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TORONTO, Jan. 29, 2020 /CNW/ – RNC Minerals (TSX: RNX) (“RNC” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce the results of a recently completed high density gravity survey program at Higginsville. The program has identified a newly interpreted structure extending over 5 km north of the previously mined high grade 1.0Moz Trident gold deposit. The new structure is considered to have high potential for mineralization at depth and will be the focus of a new round of drilling by RNC as part of its 2020 exploration program.
“Although early stage, our interpretation of the potential size of this new structure is an exciting development for our HGO-focused exploration activities. With the Morgan Stanley Royalty recently renegotiated in December 2019, it now makes sense to explore these and many other areas across the Higginsville tenement package which holds strong potential for new discoveries.”
Paul Andre Huet, Chairman & CEO
RNC is also pleased to announce that Stage 2 of the Baloo open pit has been approved by the Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety. Baloo Stage 1 was originally forecast to be completed at the end of January, however recent grade control and extensional drilling has extended Baloo Stage 1 until June 2020. Baloo Stage 2 will begin upon completion of Stage 1, notwithstanding the potential for further additions to the Stage 1 mine plan.
“While exploration begins in earnest at HGO, production remains on target at both our operations. Considering that both Baloo Stage 1 and 2 pits were initially expected to be completed by mid-2020, the extension of Baloo out to early 2021 is a testament to the quality of the open pit opportunities at Higginsville. We expect the extended Baloo life to provide the additional production and mining flexibility that comes from operating two open pits over the course of this year.”
Paul Andre Huet, Chairman & CEO
High Density Gravity Survey
As part of the renewed focus on exploration at Higginsville, a high density gravity survey was conducted over a 60 km2 area covering a 5km strike distance north of the previously mined 1.0 Moz Trident gold deposit and HGO mill. The survey area had previously been the focus of reconnaissance aircore drilling and limited bedrock drilling as part of a regional approach by previous owners. However, following the renegotiation of the Morgan Stanley royalty, exploration re-commenced in this area and the survey was conducted. The aim of the survey was to define both shear-hosted and paleo-channel structures on 200 m X 100 m line spacings. The survey was conducted in December, 2019.
Results from the gravity survey highlight a new 5km long north-south structure (see Figure 2) interpreted to be a splay off the main Burke-Barcelona mineralised shear which lies parallel and west of the regionally significant Zuleika Shear. The new gravity defined structure, combined with historical shallow aircore drilling (including a best intersection of 4 m of 1.7 g/t in HIGA157, from 16m), highlights the prospectivity of the full 5 km length of the structure and enhances the potential for mineralisation at depth.
Follow-up RC bedrock drilling is planned to test the newly interpreted structure at depth for primary mineralisation as part of HGO’s 2020 exploration plans.
Baloo Stage 2 Approval
On 24th January 2020, RNC received notice from the Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety that mining of Baloo Stage 2 has been approved.
Mining of the second stage will follow completion of Stage 1 which is currently scheduled for late June 2020, notwithstanding the potential for further mineralization discoveries within the Stage 1 mining area. To date, grade control and resource definition drilling has continued to add additional expected production to the Stage 1 mine schedule.
As part of the HGO open pit “production pipeline”, it is expected that Baloo Stage 1 and 2 will be mined in conjunction with a series of additional open pits commencing with Fairplay North and Pioneer (mining at the former has already begun). Additional resource definition and grade control drilling is underway in a number of other areas to continue to define the pipeline of open pits.
Compliance Statement (JORC 2012 and NI 43-101)
The disclosure of scientific and technical information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Stephen Devlin, FAusIMM, Vice-President, VP Exploration & Growth, Salt Lake Mining Pty Ltd, a 100% owned subsidiary of RNC, a Qualified Person for the purposes of NI 43-101.
About the Gravity Survey
The gravity survey was designed to cover the Burke-Barcelona mineralised corridor north of the Higginsville mill. Data collection was undertaken by Atlas Geophysics Pty Ltd on a 200m by 100m grid using a Scintrex CG-5 gravity meter. The gravity data were reduced to the sea-level datum by standard reductions (Tide, drift, height, temperature, pressure, tilt, free air, and bouguer corrections) using a bouguer density of 2.67 g/cm3 to reflect the underlying geology. The collected data was processed by Resource Potentials Pty Ltd. The image presented in this announcement is a bouguer anomaly-2.67-1VD image with an underlying regional gravity colour over aeromagnetics.
About RNC Minerals
RNC is focused on growing gold production and reducing costs at its integrated Beta Hunt Gold Mine and Higginsville Gold Operations (“HGO”) in Western Australia. The Higginsville treatment facility is a low-cost 1.4 Mtpa processing plant which is fed at capacity from RNC’s underground Beta Hunt mine and open pit Higginsville mine. At Beta Hunt, a robust gold mineral resource and reserve is hosted in multiple gold shears, with gold intersections along a 4 km strike length remaining open in multiple directions. HGO has a substantial historical gold resource and highly prospective land package totaling approximately 1,800 square kilometers. In addition, RNC has a 28% interest in a nickel joint venture that owns the Dumont Nickel-Cobalt Project located in the Abitibi region of Quebec. Dumont contains the second largest nickel reserve and ninth largest cobalt reserve in the world. RNC has a strong Board and management team focused on delivering shareholder value. RNC’s common shares trade on the TSX under the symbol RNX. RNC shares also trade on the OTCQX market under the symbol RNKLF.
For more information visit
http://www.rncminerals.com/ or https://insidexploration.com/
