Resource World Magazine

www.resourceworld.com 23 A P R I L / M A Y 2 0 1 4 The Reed Mine at Flin Flon, Manitoba is a busy place. During the fourth quarter of 2013, the underground operation produced 29,997 tonnes of ore at a copper grade of 1.96% and a zinc grade of 2.72%. Mean- while, VMS Ventures Inc. [VMS-TSXV], 30%, and partner Hudbay Minerals Inc. [HBM-TSX; NYSE], 70%, continue with development work. During the month of January, the project reached a number of milestones including surpassing 2,600 metres of total under- ground project and preproduction devel- opment to date. The ramp advanced to the 135-metre level and preproduction devel- opment has begun. In addition, the escape raise from the 85-metre level to the 110-me- tre level has been completed. To January 31, project spending was $63-million. The project remains on budget and on schedule for commercial production in the second quarter of 2014. As stated in a prefeasibility study, reserves stand at 2.16 million tonnes grading 3.83% copper, 0.48 g/t gold and 6.02 g/t silver. Underground diamond drilling is also planned in order to define the size of the mineral deposit, particularly to depth. In addition, the company is of the view that, being a volcanic massive sulphide deposit, there may be other deposits nearby (a clus- ter) as is typical of many other VMS despos- its. Neil Richardson, VMS Ventures' COO, said, "We were able to see high-grade cop- per mineralization from Zone 20 on the 110-metre level. The first stope, 85-30-1, was mined in early January and backfill- ing is in progress. We look forward to con- tinued advancement of this project to full commercial production." VMS Ventures also has a 23.9% interest in North American Nickel Inc. [NAN- TSXV; WSCRF-OTCQB] which has been conducting a successful exploration pro- gram at the 100%-owned Maniitsoq Proj- ect in southwest Greenland. The prospect contains sulphide-hosted nickel, copper, cobalt and platinum group metals (PGM). At the Imiak Hill area, DDH MQ-13-028 intersected 24.75 metres grading: 3.19% nickel, 1.14% copper, 0.11% cobalt, and 0.01 g/t PGM, including: 17.91 metres of 3.80% nickel, 1.42% copper, 0.13% cobalt and 0.01 g/t PGM, including: 2.40 metres of 4.44% nickel, 1.13% copper, 0.15% cobalt and 0.01 g/t PGM. During 2013, a total of 25 drill holes were completed totaling 4,266 metres. A new mineralized zone was dis- covered at Imiak North. Last year, a helicopter-borne VTEM Plus geophysical survey was carried out that generated dozens of prospective explora- tion targets that will be investigated in the upcoming field season. The Maniitsoq property is a camp- scale project encompassing 5,106 km 2 with numerous high-grade nickel-copper sulphide occurrences (up to 7% nickel) associated with norite and other mafic- ultramafic intrusions of the Greenland Norite Belt. This >75km-long belt is situ- ated along, and near, the southwest coast of Greenland, which is pack ice free year round. The climate is moderated by the ocean, allowing for year-round mining operations. Exploration plans for this year include deep penetrating ground geophysical surveys to develop deeper targets at the Imiak Hill Conduit Complex. Diamond drilling will be designed to expand and define mineralized zones. In addition, drilling will test priority regional target zones across the belt and helicopter-borne geophysics will explore targets through- out the project area. n Production & development continue at Reed Mine By Staff Writer MINING be built in about three years. And he said the five plants would create jobs for "more than 75,000 skilled workers" (a drop from earlier forecasts) which, even if extraction and delivery jobs are counted, is far above industry projections. Nor is government particularly worried about competition for the Asian markets from Australia, New Zealand, Russia, the US and others. "The demand for energy, and specifically clean-burning natural gas, continues to grow," the spokesman said. "The International Energy Agency expects global energy demand will increase by one-third from 2011-2035. With over 10 LNG proposals moving forward in British Columbia, the province is clearly in a posi - tion to contribute a significant amount of natural gas to Asian countries looking for a long-term clean energy solution." BC is attractive to potential LNG inves- tors, the spokesman said, with a low overall tax burden, a competitive royalty regime, and a large supply of natural gas relatively close to the proposed facilities. Also, it has a skilled workforce, a robust infrastructure, relatively short transport times to Asia, and a cooler coastal temperature that saves energy and costs during the liquefaction process. "Our long history of safe, responsible natural gas development makes BC a reli - able place to invest and conduct business. Investment activities and production schedules are increasingly linked to British Columbia's long-term potential as a global leader in energy export." In the end, it comes down to a numbers game: finding the right numbers that will cause LNG proponents to give their projects the green light, and choosing which set of floating numbers the public will believe. n continued from page 13

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