Resource World Magazine

o c t o b e r / n o v e m b e r 2 0 1 6 www.resourceworld.com 51 miNiNg Euromax to dEvElop macEdonia ilovica coppEr-gold projEct With many of the initial stages already completed for the Ilovica copper-gold proj- ect – Preliminary Economic Assessment, Preliminary Feasibility Study and Feasibility Study – Euromax Resources Ltd. [EOX-TSX; EOXFF-OTCQX] is well pre- pared to advance to the development stage. Located in southeast Macedonia, the 100%-owned project hosts measured and indicated resources of 256.8 million tonnes sulphide material containing 2.60 million oz gold averaging 0.32 g/t gold and 1,208.5 million lbs copper averaging 0.21%. Proven and probable reserves stand at 198.1 million tonnes containing 2.01 mil- lion oz gold averaging 0.32 g/t gold and 898.9 million lbs copper averaging 0.21%. The resource and reserve figures were based on 42,032 metres of drilling in 130 drill holes. The positive feasibility study envis- ages average annual payable production of 83,000 oz gold and 16,000 tonnes cop- per at a throughput of 10 million tonnes/ year with a mine life of 20 years. The mine would be a conventional open pit operation with modest strip ratio of 1:1. The milling process comprises flotation to a copper- gold concentrate and doré production via Carbon-in-Leach on cleaner-scavenger tail- ings with average overall metal recoveries of 83.3% for gold and 81.3% for copper. The independent Feasibility Study, led by Amec Foster Wheeler, also estimated a Pre-tax NPV (5%) of US $513 million with an Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 19.8%. Post-tax NPV (5%) is US $440 million with an IRR of 17.8%. The Macedonia tax rate is 10%. The gold cash costs are forecast to be US $200/oz with all-in costs of US $372/ oz. Copper cash costs are US $0.54/lb with all-in costs of US $0.93/lb. The Ilovica Project has an initial estimated Capex of US $474.3 million, including contingencies. A construc- tion decision and permit are expected in November 2016. Construction is expected to take 24 months with first production forecast for the fourth quarter of 2018. The mining method will be conven- tional drilling and blasting and the use of two 300-tonne 16.5 m 3 shovels with a fleet of 90-tonne dump trucks – nine at the start of the operation and 199 at its peak. The Environmental Impact Assessment report has been approved and 90% of Capex financing has also been arranged. A copper concentrate offtake agreement has been signed with Aurubis, a major smelting company that produces cathode copper. Euromax Resources is headed by Steve Sharpe, President and CEO, who has 30 years' experience in investment banking and the commodities markets. Euromax has 116.8 million shares outstanding. Euromax Resources has a subsidiary, Euromax Exploration Services, a Bulgarian exploration services company that utilizes the skills and expertise of its Bulgarian team by providing geological and other mining related services to third parties operating in the Balkans. n Hunt mining advancEs martHa minE toward production Hunt Mining Corp. [HMX-TSXV; HMXZF- OTC], an active explorer in Argentina since 2006, took a big step forward in May of this year when it completed the acquisi- tion of the Martha silver-gold mine and mill located 110 km south of its La Josefina and La Valenciana projects in Santa Cruz province. Hunt Mining has assembled an extensive land package in Argentina. In total, the company holds mineral rights to 37 properties with over 1,737 km 2 (429,407 acres or 173,775 hectares). Tim Hunt, Executive Chairman and CEO, said, "Hunt Mining's acquisition of the Martha property was motivated by the abundance of tangible assets remain- ing with the property that will allow Hunt to become Argentina's next gold and silver producer. The close proximity to our own advanced exploration projects made this an opportunity we could not pass up." The Martha property acquisition (from Coeur Mining) included a 240 tonne-per-day flotation plant (which can be expanded to 480 tpd), crushing cir- cuit, tailings facility, lab, a 60-person camp, related buildings as well as mining equipment, generators, buses, backhoes, loaders, plus many parts and supplies. Recommissioning of the mine is currently underway with plans calling for opera- tions to start later this year. A past-producing underground and surface mining operation, the Martha property hosts epithermal, intermedi- ate sulfidation-style mineralization in quartz veins, veinlets and vein breccias. Production at the Martha mine ceased in 2012, a mere four years after the mill's construction. Coeur's restated resources comprises 52,000 tonnes of indicated resources averaging 465 g/t silver and 0.58 g/t gold plus inferred resources of 185,000 tonnes averaging 163 g/t silver and 0.17 g/t gold. Hunt considers these resources as historic in nature. As such, Hunt plans to resume prioritized exploration to support a future estimation of resources that will meet NI 43-101 standards. Meanwhile, Hunt Mining has been active in the exploration of its La Josefina and La Valenciana gold and sil- ver projects, also in Santa Cruz province, where it has completed 62,000 metres of diamond drilling (+500 core holes), 416 line-km of induced polarization geophysical surveys and over 20,000 sur- face soil, sediment, channel, chip and trench samples. Metallurgical test results from the La Josefina gold and silver proj- ect yielded recoveries of 96.0% gold and 72.3% silver for 96 hours of whole ore cyanidation. Tim Hunt, stated, "Flotation test results for our La Josefina Ailin ore are in the range anticipated beforehand, and when applied to internal financial modeling show that the ore can be processed in our recently purchased Martha mill without significant modifications. Ailin ore can eas- ily be hauled to the mill on public roads." Timing, much like location in business, is everything. Hunt believes they have both in their favour. n

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