Pershimco Resources Inc. (the "Company" or "Pershimco") (TSX
VENTURE:PRO)(FRANKFURT:BIZ) is pleased to announce the results of its
independent technical report for its 100%-owned Cerro Quema Project in Panama
("Cerro Quema" or "the Project"). The National Instrument ("NI") 43-101
compliant Technical Report and Mineral Resource Estimate and Pre-Feasibility
Study ("PFS") for the Cerro Quema Project (the "Project") in Los Santos
Province, Panama, prepared by Kappes Cassiday and Associates, Golder Associates
Inc., and P&E Mining Consultants Inc., will be available shortly with the
Company's other documents on SEDAR (www.sedar.com.) The latest technical work
highlights a planned 10,000 tonnes-per-day ("tpd") production scenario
generating strong economics through an annual production of more than 100,000
gold ounces for the first full year of production. An Environmental Management
Program (PAMA) was approved by the Panamanian environmental authorities for the
initial 5,000 tpd proposed plant and is now being amended for its expansion to
10,000 tpd.
HIGHLIGHTS
Economics:
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NPV (5%):
using US$1,275/oz gold
price US$165 million pre-tax and royalties
--------------------------------------------------
US $110 million after tax and royalties
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Internal Rate of Return
(IRR): 45.8% pre-tax and royalties
--------------------------------------------------
33.7% after tax and royalties
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CAPEX: US$117 million (including owner-operated fleet)
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Payback Period 2.2 years
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LOM Average Operating
Cost: US$402/oz
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US$574/oz (including taxes, royalties and refining
Total Operating Cost: for life of mine ("LOM")
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All-In Sustaining Cost: US $631/ oz(1).
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Mineral Reserves for
first phase of 488,000 oz of gold from Pit #1 - La Pava & Pit #2
extraction: - Quema/Quemita
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Note 1: please refer to Table 6 in press release
Operation:
-- Recent drilling has established reserves of 488,000 ounces of gold
oxides from 19.7 Mt of ore at 0.77g/t, based on a gold price of
US$1,275/oz;
-- Average annual gold production will total 78,546 oz of gold for a total
of 417,819 oz of gold over 5.3 years
-- First year gold production of 100,744 ounces of gold - Including 1,536
oz of preproduction (year -1).
-- LOM Strip Ratio (Waste:Ore): 0.72:1 - ridge mining
-- Metallurgical testing shows excellent leaching kinetics, with a
conservative average recovery of 85.8% through a 10,000-tpd processing
plant incorporating two stage crushing, conventional heap leach and a
CIL/ADR circuit;
-- Recent drilling has established reserves of 488,000 ounces of gold
oxides from 19.7 Mt of ore at 0.77g/t, based on a gold price of
US$1,275/oz;
-- The Environmental Management Program (PAMA) and extraction permits are
in place for the previously proposed 5,000 tpd operation, covering most
of the required project areas. Following the optimization of the
infrastructure locations and processing methods, Pershimco has started
to update the environmental assessment and permitting applications to
cover the additional areas and criteria required to accommodate the
expanded production capacity. The updated applications, which will be
necessary to initiate construction of the heap leach area, will be
submitted to the Panamanian government before the year-end.
The PFS outlines gold production from the initial extraction phase from the
first two open pits of the Project. The operation will have a mine life of 5.3
years and a processing capacity of 3.6 million tonnes per annum ("Mtpa") through
a conventional heap leach and CIL/ADR plant. Average LOM production is expected
to be 78,546 ounces of gold per annum. Gold production by the end of the first
year of production (including preproduction year) will total over 100,000 ounces
of gold, generating significant cash flow to facilitate a faster payback period
for the operation. Pershimco intends to immediately investigate the
recommendations generated by the PFS to optimize the operation's capital
expenditures, initial capital outlay and payback period.
"We are very pleased with the results of the pre-feasibility study on Cerro
Quema. The initial production phase of Project proves to have robust economics
with outstanding returns. The PFS also demonstrates that Cerro Quema's
production profile will have one of the lowest operating cost among other
projects in the industry," comments Alain Bureau, Chief Executive Officer of
Pershimco. "We believe the value we have generated from Cerro Quema since
acquiring it only four years ago represent only the tip of the iceberg. We have
identified more than a dozen oxide targets and have recently confirmed solid
copper-gold porphyry indicators Cerro Quema. We look forward to monetizing the
short term value of the Project so we can unlock its long-term upside potential.
This marks the foundation on which we will continue to build value for our
shareholders. I would like to thank our internal team and the professionals at
Kappes Cassiday & Associates, Golder Associates Inc., and P&E Mining Consultants
for their work in completing the study."
MANAGEMENT BRIEFING AND CONFERENCE CALL
The Company will host a webcast on the results of the project's Pre-feasibility
Study on Tuesday July 08th, 10h00 am, EST. Dial-in details are as follows:
Meeting Number: 199 992 719
Meeting Password: 1234
To join the online meeting (Now from mobile devices)
1. Go to
https://meetings.webex.com/collabs/meetings/view?uuid=MBR8PGNIRXM25TKT6DL03WFRVX-9ZP5&ucs=email&epwd=fae24ae91d5f4b5a
2. If requested, enter your name and email address.
3. If a password is required, enter the meeting password: 2014
4. Click "Join".
To join the audio conference only
US TOLL: 1-415-655-0001
Access code: 199 992 719
You can also request a Webcast pre-invitation by sending an email to
alain.bureau@pershimco.ca
The webcast will subsequently be available for playback on Pershimco's website
at www.pershimco.ca.
DETAILS
The PFS on the Cerro Quema Project was prepared by Kappes Cassiday and
Associates, Golder Associates Inc., and P&E Mining Consultants Inc. at the
request of Pershimco Resources Inc. ("Pershimco"). Pershimco is a Quebec based,
publicly held company trading on the TSX Venture Exchange ("TSX.V") under the
symbol PRO and on the Frankfurt exchange under the symbol BIZ.
The purpose of the report is to provide an independent, National Instrument
("NI") 43-101 compliant Technical Report and Mineral Resource Estimate and
Pre-Feasibility Study for the Cerro Quema Project (the "Project") in Los Santos
Province, Panama. The PFS intends to estimate the gold reserves for only La Pava
and Quemita oxide gold deposits, located into the Cerro Quema project. Several
other oxide and sulfide targets on the property remain open for increasing the
gold reserve.
The PFS and its appendix incorporate over 2000 pages of geology, mineral
resources, mineral reserves, mining and mine production schedule, metallurgy,
process plant design, infrastructure engineering, including waste rock dump and
water management, capital and operating cost estimates, financial modeling and
permitting for the Project.
Key Project Parameters
The key technical, operational and financial parameters of the PFS are
summarized in the following table:
Table 1 - PFS Financial Parameters
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Parameter Unit Value
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Ore mined Mt 19.7
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Average head grade mined g/t 0.77
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Waste mined (including pre-strip) Mt 14.3
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Strip ratio waste:ore 0.72
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Contained gold oz 488,000
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Average gold recovery rate % 85.8%
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Pre-Production & Production Y1 ounces 100,744
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Annual production Y2-6 ounces 317,067
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78,546
Annual production over LOM ounces
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Open pit mine life years 5
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CAPEX Upfront capital cost US$ million 107
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Mining mobile equipment cost US$ million 10
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Capital payback period years 2.2
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Operating cash costs US$/oz 402
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Total cash costs (including taxes and
royalties) US$/oz 574
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Operating cash costs US$/tonne 8.63
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Capital Costs
The required pre-production capital expenditure for the Cerro Quema Project is
summarized in the tables 2, 3 and 4. These costs are based on the design
outlined in the study and are considered to have an accuracy of +/-25%. The
scope of these costs includes all mining equipment, process facilities, and
infrastructure for the Project.
The costs presented have been estimated primarily by KCA, Golder Associates Inc.
and P&E.
Table 2 - Capital Cost Summary
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Capital Cost Cost, US$ (000)
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Equipment + Construction Capital $117,090
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Future Capital (Sustaining) $13,430
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Mine Closure Costs (Sustaining) $10,380
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Salvage Value at closure ($6,620)
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Tables 3 - Summary of Mining Pre-Production Capital Costs
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Direct Mining Costs US$ ('000)
Mobile Equipment $10,134
Haul Roads $500
Miscellaneous $292
Total Direct Mining Costs $10,926
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Other Costs
Freight- Contingency- Taxes-Misc. $2,063
Capitalized Pre-Strip $4,177
Total Other Costs $6,240
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Total Mining $17,166
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Table 4 - Summary of Process Pre-Production Capital Costs by Area ($,000s)
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Cost Install Total
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Plant Total Direct Costs $ 43,407 $ 22,225 $ 65,632
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Spare Parts $ 1,550 $ 1,550
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Contingency $ 10,828 $ 10,828
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Plant Total Direct Costs with Contingency $ 78,010
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Indirect Field Costs $ 6,608
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Initial Fills $ 1,164
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Sub Total Plant Cost Before EPCM $ 85,781
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EPCM $ 9,845
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Subtotal Plant Cost $ 95,626
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Owner's Costs $ 4,301
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TOTAL Pre-Production Capital Cost $ 99,927
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An additional US$ 5.7 M, covering 60 days of working capital, was considered in
the cash flow model.
Cerro Quema sustaining capital and reclamation costs are summarized in the table 5.
Table 5 - Sustaining capital and reclamation costs
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Sustaining Capital Cost Total ('000$)
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Heap Leach Pad Expansion $ 7,495
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HL Barren Booster $ 308
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Upper Chontal WRD $ 892
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Mine Equipment $ 1,730
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HL Monitoring after Y6 $ 334
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Mine Other $ 732
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Agglomeration Drum Y5 $ 1,744
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Conveyor Remove/Install $ 360
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Taxes, Mine Equipment $ 172
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Mine Site Closure $ 10,047
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Total $ 23,814
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The site closure costs cover environmental aspects at the mine and process plant
sites.
The PFS has been completed on the basis that mining operations will be
undertaken on an owner-operator basis, although the Company is exploring
opportunities to reduce upfront capital outlay through contractor mining.
Pershimco also expects that further savings on Capex and Opex will be possible
thru negotiation with its main suppliers and partners, once the financial aspect
of the Project will be secured.
Costs per Ounce Produced
The PFS has demonstrated low operating cash cost of US$402/oz and low total cash
costs of US$574/oz, including taxes and royalties. The financial model includes
all of the capital and operating costs:
Table 6 - Cerro Quema Cost (per Oz Gold)
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Category US$/oz produced
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Mining $ 150.91
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Processing $ 207.68
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General and Administration $ 43.72
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Operating Cash Costs $ 402.31
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Freight and refining $ 10,53
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Taxes and Royalties (Panamanina Taxes (25%)
Royalties (4.6%)) $ 160.73
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Total Cash Costs $ 573.57
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Sustaining Capital $ 57.00
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AISC (All Inclusive Sustaining Cost) 630.57
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Economic Sensitivity Analysis
The economic analysis utilizes an average gold price of US$1,275 per ounce over
the 5.3 year life of operation. This data is presented with a sensitivity
analysis that examines the Project economics at different gold prices:
Table 7 - Sensitivity Analysis (After Tax)
---------------------------------------
NPV (in USD 1,000's)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Variation IRR 0% 5% 10% 15%
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Gold Price
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$1,275 33.7% 152,414 110,051 77,997 53,393
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85% $1,084 22.2% 94,849 62,605 38,304 19,749
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90% $1,148 26.2% 114,091 78,469 51,579 31,004
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100% $1,275 33.7% 152,414 110,051 77,997 53,393
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110% $1,403 40.7% 190,547 141,462 104,257 75,639
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115% $1,466 44.2% 209,614 157,167 117,388 86,762
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Capital Cost
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$117,093 33.7% 152,414 110,051 77,997 53,393
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85% $99,529 42.1% 168,647 125,622 93,051 68,016
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90% $105,384 39.0% 163,236 120,432 88,033 63,142
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100% $117,093 33.7% 152,414 110,051 77,997 53,393
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110% $128,802 29.1% 141,592 99,670 67,960 43,645
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115% $134,657 27.1% 136,101 94,408 62,876 38,710
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Operating Cost
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$168,089 33.7% 152,414 110,051 77,997 53,393
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85% $142,875 37.4% 172,769 126,775 91,939 65,168
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90% $151,280 36.2% 165,984 121,200 87,291 61,243
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100% $168,089 33.7% 152,414 110,051 77,997 53,393
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110% $184,897 31.1% 138,817 98,877 68,679 45,523
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115% $193,302 29.8% 131,937 93,217 63,954 41,526
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Pershimco owns 100% of the Cerro Quema Project. Taxes for mining business and
royalty to the Government are well defined in Panama. Nevertheless, Pershimco
intend to start discussions with the Government of Panama in respect of the
fiscal incentives that could apply to the Project. The Project will be a
significant contributor to the tax base of the Panama economy and until now
every mining operation in Panama has benefit from fiscal incentives.
The PFS is based on a corporation tax rate of 25%, a royalty of 4% to the
Government of Panama, which are already defined in Panama. An additional royalty
of 0.6% is owed to a private company (CEMSA) held by a former owner.
Mineral Resources Estimate
The effective date of this mineral resource estimate is June 30th, 2014.
The Cerro Quema mineral resources are reported inside an optimized pit shell.
The results from the optimized pit shell are used solely for the purpose of
reporting mineral resources that have reasonable prospects for economic
extraction, and the optimization is based on the economic parameters including
US$1,500/oz gold, 86% oxide Au recovery, 90% sulphide Au recovery, US$2.20/tonne
mining costs, $6.13/tonne oxide processing cost, $12.00 tonne sulphide process
cost, US$1.00/tonne G&A. A cutoff of 0.18 g/t Au was used for oxide
mineralization and 0.31 g/t Au for sulphide mineralization. The pit shell was
optimized based on Au block grades for oxide zones and Au-equivalent (AuEq)
block grades for sulphide zones. The Au-equivalent block grades were calculated
using the formula: AuEq = (Au g/t + (Cu% x 1.6)).
The In-Pit Mineral Resources are summarized in the table 7.
Table 8 - Summary of the Cerro Quema In-Pit Mineral RESOURCES (1,2,3,4,5,6 )
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
La Pava
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Grade Cutoff
Zone Group Au g/t Tonnes Au g/t Cu % AuEq g/t Au Ounces
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Oxides Measured 0.18 7,052,600 0.82 0.04 NA 184,900
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Indicated 0.18 10,896,100 0.57 0.04 NA 201,100
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Meas & Ind 0.18 17,948,700 0.67 0.04 NA 386,000
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Inferred 0.18 331,700 0.36 0.03 NA 3,800
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Grade Cutoff AuEq
Zone Group AuEq g/t Tonnes Au g/t Cu % AuEq g/t Ounces
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sulphides Measured 0.31 802,000 0.44 0.22 0.80 20,600
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Indicated 0.31 7,664,900 0.39 0.38 1.00 246,100
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Meas & Ind 0.31 8,466,900 0.39 0.36 0.98 266,700
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Inferred 0.31 75,000 0.28 0.2 0.61 1,500
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Grade Au + AuEq
La Pava Group Cutoff Tonnes Au g/t Cu % AuEq g/t Ounces
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total Measured ---- 7,854,600 0.78 0.06 0.81 205,500
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Indicated ---- 18,561,000 0.50 0.18 0.75 447,200
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Meas & Ind ---- 26,415,600 0.58 0.14 0.77 652,700
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Inferred ---- 406,700 0.35 0.06 0.41 5,300
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Quema + Quemita + Mesita
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Grade Cutoff
Zone Group Au g/t Tonnes Au g/t Cu % AuEq g/t Au Ounces
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Oxides Measured 0.18 0 0 0 NA 0
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Indicated 0.18 5,983,700 0.86 0.03 NA 166,400
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Meas & Ind 0.18 5,983,700 0.86 0.03 NA 166,400
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Inferred 0.18 335,300 0.38 0.03 NA 4,100
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Grade Cutoff AuEq
Zone Group AuEq g/t Tonnes Au g/t Cu % AuEq g/t Ounces
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sulphides Measured 0.31 0 0 0 0 0
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Indicated 0.31 2,539,000 0.49 0.15 0.73 59,600
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Meas & Ind 0.31 2,539,000 0.49 0.15 0.73 59,600
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Inferred 0.31 298,100 0.30 0.17 0.57 5,500
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Grade Au + AuEq
QQM Group Cutoff Tonnes Au g/t Cu % AuEq g/t Ounces
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total Measured ---- 0 0 0 0.00 0
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Indicated ---- 8,522,700 0.75 0.07 0.82 226,000
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Meas & Ind ---- 8,522,700 0.75 0.07 0.82 226,000
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Inferred ---- 633,400 0.34 0.10 0.47 9,600
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Mineral resources are reported inside an optimized pit shell. AuEq was
calculated using Au + 1.6 (i) Cu.
2. Numbers may not add up due to rounding.
3. Mineral resources which are not mineral reserves do not have
demonstrated economic viability.
4. The quantity and grade of reported Inferred resources in this estimation
are uncertain in nature and there has been insufficient exploration to
define these Inferred resources as an Indicated or Measured mineral
resource and it is uncertain if further exploration will result in
upgrading them to an Indicated or Measured mineral resource category.
5. The mineral resources were estimated using the Canadian Institute of
Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM), CIM Standards on Mineral
Resources and Reserves, Definitions and Guidelines prepared by the CIM
Standing Committee on Reserve Definitions and adopted by CIM Council.
6. The mineral resource is based on economic parameters including
US$1,500/oz gold, 86% oxide Au recovery, 90% sulphide Au recovery,
US$2.20/tonne mining costs, US$6.13/tonne oxide processing cost,
US$12.00/tonne sulphide processing cost and US$1.00/tonne G&A
Mineral Reserve Estimate
The Cerro Quema mining operation will consist of open-pit mining only with no
underground mining component planned, hence, all of the ore reserves are deemed
to be open pit reserves. No Inferred mineral resources are used in the
estimation of the mineral reserve. Only oxide resources are used in the
estimation of the mineral reserve.
The mineral reserves for the Cerro Quema Project will be provided by two
separate pits: La Pava pit and Quema pit. Two separate block models were
developed; one for each pit.
The Proven and Probable mineral reserves for the Project are summarized in the
Table 9. A cut-off grade of 0.21 g/t Au is used for reporting all reserves. The
mineral reserve represents a diluted ore tonnage.
Table 9 - Cerro Quema Mineral Reserves
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Gold Oz
Ore (Mt) Au (g/t) Cu (%) Contained
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
La Pava
Proven 6.82 0.80 0.04 176,000
Probable 7.40 0.67 0.04 159,000
----------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------
Sub-total 14.22 0.73 0.04 335,000
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Quema
Proven - - - -
Probable 5.49 0.86 0.03 153,000
----------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------
Sub-total 5.49 0.86 0.03 153,000
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Total
Proven 6.82 0.80 0.04 176,000
Probable 12.89 0.75 0.03 312,000
----------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------
Total 19.71 0.77 0.04 488,000
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Notes
1. Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and Petroleum ("CIM")
definitions were used for Mineral Reserves
2. The Mineral reserve Is based on US$1,275/oz gold
Metallurgical Testing
Metallurgical testing of material from the Cerro Quema deposit was completed by
the previous owners and Pershimco. The testing included:
-- Bottle roll tests that evaluated amenability of the materials to
cyanidation;
-- Column leach tests that evaluated the amenability of the materials to
conventional heap leaching
Metallurgical testing results show:
-- Oxide material from La Pava responds very well to cyanide bottle roll
and column leaching yielding high gold extractions and low reagent
consumptions.
-- Laboratory Gold recovery averaging 92% for bottle roll tests and 93% for
column leach tests.
-- At grade of 1 g/t Au and lower, extractions is approximately the same
for both La Pava and Quema
-- At grades above 1 g/t Au, the extractions for La Pava are greater than
for Quema;
-- KCA recommends using a constant field gold recovery of 86% for all La
Pava material and the low grade of Quema. Further, it is recommended to
discount Quema ore recovery at 3% recovery of gold per 1 g/t head grade;
the weighted average recovery being 85.5%.
-- The data show no dependence of gold extraction on crush size for the
materials and size ranges tested;
-- Clay containing material shows poor permeability and will require cement
agglomeration. This material (about 1,000,000 tonnes) will be stockpiled
and processed at the end of the mine life.
Mining Operation
The mining method will be a conventional open-pit mine. The ore production rate
delivered to the heap leach pad area is approximately 3.6 million tonnes per
year of silica ore. Over the life of the Project about 1,000,000 tonnes of
clayey ore will be stockpiled and processed at the end of the mine life.
Overall total annual mining rates will range from a high of 7.1 Mt of combined
ore and waste to a low of 5.5 Mt with an average of about 6.4 Mt/year. The
average total daily mining rate will be of 18,000 tpd, of which 10,000 tpd would
consist of ore.
Golder Associates completed a geotechnical review to provide pit slope design
with catch bench width of 6.5 m for 10 m high double benches utilizing a bench
face angle of 62 degrees, resulting in an inter-ramp slope angle of 40 degrees.
The total mine life for this first operation is five years in duration, not
including one year of pre-production nor 0.3 year for processing the clay stock
pile.
Ore and waste from the La Pava pit will be hauled to the crusher and Chontal
waste dump. At the Quema pit, a trade-off study recommended the use of a
conveyor system to transport both ore and waste down the hillside.
The Pre-Feasibility study considered both options of Owner-Operated mining and
Contract mining. The base case for the study is the Owner-Operated mining
option, although contractor mining will be re-evaluated in order to reduce
initial capital outlay.
Initially, an 6.5m3 excavator and 7m3 front end loader would be purchased along
with a total of six trucks (four 40t articulated and two 50t rigid frame) to be
ready for Year-1. As the production rate ramps up and the La Pava pit deepens
with longer haul distances, additional trucks will be required. The fleet of
four articulated trucks will be supplemented with additional 50t rigid frame
trucks since working conditions in the pit will improve with depth. The truck
fleet will peak at ten units. No major mining equipment replacements will be
required over the Project's mine life.
The Cerro Quema mine will require mine offices, change house facilities,
maintenance facilities, warehousing and cold storage areas. The explosive
contractor will be allocated storage space on the Project site.
Mineral Processing
Mineral processing consists of a 10,000 tonne per day conventional heap leach of
crushed ore stacked on a single use pad. Gold will be leached from the
mineralized material with dilute cyanide solution and will be recovered in a
carbon adsorption-desorption-recovery (ADR) plant to produce dore bars.
Ore will be delivered by haul trucks from one of the open pit mines to the
primary jaw crusher producing ore crushed to 100% passing 130 mm. The jaw
crusher product will feed a secondary cone crusher. Cone crusher product will
discharge to the crushed ore stockpile constructed over a subterranean tunnel
containing two reclaim belt feeders and the Reclaim Tunnel Conveyor.
Pebble lime will be added to the reclaim tunnel conveyor at a nominal rate of
1.6 kg/t material. The crushed material and lime will then be conveyed to the
heap for stacking.
The ore will be leached using a dilute solution of sodium cyanide. The dilute
cyanide leach solution will percolate through the material, dissolving gold, and
drain by gravity to a pregnant solution pond. Pregnant solution will be pumped
to a set of five carbon adsorption columns, exiting the last column as barren
solution.
Stripping of the gold from the loaded carbon is accomplished by circulating a
heated, dilute caustic and cyanide solution upwards through the carbon bed. The
heated solution exits the elution vessel as pregnant eluent which flows to the
recovery circuit where stripped gold is plated onto mild steel wool cathodes.
The mild steel wool cathodes are treated in the retort furnace which removes the
water and the mercury. The retorted cathodes are mixed with fluxes, melted and
poured into dore bars. The dore is finally shipped to an offsite refiner for
further processing and sale as fine gold.
The process flow sheet is well-known in the gold mining industry. It is
considered to be low risk and historically has proven a successful processing
route for this type of ore body.
Permitting
Concession to the Cerro Quema Property comprises three contracts between the
Republic of Panama and Minera Cerro Quema, S.A. ("MCQ"), a wholly owned
Panamanian subsidiary of Pershimco. The Contracts numbered 19, 20 and 21,
granted in February and March 1997 provide the exclusive rights for the
extraction of class IV metallic minerals (gold and silver) for a period of 20
years and cover 14,893 ha. The contracts can be extended for a first 10 year
extension and then two additional extensions of 5 years each.
An environmental assessment and permits are in place for the previously proposed
continuous vat leach operation. However, as the current project will utilize
heap leach processing methods, Pershimco has initiated an update of the
environmental assessment and permits to reflect the new project design.
An Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) is in progress and will be
completed later in 2014. Pershimco plans to submit Permit Applications,
including the closure plan, to the Panamanian government in 2014.
Project Implementation
The Project schedule is planned to coincide with permitting and the dry season
on Panama. The Project is considered to be conventional and low risk; Pershimco
intends to skip the feasibility level engineering and proceed with detailed
engineering and construction. The major project milestone estimates are
summarized in the Table 10:
Table 10 - Project Milestones
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Milestone Date Completed
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
ESIA Study October 2014
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
ANAM - ESIA Permitting September 2015
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Detailed Engineering September 2015
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Construction December 2016
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mine Commissioning September 2016
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Process Commissioning December 2016
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
First Pour December 2016
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Project Optimization
The PFS focused on estimating the potential of only La Pava and Quemita oxide
gold deposits. Further exploration work and studies will follow to unveil the
potential of the Cerro Quema property:
-- There is considerable potential to find additional zones of gold oxide
mineralization along the alteration trend that hosts the La Pava,
Quemita-Quema and La Mesita deposits.
-- Sulphide resources have been estimated beneath the oxide zones in La
Pava and Quema/Quemita. The sulphidic material represents a significant
opportunity for a future gold-copper mining operation and a flotation
concentrator.
-- Silver is present in La Pava and Quema/Quemita ore. Field recovery of
silver is estimated at 12% based on assays that could be obtained from
metallurgical test data. Using a silver price of $14 per oz, the silver
represents a potential revenue source of $2.7 million assuming a
mineralized inventory of 1.6 M oz Ag.
-- There are opportunities to improve Cero Quema's economics and work will
continue to explore scenarios optimizing CAPEX and OPEX:
-- Increasing ore crush size (ROM or single stage cruching);
-- Using mining contractor;
-- Processing clay material along with silica ore;
-- Increasing pit slope.
Technical Report
Pershimco will file a NI 43-101 compliant technical report on Cerro Quema
outlining the Mineral Resources and Reserves estimate and the results of the
PFS. The report will be available within 45 days at www.sedar.com and on the
Company's corporate website at www.pershimco.ca
Qualified Persons
Golder Associates Inc.
Mr. Gene Tortelli, PE
Mr. Tortelli has BSCE and MSCE degrees from Michigan Technological University.
In total, Mr. Tortelli has over 14 years of experience providing civil
engineering services for the mining industry including the design and
construction of heap leach pads, waste rock disposal facilities, tailings
management facilities, and ancillary facilities. He has experience providing
engineering design, construction management, and project management for gold and
copper mining projects in North, Central, and South America. Mr. Tortelli is a
licensed Professional Civil Engineer in Nevada and Arizona and is a member of
the Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration (SME) and the American
Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE).
Mr. George Lightwood, PE
Mr. Lightwood has over 29 years of experience as a mining and geotechnical
engineer. Mr. Lightwood has a BSc. in Mining Engineering from the Colorado
School of Mine (1979), a M.S. in Civil Engineering from Stanford University
(1987) and a M. Eng. in Civil (Geotechnical) Engineering from the University of
California, Berkeley (1989). After graduation from the Colorado School of Mines,
he worked 5 years as a mining engineer in Alaska. Since his graduation from the
University of California, Mr. Lightwood has worked as a geotechnical engineer
for 25 years. Approximately one-third of this experience includes pit slope
design and slope stability studies for open pit mines. He is licensed as a
Professional Engineer (Mining) in Arizona, Colorado, Montana, Nevada, and
Washington. Mr. Lightwood is a Registered Member of the SME and a Member of the
ASCE.
Mr. David Brown P. Geo.
Mr. Brown has a B.Sc. in chemistry and environmental Studies and a M.Sc. in
environmental geochemistry, both from the University of Waterloo. He has 24
years of experience in baseline investigations, environmental monitoring
programs, site rehabilitation and closure, and environmental assessment and
permitting projects. David is responsible for project management and geochemical
and environmental assessment on projects related to proposed, existing and
closed mining facilities. Mr. Brown has lead, and been a member of,
multi-disciplinary teams preparing environmental assessments and closure plans
for existing and proposed mining properties. His work also includes preparation
of supporting documentation for permitting and providing advice on regulatory
requirements for developing, operating and rehabilitation at mine properties. He
is involved in characterizing mine wastes (tailings, waste rock, slag and
process residues) and effluent discharges from mining projects and assessing
their potential impacts on receiving surface water and groundwater quality.
These studies include assessing acid generation potential and metal mobility,
predicting chemical loading, predicting tailings basin and mine water quality,
and predicting receiving water quality impacts. He is licensed as a Professional
Geoscientist with the Association of Professional Geoscientists of Ontario
(APGO).
Kappes, Cassiday and Associates
Mr. Mark Gorman, PE
Mark holds a BS degree in Chemistry, an MS degree in Metallurgical Engineering
and an MS degree in Civil Engineering. He is a registered Professional Engineer
in the State of Nevada. He has 20 years of mineral processing experience working
in copper and precious metals. He worked for The Mineral Park Mine as their
Chief Metallurgist and Allied Nevada as their Corporate Metallurgist prior to
joining KCA.
P&E Mining Consultants Inc.
Eugene Puritch, P.Eng. (President)
Mr. Puritch is a mining engineer with over 30 years experience in engineering
and operations of open-pit and underground mines. Assignments have taken him
throughout Canada, Central and South America, Australia, Eastern Europe, China
and Mongolia. Gold, silver, base metal, PGM and iron deposits have been the
focus with projects ranging from small underground narrow vein to large open-pit
multi-element properties.
Mr. Puritch is a specialist in geological modeling and mine design and has
extensive experience in the use of Gemcom, Whittle 4X, and AutoCad software
packages. Many underground and open-pit resource estimates, optimizations and
open-pit resource estimates, optimizations and designs were developed for
scoping and feasibility studies. He has authored NI 43-101 technical reports as
a qualified person on several gold and base metal PGM deposits.
Dr. Richard Sutcliffe, P.Geo. (Vice President, Geology)
Dr. Sutcliffe is a professional geologist with over 30 years of experience in
geological surveys, mineral exploration and mining projects, including executive
management and director positions with publically traded mineral exploration and
mining companies. He has a B.Sc and M.Sc. in Geology from the University of
Toronto, a Ph.D. in Geology from the University of Western Ontario and is a
P.Geo. with the Association of Professional Geoscientists of Ontario. He has
been involved in numerous resource and reserve estimates for gold, PGM and base
metals projects as well as preliminary economic analyses, prefeasibility and
feasibili1y studies.
Mr. Ken Kuchling, M. Eng., P. Eng.
Ken Kuchling is a mining engineer with over 30 years' experience mainly
encompassing open pit mining. He has worked in mining operations and in the
consulting industry, with commodities such as gold, copper, potash, diamonds,
oil sands, bauxite, tungsten, nickel, molybdenum, and industrial minerals. He
has had direct involvement in scoping and feasibility studies, Nl 43-101
Technical Reports, mine design, permitting, geotechnical engineering, tailings
design, hydrogeology, and equipment selection. His equipment experience includes
truck & shovel, dredging, large walking draglines, bucketwheel excavators &
conveyor systems, and underground continuous mining systems.
Mr. Kuchling has been involved in the evaluation of early stage and advanced
stage opportunities on behalf of clients, including due diligence reviews, tech
nical evaluation of data, site visits, preliminary financial modeling and
"what-if' economic analyses. He has assisted clients in developing corporate
strategies fpr studying, advancing or selling projects. Globally his involvement
includes projects in Canada, United States, Suriname, Russia, Korea, Italy,
Spain, Argentina, Senegal, and Papua New Guinea, with experience ranging from
Arctic to tropical conditions.
Antoine Yassa, P.Geo.
Mr. Yassa is a professional Geologist with more than 25 years' experience in the
exploration of precious and base metals, uranium and industrial minerals. He has
specialized for the last 10 years in 3D modelling, database management and QA/QC
supervision.
During his career, Mr. Yassa has worked in Canada, Russia, Central Asia and in
West African countries. He has been involved in various project stages from
grass-roots exploration to production. He has held positions as senior
geologist, QA:QC supervisor, database manager as well as resource evaluation
senior geologist. Some of the projects in which he was involved with at Placer
Dome are open-pit optimization at Dome Mine in Timmins, pre-feasibility on
Vasilskovskoye in Kazakhstan and pre-feasibility of Samira Hill in Niger. While
employed with McWatters Mining, he worked on block modeling and resource
evaluation of the Sigma Mine and Kiena Mine in Abitibi, Quebec. For Bema Gold
Mr. Yassa managed the databases, QAQC and resource evaluation at Julietta Mine
in Far-East Russia. Mr. Yassa is a highly proficient Gemcom software user.
Fred Brown, CPG, P.Geo.
Mr. Brown is a professional mining geologist with over 20 years' experience in
mineral resource management, including open-pit and underground operations. He
has worked on precious metal, base metal and diamond mining projects in eastern
and southern Africa, Australia, Europe, Canada and South America. His experience
includes operational management, feasibility studies, due diligence audits, mine
evaluation, resource estimation and orebody modeling.
Mr. Brown specializes in resource models of complex orebodies, and has authored
several NI 43-101 technical reports as a Qualified Person.
David Burga, P.Geo.
Mr. Burga is a geologist with 10 years' experience in mining exploration and
environmental projects. He has worked on precious metal, base metal and diamond
projects in northern Ontario, Quebec, Northwest Territories, Mexico, Peru and
Chile and is fluent in Spanish.
Mr. Burga was previously involved with managing the Chilean operations of a
Canadian junior exploration company and brings his project management experience
to P & E. He is currently assisting with research and writing of Nl 43-101
technical reports and providing Gemcom database and geological interpretation
support.
Tracy Armstrong, P.Geo.
Ms. Armstrong is a professional geologist with 20 years' experience in
pre-production and production phases of underground and open pit mining, mineral
exploration, and project management. Her experience is in gold and base metals
in Canada, the United States, China and Turkey.
Ms. Armstrong has participated in several due diligence reviews and geological
modeling projects, and has held managerial positions in both major and minor
gold mining companies. She has also been extensively involved in project crisis
management. Ms. Armstrong has authored several Nl 43-101 technical reports as a
qualified person on base metal and gold projects. Ms. Armstrong has sat on the
Board of Directors of the Order of Geologists of Quebec and the Quebec
Government- Industry Consulting Committee. She has written technical articles
for publication on behalf of several mining companies and associations.
Quality Assurance / Quality Control ("QA/QC")
For the present resource estimate, diamond drill core and reverse circulation
("RC") cuttings samples were collected, approximately each one meter. A thorough
quality assurance/quality control ("QA/QC", or "QC") program was implemented,
which included one field blank and at least one certified reference material,
(also referred to as a standard), for every batch of 20 samples sent to the
laboratory.
The principal laboratory used by Pershimco was Activation Laboratories
("Actlabs"). Samples were sent to Actlab's Panama laboratory for preparation and
the resulting pulps were sent to Actlabs in Ancaster, ON, Canada for analysis.
Gold sample tenor was determined using fire assay method with atomic absorption
finish. Gold values exceeding the 2.5 g/t Au were rerun using fire assay with a
gravimetric finish. The sample preparation, security, and analytical procedures
are in keeping with standard industry practice and are suitable for use in the
current resource estimate.
Forward-looking Statement
This report includes certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of
applicable Canadian securities legislation.
All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this report,
including, without limitation, the positioning of the Company for future
success, statements regarding exploration, production estimates, future
objectives of Pershimco and the results of the PFS including the economic
analysis are forward-looking information that involve various risks and
uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be
accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those
anticipated in such statements. Important factors that could cause actual
results to differ materially from Pershimco's expectations include, among
others, risks related to international operations, the actual results of current
exploration and drilling activities, the assumptions and parameters used in the
Cerro Quema PFS, the results of the optimization opportunities, changes in
project parameters as plans continue to be refined as well as the future price
of gold. Although Pershimco has attempted to identify important factors that
could cause actual results to differ materially, there may be other factors that
cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no
assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate as actual results and
future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements.
Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking
statements. Pershimco does not undertake to update any forward-looking
statements that are included herein, except in accordance with applicable
securities laws.
Non IFRS Measures - cash cost per oz is a financial measure used by many
investors to compare mining companies on the basis of operating results, asset
value and the ability to incur and service debt. Pershimco considers cash cost
per oz as a key measure in evaluating the Company's operating performance.
However, it is not a measure of financial performance, nor does it have a
standardized meaning prescribed by IFRS, and may not be comparable to similar
measures presented by other companies. This measure has been described and
presented in this document in order to provide shareholders and potential
investors with additional information regarding the Company's operational
performance, liquidity and its ability generate funds to finance its operations.
GLOSSARY
"Mineral Reserve": A mineral reserve is the economically mineable part of a
Measured or Indicated Mineral Resource demonstrated by at least a Preliminary
Feasibility Study. This study must include adequate information on mining,
processing, metallurgical, economics and other relevant factors that
demonstrate, at the time of reporting, that economic extraction can be
justified. A Mineral Reserve includes diluting materials and allowances for
losses that may occur when the material is mined.
"Mineral Resource": A mineral resource is a concentration or occurrence of
diamonds, natural solid inorganic material, or natural solid fossilized organic
material including base and precious metals, coal, and industrial minerals in or
on the Earth's crust in such form and quantity and of such grade or quality that
it has reasonable prospects for economic extraction. The location, quantity,
grade, geological characteristics and continuity of a Mineral Resource are
known, estimated or interpreted from specific geological evidence and knowledge.
"Inferred Mineral Resource": is that part of a Mineral Resource for which
quantity and grade or quality can be estimated on the basis of geological
evidence and limited sampling and reasonably assumed, but not verified,
geological and grade continuity. The estimate is based on limited information
and sampling gathered through appropriate techniques from locations such as
outcrops, trenches, pits, workings and drill holes.
"Indicated Mineral Resource": is that part of a Mineral Resource for which
quantity, grade or quality, densities, shape and physical characteristics, can
be estimated with a level of confidence sufficient to allow the appropriate
application of technical and economic parameters, to support mine planning and
evaluation of the economic viability of the deposit. The estimate is based on
detailed and reliable exploration and testing information gathered through
appropriate technique from locations such as outcrops, trenches, pits, workings
and drill holes that are spaced closely enough for geological and grade
continuity to be reasonable assumed.
"Measured Mineral Resource": is that part of a Mineral Resource for which
quantity, grade or quality, densities, shape, and physical characteristics are
so well established that they can be estimated with confidence sufficient to
allow the appropriate application of technical and economic parameters, to
support production planning and evaluation of the economic viability of the
deposit. The estimate is based on detailed and reliable exploration, sampling
and testing in- formation gathered through appropriate techniques from locations
such as outcrops, trenches, pits, workings and drill holes that are spaced
closely enough to confirm both geological and grade continuity.
The above definitions of "mineral resource", "measured mineral resource", and
"indicated mineral resource" conform to Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy
and Petroleum ("CIM") definitions as defined in the CIM Standards on Mineral
Resources and Reserves - Definitions and Guidelines as required by National
Instrument 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, of the Canadian
Securities Administrators.
ABOUT PERSHIMCO RESOURCES INC.
Pershimco Resources Inc. is a mineral exploration and development Company listed
on the TSX Venture Exchange and the Frankfurt Exchange with a near-production
oxide gold project in Panama. The Cerro Quema project is composed of multiple
gold oxide deposits within a 15,000 ha extraction permitted concessions package.
The Company is also exploring, within the same concessions, the potential of a
Copper-Gold porphyry at depth. The Company is led by a skilled management team
with extensive experience in the mining sector, as well as a proven track record
of building successful operating mining facilities in the Americas. With strong
support from its shareholders, the Pershimco team is positioned for success.
The Company's documents are available on www.sedar.com.
Please visit the Company's website at www.pershimco.ca.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its regulation services provider (as that
term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts
responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. Statements
made in this news release that are not historical facts are "forward-looking
statements" and readers are cautioned that any such statements are not
guarantees of future performance, and that actual developments or results, may
vary materially from those in these "forward-looking" statement.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
Alain Bureau, P. Eng
President and Chief Executive Officer
+1 (819) 797-2180
resources@pershimco.ca
Elina Chow
Investor Relations
+1 (416) 845-8495
info@pershimco.ca
Pershimex Resources (TSXV:PRO)
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Pershimex Resources (TSXV:PRO)
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