and alteration and this understanding will enable us to rigorously design processing methods for the ore. Midway also plans to conduct a major resource expansion program for this Fall Season and 2011 to expand the gold resource. The goal of this program is to potentially increase the gold resource to one million ounces or greater and to assist in updating the geology and the alteration models of the deposit. Initial drilling will be focused at South Pan which is still open to the south and at depth. Condemnation drilling will also be conducted to locate unmineralized ground for siting of proposed mine facilities. A program of 3,960 meters (13,000 feet) of RC drilling is planned for this Fall. An additional 10,060 meters (33,000 feet) of RC drilling is planned in 2011. A field office has been opened in Ely, Nevada to support exploration, development, and permitting activities at Pan and the nearby Gold Rock project, which is only 8 miles away. Samples from the core drilling program will be used for engineering, environmental and mine design tests, which will include: Metallurgical tests to confirm and optimize gold recoveries from various zones within the deposit; Geotechnical features for pit slope designs; Waste rock characterization tests required for mine permitting and design; Engineering designs required for a Feasibility Study in 2011. Midway recently announced results of an independently prepared Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) which demonstrates robust economics and technically favorable attributes of the Pan project. The PEA projects a total operating cost of $453 per ounce (mining cost $155/oz, processing and refining costs $226/oz, G&A $31/oz, and operating contingency $41/oz). At a $1200 gold price, the pre-tax IRR was 41% and pre-tax NPV was $109 million. The PEA included an independent audit of an internal 2009 mineral resource estimate calculated by Midway. Measured and Indicated Mineral Resources are 38.8 million metric tonnes (42.7 million short tons) containing 682,000 ounces of gold at a grade of 0.55 grams per tonne (0.016 ounces per ton), at a 0.14 gpt (0.004 opt) gold cutoff grade. Environmental studies are underway to support a Plan of Operations and a reclamation plan submittal to the management agencies. These studies include waste rock characterization, hydrogeology, archaeology, soils, vegetation, wildlife, air quality, and visual resource considerations. Engineering design work is advancing for the leach pad, the waste rock dump, the crushers, the utilities and the gold recovery plant. Completion of a Feasibility Study is scheduled for the first quarter of 2011. The company's address is 8310 South Valley Highway, Englewood, CO 80112, (720) 979-0900, fax: (720) 979-0898, email: [email protected].