Resource World Magazine

J U N E / J U L Y 2 0 1 9 www.resourceworld.com 59 Euro Sun Mining receives government mining go-ahead EURO SUN MINING INC. [ESM-TSX; CPNFF-OTC] has received authorization to begin mining activities at its 100%-owned Rovina Valley gold-copper project in west-central Romania from the National Agency for Mineral Resources (NAMR) in accordance with its mining licence approved by the government of Romania. Scott Moore, CEO of Euro Sun, said, "The authorization to begin mining activities by NAMR is further demonstration of the support for the Rovina Valley Project by the Romanian government. Euro Sun continues to follow all relevant procedures to advance the Rovina Valley Project to production in accordance with Romanian law and the government is responding in a timely fashion in accordance with the regulations." The Rovina Valley gold and copper project hosts 10.11 million gold equivalent ounces (7.05 million ounces of gold grading 0.55 g/t and 1.39 billion pounds of copper grading 0.16%). The Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) released on February 20, 2019 outlines a robust project producing on average 108,000 ounces of gold and 13.3 million pounds of copper per year for 12 years (139,000 gold equivalent ounces per annum) in Phase 1 of development exploiting the Colnic deposit initially. Colnic currently hosts only 29% of the exploitable resources at the Rovina Valley Project. Initial Capex (capital expenditure) for Colnic is estimated at US $339 million. This is primarily allocated at US $33 million for capitalized prestripping and US $264 million for the 7.2 million tonne-per-annum processing plant. As the project will be built with dry stack tailings, not wet tailings, the sustaining Capex will be quite low for operations of this size. Euro Sun noted that, typically, significant sustaining capital is allocated to tail- ings dam lifts throughout the life-of-mine, which is not the case in a dry stack operation. The Rovina Valley Project has been designed to be one of the most environmentally responsible gold projects globally due to the lack of a wet tailings facility and without the use of cyanide anywhere in the project. In order to meet these strict standards, the decision for dry stack tailings with no cyanide was undertaken by both the company and the government of Romania. Other highlights of the recent PEA highlights include: • Colnic production of 1,675,168 gold equivalent ounces (1,301,176 ounces gold) over 12 years; • Average AISC (all-in sustaining costs) of US $752 per ounce (net of copper credit); • Processing rate of 20,000 tonnes per day incorporating flotation and dry stack tailings deposition; • Pretax NPV (Net Present Value) 5% of US $218.1 million and IRR (Internal Rate of Return) of 15.4% at US $1,325 per ounce of gold and US $3.10 per pound of copper; • Initial capital costs of US $339.7 million (total Capex of US $352-million); • Average metallurgical recoveries of 82% for gold and 89% copper without utilizing cyanide. The PEA was prepared by Lycopodium Minerals Canada Ltd. and AGP Mining Consultants Inc. n directly to a contrast manufacturing facil- ity owned by EZ-E-M, similar to the Chief plant in Calgary. Total production from the Brookfield deposit from the early 1980s to 2005 was around 125,000 tonnes of >97.5% purity barite. The Brookfield Project estimated that 2,000 tonnes per year would service 15% of the US and Canadian Markets. The Brookfield Mine allowed EZ-E-M Canada to be one of the most competitive contrast companies in the world and was acquired by Bracco Worldwide in 2008 for US $240 million. The Brookfield deposit ran out of resources in mid-2000 and Bracco now imports its barite. "Voyageur and Chief intend to repeat the EZ-E-M experience," says Willis. Next steps include preparing the appli - cation for ImagingX product registration number from Health Canada, which the company expects in mid-summer 2019, after which, ImagingX will start sales and marketing of the product. The joint venture's target for initial sales is the third quarter of 2019. Initial sales of the product will focus on Canada uti - lizing the Health Canada bidding process and direct sales to private clinics. After sales into the Canadian market starts, the joint venture will apply for certification and begin sales into Europe and the rest of the world. Approval for sale in the United States requires approval through the F.D.A. This process will take a year or more before sales can begin in the United States due to the fact that barium contrast is con - sidered a drug by the F.D.A.," says Willis. Not only is Voyageur developing barium contrast, the company is also creating iodine contrast that is exponentially more lucrative that the barite. Voyageur's ULI claims in Utah contain high iodine content in the brines and it will be developing that business line in the coming year. Voyageur Minerals trades on the TSX Venture exchange with its shares ranging from a low of $0.045 to a high of 0.12 this year-to-date. n MINING

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