”... Reports Additional Results of Expanded Production Stope Development in McGarry Gold Mine
*Total sill drifting is now at 820 feet with an average grade of 0.34 oz/t (11.7 g/t) (undiluted and without top cutting) over an average of 5.0 feet (1.5 m)
*Sill drift development of future stoping areas continues to meet or exceed expectations
*Three new gold zones are being developed on the 2250 and 2050 Levels close to the shaft
*The 325N Zone on the west end of the mine is open to the west and now being developed on two sublevels with consistent results from sublevel to sublevel
*The 330N Zone on the east end of the mine contains unique nugget-type distribution of visible gold in every face.
TORONTO, April 22, 2013 /CNW/ - Armistice Resources Corp. (TSX: AZ), operator of the McGarry gold mine in Ontario's Kirkland Lake area, today reported results from expanded production stope development in the McGarry Mine.
Sill drifting under future stoping zones has now reached a cumulative 820 feet (250 m) in seven zones on the 2250 Level and related sublevels as well as the 2050 Level. The average expected stoping width is 5.0 feet (1.5 m) and estimated undiluted grades averaged over all the stoping areas is 0.34 oz/t (11.7 g/t).
The grades reported are based on chip samples taken on the face after each mining round. Typically each round is six-to-eight feet in depth and generally wider than the expected stopes to ensure that stoping areas are optimally defined and to enable the load-haul-dump equipment into the drift to remove the broken rock. As a result, the grade delivered from the production development sill drifts will include some dilution. Allowing for 35% dilution, which is typical for the recovery from narrow stopes, the diluted grade expected to be delivered to a mill from stoping is 0.21 oz/t (7.3 g/t).
The results summarized above are as anticipated in the filed NI 43-101 Technical Report, Preliminary Economic Assessment and Mineral Resource Estimate, McGarry Project by Martin Drennan, P.Eng., Python Mining Consultants Inc. dated 30 September 2011.
The details of the sill drifting are summarized in the table below and on the attached Figures 1 to 5 summarizing the location of the drifting within the mine.
In 2012, production development was concentrated on the west end of the underground infrastructure in the 325N Zone on the 2250 Level. Mining is continuing in this area with a new sublevel established about 50 feet below the drifting previously reported in 2012.
"We are very pleased with these results from the continuing stope development that we're undertaking in our McGarry Mine," said Todd J. Morgan, chief executive officer and president. "In particular, we were pleased to confirm that the gold zones encountered on the 2280 sublevel are being closely repeated on the lower 2330 sublevel. On the upper 2280 sublevel, the excellent mineralization defined in the #2W sill drift is now being extended to the west. Although assay results are pending, the gold zone is open to the west and continuing as expected in all sill drifts.
"We are developing two additional zones much closer to the shaft, the 440N and the 330N Zones, at the east end of the 2250 Level. The 330N Zone contains unique nugget-type distribution of visible gold in every face. Although this nugget-type distribution presents sampling challenges, results in both zones are encouraging with continuity exceeding expectations," Mr. Morgan reported.
"Also, thus far in 2013," added Erik Andersen, P.Eng., Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer, "we have opened stope development on the east end of the mine on the 2050 Level, 200 feet above the main 2250 Level. To improve production efficiency, sill drifting on the 2050 Level is very close to an ore pass that delivers the mined material to within a few feet of the shaft hoisting system on the 2250 Level.
"The gold zones being mined on the 2050 Level are interpreted to be related to the 440N and 330N zones on the 2250 Level 250 feet below and to the test stope mined in 1995 as well. While grades at the location where initial sill drifting on the 2050 Level was started are lower than in the 325N and 440N Zones on the 2250 Level, we expect this to improve as drifting advances. The material from the 1995 test stope (see Figure 5) was milled at the nearby Macassa Mine and returned a head grade of 0.21 oz/t from 2,900 tons extracted," Mr. Andersen said.
