Montage Reports Progress at Morondo Gold Project and Near-term Milestones
VANCOUVER, BC, Dec. 17, 2020 /CNW/ - Montage Gold Corp. ("Montage" or the "Company") (TSXV: MAU) is pleased to report that activities on site at the Morondo Gold Project ("MGP") in Côte d'Ivoire have ramped up significantly in the weeks following Montage's IPO and listing on the TSXV and the Company remains on track to deliver several major milestones in early 2021.
Highlights:
- 20,000m resource expansion drill campaign nearing completion
- Six drill rigs now operating on site; complete assay results expected early January 2021
- Inferred Mineral Resource update on track for late January 2021
- Preliminary Economic Assessment progressing well:
- Hydrological drilling – completed; results pending
- Geotechnical drilling – completed; results pending
- Metallurgical test work – 50% complete; results pending
- Environmental baseline study – in progress
- Mining throughput study – nearing completion
- Engineering and design work – 20% completed
- PEA on track for delivery end of Q1 2021
- Fully-funded to deliver Feasibility Study by end of Q4 2021
Hugh Stuart (CEO) commented, "Exploration and PEA activities have ramped up significantly following completion of the IPO and after the Côte d'Ivoire Presidential election. With five diamond core rigs, an RC rigs and a seventh rig that recently completed hydrological drilling, things have been very busy on site and will remain so until the Christmas break. We expect all samples to be submitted for assay prior to the break with results expected to be returned early in the New Year feeding into an Inferred Mineral Resource update by the end of January. PEA work programs continue to progress well, and initial program results are anticipated to be delivered in January."
Phase 1 Resource Expansion Drill Program
The Company is nearing completion of the initial 20,000m resource expansion drill program at the Morondo Gold Project. The six rigs drilling for resource expansion are covering approximately 2.1km of strike length over the Koné deposit and the broader Koné anomaly. The October 2018 Inferred Mineral Resource of 1,536koz at 0.91 g/t (using 0.5 g/t cut-off grade), sits within approximately 1km of the mineralized strike length currently being drilled.
The drill plan map below illustrates the drilling completed to-date on the Koné deposit.
The Company expects to receive a comprehensive set of assay results from the Phase 1 drill program in early January 2021.
Preliminary Economic Assessment Progress
Following the commissioning of the PEA in October 2020, led by Lycopodium, all work programs have been advancing and the PEA remains on track for delivery by the end of Q1 2021. Notably, hydrological drilling and geotechnical drilling have been completed (with results pending) and metallurgical test work is advancing (50% completed; results pending). The environmental baseline study is progressing well as is the mining throughput study. Of note, the mining throughput study is evaluating the potential impact of operating at an elevated cut-off grade during the initial years of operation.
Montage expects to release a series of results from these work streams in early January to provide investors with initial guidance on the project scope for the upcoming PEA.
Previously reported test work has indicated that the MGP is ideally suited as an open pit development project, including:
- Wide orebody with high continuity of mineralization (true widths up to 250m along 1km strike length)
- Low rock hardness, reducing power consumption and crushing requirements
- Access to grid power within 20km, reducing power costs
- CIL recoveries of over 90% from fresh rock
- Accessible year round via paved access road
- Strong community support with no villages located within project footprint
Business Plan Fully-Funded for 2021
Montage remains fully-funded for its business plan through 2021, which includes continuation of a 50,000m drill program leading to a maiden Indicated Mineral Resource estimate in Q2 2021 as well as a Feasibility Study by the end of 2021. At November 30, 2020 Montage had a cash balance of approximately C$33.5 million.
About Montage Gold Corp.
Montage Gold Corp. (TSXV:MAU) is a Canadian-based precious metals exploration and development company focused on opportunities in Côte d'Ivoire. The Company's flagship property is the Morondo Gold Project ("MGP"), located in northwest Côte d'Ivoire, which hosts an Inferred Mineral Resource of 52.5Mt grading 0.91 g/t for 1,536koz of gold, based on a 0.5 g/t cutoff grade. Montage has a management team and board with significant experience in discovering and developing gold deposits in Africa.
The Inferred Mineral Resource was estimated using an optimal pit shell generated for constraining Inferred Mineral Resources with dimensions of approximately 1,100 m by 620 m, with a maximum depth of around 260 m, and used a gold price of US$1,500/oz. See the Company's amended and restated technical report entitled "Amended and Restated NI 43-101 Technical Report for the Morondo Gold Project, Côte d'Ivoire" with an effective date of September 17, 2020, available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com, which was prepared for the Company by Jonathon Robert Abbott, BASc Appl. Geol, MAIG, of MPR Geological Consultants Pty Ltd. and Remi Bosc, Eurgeol, of Arethuse Geology SARL, who are "qualified persons" and "independent" of Montage within the meanings of NI 43-101.
The technical contents of this release have been approved by Hugh Stuart, BSc, MSc, a Qualified Person pursuant to National Instrument 43-101. Mr. Stuart is the Chief Executive Office of the Company, a Chartered Geologist and a Fellow of the Geological Society of London. Samples used for the results described herein have been prepared and analyzed by fire assay using a 50-gram charge at the Bureau Veritas facility in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire. Field duplicate samples are taken and blanks and standards are added to every batch submitted.
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.
SOURCE Montage Gold Corp
Adam Spencer, Executive Vice President, Corporate Development, [email protected]
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