First NI 43-101 Compliant Resource For La Bolsa Property
VANCOUIVER, BC - Minefinders Corporation Ltd. reported the first NI 43-101 compliant resource estimation for its 100 percent owned La Bolsa property located in northern Sonora, Mexico. At a nominal 0.25 grams per tonne (gpt) gold cutoff, the measured and indicated resource estimate includes 15.9 million tonnes grading 0.706 gpt gold and 9.4 gpt silver totaling 360,000 ounces of gold and 4.8 million ounces of silver. An additional 47,000 ounces of gold with 480,000 ounces of silver at the same cutoff are classified as inferred resources.
This NI 43-101 compliant resource is an important step in advancing the La Bolsa property to a construction decision, commented Mark Bailey, President and Chief Executive Officer. La Bolsa has the potential to be the Company’s second low cost mine and, concurrent with the in process pre-feasibility study on the construction of a mine at La Bolsa, we are continuing the ongoing drill program to further expand the resource.
The resource estimation is based on the results from 165 drill holes (81 reverse-circulation holes and 84 core holes) completed within the property. The Company is continuing to drill on the property with both a core drill rig and a reverse-circulation drill rig in order to continue to define the overall extent and geometry of the La Bolsa mineralized zone.
The gold mineralization occurs within a shallowly dipping continuously mineralized oxidized blanket that is subparallel to topography and approximately 1,000 meters (3,300 feet) in length and up to 800 meters (2,600 feet) in width with thicknesses that range from 10 to 50 meters (30 to 165 feet). Recent drilling at La Bolsa continues to extend that zone and this mineralization remains open both down-dip and along strike.
A pre-feasibility study of the economic viability of a mine at the La Bolsa property is in process with results expected to be reported by the end of this year. This updated resource and results from the current La Bolsa drill program will be used as the basis for construction of the reserve block model to be used in the study. The shallow dip of the majority of mineralization in close proximity to the surface and favorable metallurgical characteristics suggest a mine plan that will incorporate low-cost open-pit mining in combination with simple heap-leach recovery of gold and silver.
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