Resource World Magazine

D E C E M B E R / J A N U A R Y 2 0 1 9 www.resourceworld.com 57 Australian Update by Greg Barns RNC Minerals makes Australian bonanza gold discovery W hile most Australians were enjoying Father's Day on September 2, this year at Kambalda, 600 km east of Perth and located in the rich Kalgoorlie region, RNC Minerals [RNX-TSX; RNKLF-OTCQX], made an extraordinary discovery. At the 15 level of its Beta Hunt Mine, the com- pany's geologists found a new and rarely seen bonanza-grade gold discovery. Over the course of the following days the com- pany said, "Approximately 9,250 ounces of high-grade gold was produced from a 44 m 3 cut (130 tonnes) on 15 level at the Beta Hunt Mine (equal to over 70 oz/ton or 2,200 g/t)." RNC was, until recently, known as Royal Nickel Corp. The so called Father's Day Vein has kept on producing good news for the company since that eventful day in early September. On October 10, the company announced the successful recovery of the first speci- men slab from the top of the Father's Day Vein discovery area. "The slab was cut in the field, revealing impressive visible gold and quartz structures. The slab, weighing approximately 90 kg, is estimated to con- tain approximately 1,000 ounces of gold," the company said. The Father's Day Vein has led to a flurry of national and international media with predictions of a 'gold rush' in Kambalda – welcome news for the 2,300 locals who have endured hard times in recent years. RNC Minerals President and CEO, Mark Selby, says that the final gold content estimates for the large specimen stones, "rank them among the largest ever found. The King Henry specimen stone, at 1,402 ounces, would rank amongst the largest gold speci- mens in existence. With multiple large scale and spectacular specimens coming from a single area, we believe the Father's Day Vein may rank among the richest and most pro- lific gold veins ever found." The Father's Day Vein discovery is transforming the Beta Hunt Mine and its gold production profile. The company announced on October 22 that it had com- menced a drilling program "to expand upon the Father's Day Vein, high-grade, gold dis- covery at the A Zone area of the Beta Hunt Mine." The drilling program "will step out both along strike and dip both above and below the known discovery area following the pyritic sediment horizon in the Lunnon Basalt," the company said. RNC Minerals is now factoring in the potential for high-grade coarse gold with the company believing that there is a poten- tial combined strike length of 5 to 10 km. The impact on production at the Beta Hunt Mine from the Father's Day vein dis- covery has been immediate. RNC Minerals recently released its third quarter 2018 results which noted "record quarterly gold production of 31,360 mined gold ounces in third quarter of 2018, a 199% increase ver- sus third quarter of 2017 production and a 135% increase versus second quarter of 2018." The company said that gold production for the first nine months of 2018 totalled 58,460 ounces, a big increase on the 24,305 ounces for the comparable prior year period. The Father's Day Vein has led to a 198% improvement in the mined grade for the September 2018 quarter to 6.67 g/t, as compared to 2.24 g/t in third quarter of 2017. That is a 112% increase as compared to second quarter of 2018. On November 12, RNC Minerals announced more good production and cash flow news which augurs very well for the December 2018 quarter results. Production for the month of October was 13,497 mined ounces at an average grade of 9.06 g/t. The company said, "Year-to- date October 31, 2018 mined gold ounces was 71,957, an increase of 60% versus the prior year period, including 25,355 ounces thus far from the Father's Day Vein and a total of 30,145 ounces of high-grade coarse gold from all areas." According to Selby, the company "is in a solid cash position with a cash and cash equivalents balance (including specimens held for sale valued at gold content) as of November 9, 2018 of $18.8 million – suf- ficient to fund the company's planned upcoming activities." For RNC Minerals, the opportunity to develop what appears to be a game chang- ing discovery is very good. Infrastructure, workforce and a supportive federal and state government augurs well for the com- pany's plans. As one commentator, writing on seekingalpha.com noted recently, "Unlike most mines with multiple prob- lems such as road blockades, unsafe rock conditions, corrupt governments, etc. Beta Hunt seems to have no problems at all." n A specimen-worthy, bonanza-grade gold sample from the Beta Hunt Mine in Australia. Source: RNC Minerals.

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