Monument Announce RC Assay Results from Federal City Drilling within the Murchison Gold Property

Best Intercept of 11m @ 14.74g/t Au from 8m in extensional drilling, includes 1m @ 103g/t

VANCOUVER, Jan. 19, 2015 /CNW/ - Monument Mining Ltd. (TSX-V: MMY and FSE: D7Q1) ("Monument" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the third round of drilling results from the resource drilling programme at the Murchison Gold Project in Western Australia, through its wholly owned Australian subsidiary, Monument Murchison Pty Ltd. The Murchison Gold Property is 100% owned by Monument Mining Ltd. and consists of the historical Burnakura, Gabanintha and Tuckanarra projects.  Figure 1 (Appendix 1) shows a Location Plan for the Project.

CEO, Robert Baldock, said: "Exploration and progress towards a preliminary economic assessment has continued at the Burnakura Project to the end of December 2014, with a total of 13,123m of RC Drilling carried out at Burnakura Project containing historical resources including Alliance, New Alliance; and a further 4,676m of exploration drilling at the Federal City. The drilling has comprised infill drilling to further define the historical resources, extensional drilling to test strike and width extensions, and exploration drilling to target new prospects.  The initial preliminary economic assessment is targeting completion by March 2015, and final study is expecting to be completed by June 2015, comprised of metallurgical testwork, mining engineering, environmental studies and permitting, aiming to bring the Murchison into production as soon as is economically viable."

Highlights of the Drill Results

To date, a total of 151 RC holes have been completed for a total of 13,123m at Alliance/New Alliance. Results  for the first 102 holes drilled are available in the Company Release of 18 November, 2014.  The remaining 49 holes totalling 3777 m, drilled in the second round of drilling at Alliance/New Alliance, has results pending.   At Federal City, a total of 74 holes for 4,676m has been completed, including a further follow up programme of 11 holes for 618m, with results now available.

The drilling programme at Federal City was completed in two phases;  63 holes within the first round, and a further 11 holes in the second round to attempt to test the high grade intercepts down dip and along strike.  Table 1 in Appendix 2 shows a breakdown of fire assay results completed by SGS Australia for intervals of mineralisation greater than 0.5g/t Au along with collar information for the drill holes.  High grade intercepts are highlighted in orange.  Figure 2 shows the distribution of drill holes containing mineralised assay results greater than 0.5g/t Au (Appendix 3) at Federal City. Table 2 in Appendix 4 shows a list of the collar information for all Federal City drill holes.

The majority of the infill and extensional drilling was angled at 60° towards the southwest, and has confirmed the existing mineralised zones and also intersected a number of isolated high grade intervals outside of the currently defined mineralisation.  The drill hole orientation was designed to target perpendicular to mineralisation for true thickness, except where vertical holes were drilled – See Table 1.  The drill hole intercepts reported in this statement represent the actual sample intervals obtained from drilling. The mineralisation at Federal City can host high grade "nuggetty" gold zones which will require further close spaced drilling to confirm their orientations and extents.  

High grade intercepts were revealed in holes 14MRC112, 14MRC113, 14MRC126, 14MRC139 and 14MRC143 from the Phase 1 drilling.  A follow up programme of 11 holes tested four of the five holes. 

Hole 14MRC113  intersected 2m @ 24.6g/t Au from 36m, 30m south-east of an historical intersection of 2m @ 14.1g/t Au from 40m, which is situated approximately 30 metres from the southwest corner of the current pit.  The current drilling has confirmed this historical high grade intersection and follow up drilling in holes14MRC185-187 has indicated low grade mineralisation 20m further along strike to the south-east, indicating a newly defined mineralised zone 30m below the lowest zone at Federal City South.

The highest grade intercept shows an interval of 11m @ 14g/t Au including 1m @ 103g/t in drill hole 14MRC143 in Federal City North, however follow up drilling failed to confirm the high grade.  Additional drilling on a north-south orientation is planned in this area to test for a narrow cross-cutting sub-vertical east-west structure that may host the mineralisation and which may have been missed using the current drilling orientation.

According to Lisa Wells, Exploration Manager, "these results have shown some impressive high grade intersections in exploration and extensional drill holes at Federal City.  High grade zones are outside of the current mineralisation, and could be hosted in sub-vertical cross-cutting E-W structures. The orientation and extent of the high grade zones is unknown at this stage and requires further confirmation drilling. The structure in the area is geologically complex and the Company is now undertaking a PQ diamond drilling programme to twin these high grade holes to assist the interpretation. A further follow up RC programme is also about to commence at Federal City to assist understanding of the orientation of the mineralisation to aid future targeting. " 

Background And Progress On The Exploration Program

The drilling programme was initiated in May 2014 at the Alliance and New Alliance open pit historical deposits, and has been extended into Federal City at the Burnakura Project. Figure 3 shows the geological map for the Burnakura Tenement area (Appendix 5).  The drilling program has been designed to validate the historical resource, increase the grade and geological continuity of the mineralisation through infill drilling and to test for resource extensions and define further exploration targets. This work will contribute to the current scoping study to assess economics of over those areas to provide a commercial outcome within an eighteen month time frame from acquisition. This news release should be read in conjunction with previous news releases dating from May 26, 2014.   

Various studies are currently underway progressing towards a preliminary economic assessment for the Alliance, New Alliance and Federal City resources which include: 

Resource confirmation and study

To date the historical estimates have been under review by independent consultants, Cube Consulting ("Cube"). The complete historical resource drilling digital database has now been checked and validated by Cube for consistency.  The data is now being held in a secure SQL database server. Cube has also reviewed the QAQC procedures and quality control data for the first 102 holes completed and considers at this stage that the veracity of the data is appropriate for the purposes of mineral resource estimation. The QAQC analysis for the remainder of the holes is in progress.

All data for the first 176 holes at Alliance, New Alliance and Federal City has now been input into the database. Cube has recently commenced the interpretation on the geological model of Alliance and New Alliance and the mineral resource estimation to include the latest results from the first round of drilling.  The geological model will complement the estimation model and be used for potential mine planning purposes.  A report of the mineral resource and geological model is pending.

Metallurgical test work and review of the plant engineering design  

Metallurgical testwork on PQ core samples from 6 holes at Alliance/New Alliance is currently underway.  The work is testing the material for use with the existing CIL/CIP plant as well as potential for heap leach recovery.  Complete results for this are pending and due in the first quarter of 2015.

Reports have been received by Kappes Cassiday Australia and Como Engineers regarding their review of the heap leach pad and available equipment at Burnakura.  The Company is in the process of following up on these reports and obtaining high level cost estimates for the building and construction of a heap leach facility were this to become economically feasible. 

A plant recommissioning inspection by Orway Mineral Consultants was carried out in November by a process engineer and an electrical engineer to inspect and test the plant for safety purposes and readiness for recommissioning while the plant remains under Care and Maintenance.  No major concerns were apparent and the Company's maintenance programme is keeping the asset in good order.

The Company is in the process of reviewing process flow sheets for the metallurgical circuit of the CIL/CIP plant at site for the potential commencement of mining when economically viable in the future.  High level construction cost proposals are currently being put together by Como Engineers.  This focuses on commencing with the CIL/CIP plant to gain initial cash-flow, and then construction of a heap leach facility that links in to the existing circuit in the future.

Environmental study

Environmental permitting by Independent Consultants, Animal Plant Mineral, has been ongoing.  Recently a large scale blanket drilling programme has been approved for tenements M51/116, 117, 177, 178 and 252 from the Department of Mines and Petroleum.  This will allow 370 holes for each tenement to be drilled, within the 50 x 50 drill grid and enable the company to follow up favourable drilling immediately instead of waiting for approvals.  Only holes deemed relevant would be drilled.

Site maintenance and development

Since the acquisition of the asset, Monument has ensured that the plant and fixed assets are being kept in good care and maintenance order with a view to future commissioning.  Site operations are fully functional for the needs of exploration with supply chain logistics firmly in place.  All safety policies and procedures have been implemented at the Monument site operations, as required by the Department of Mines and Petroleum.

The Company is waiting to receive assay data from the remaining 49 holes at Alliance/New Alliance which was completed on December 19, 2014. 

A review of all data becoming available from the exploration and preliminary study is underway with a view to planning and budgeting for the year.

The scientific and technical information in this press release has been compiled by Lisa Wells (B.Sc App Science, Geology, MAusIMM), and reviewed by Darryl Mapleson (BSc (Hons), FAusIMM) who is a as a Competent Person as defined by JORC guidelines and a Qualified Person for NI43-101 retained by Monument Mining Ltd.. He has been working in Australia for Monument as an independent consultant.

The above stated development outlook is to the effect that a Scoping Study has not been completed and there is no certainty the proposed operation will be economically viable.

About Monument

Monument Mining Ltd. (TSX-V:MMY, FSE:D7Q1) is an established Canadian gold producer that owns and operates the Selinsing Gold Mine in Malaysia. Its experienced management team is committed to growth and is advancing several exploration and development projects including the Mengapur Polymetallic Project, in Pahang State of Malaysia, and the Murchison Gold Projects comprising Burnakura, Gabanintha and  Tuckanarra in the Murchison area of Western Australia. The Company employs over 300 people in both regions and is committed to the highest standards of environmental management, social responsibility, and health and safety for its employees and neighboring communities.

Robert F. Baldock, President and CEO
Monument Mining Ltd.
Suite 1580 -1100 Melville Street
Vancouver, BC V6E 4A6

"Neither 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 release."

Forward-Looking Statement

This news release includes statements containing forward-looking information about Monument, its business and future plans ("forward-looking statements"). Forward-looking statements are statements that involve expectations, plans, objectives or future events that are not historical facts and include the Company's plans with respect to its mineral projects and the timing and results of proposed programs and events referred to in this news release.  Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved". The forward-looking statements in this news release are subject to various risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements.  These risks and certain other factors include, without limitation: risks related to general business, economic, competitive, geopolitical and social uncertainties; uncertainties regarding the results of current exploration activities; uncertainties in the progress and timing of development activities; foreign operations risks; other risks inherent in the mining industry and other risks described in the management discussion and analysis of the Company and the technical reports on the Company's projects, all of which are available under the profile of the Company on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.  Material factors and assumptions used to develop forward-looking statements in this news release include:  expectations regarding the estimated cash cost per ounce of gold production and the estimated cash flows which may be generated from the operations, general economic factors and other factors that may be beyond the control of Monument; assumptions and expectations regarding the results of exploration on the Company's projects; assumptions regarding the future price of gold of other minerals; the timing and amount of estimated future production; the expected timing and results of development and exploration activities; costs of future activities; capital and operating expenditures; success of exploration activities; mining or processing issues; exchange rates; and all of the factors and assumptions described in the management discussion and analysis of the Company and the technical reports on the Company's projects, all of which are available under the profile of the Company on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.  Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements, 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. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

APPENDIX 1 - Figure 1 – Murchison Gold Project

APPENDIX 2 - Table 1: Signficant Drill Intercepts > 0.5g/t

APPENDIX 3 - Figure 2:  Drillhole Location Plan for Assays Greater than 0.5g/t

APPENDIX 4 - Table 2 - Collar Information for First Campaign of RC and Diamond Drilling at Alliance/New Alliance

SOURCE Monument Mining Ltd.