Sona Resources Corp. Clarifies Technical Disclosure
Sona confirms that the Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA") on the Project, undertaken by Micon International Ltd. ("Micon") and announced on May 18, 2010, is still current and stands as the Company's NI 43-101 Technical Report of record.
Disclosure of Mineral Resources and Preliminary Economic Assessment
In its news releases and on the Blackdome property page on its website, the Company referred to the positive results of the PEA, without prominently including the cautionary language required by NI 43-101: "The Company clarifies that its PEA is preliminary in nature; it includes inferred mineral resources considered too speculative geologically to have the economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves; and that there is no certainty that the preliminary assessment will be realized."
Subsequent to the May 18, 2010, disclosure of the PEA, a section in the news releases titled "About Sona Resources Corp." referenced the initial news release of the PEA as May 28, 2010. This was a typographical error, and should have referred to the Company's May 18, 2010 news release which provided initial disclosure of the PEA with all cautionary statements required by NI 43-101.
The Blackdome and Elizabeth property pages on Sona's website - along with the section titled "About Sona Resources Corp." in most news releases from June 22, 2010, to March 13, 2013 - made reference to inferred resources, which are detailed in the PEA. All such references did not prominently include the following cautionary language: "Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability."
Investors are cautioned that any disclosure of the Company's PEA and mineral resources should have included these cautionary statements and should be interpreted with such language in mind.
The Company's website and corporate presentation have been corrected to remediate these non-compliant deficiencies.
Non-compliant Disclosure of an Exploration Target
In its corporate presentation, the Company made statements about the exploration potential at the Project. Statements of potential quantity and grade were expressed as ranges, as required by NI 43-101, but the presentation slide did not contain language for the basis on which these quantities were determined. The Company's news release of April 18, 2011 contained the language for the basis on which quantities were determined.
Potential investors are cautioned that any disclosure of the Company's exploration potential should have included the basis on which quantity and grade ranges were determined.
During its years of production (1986 to 1990) Blackdome, used a mining cut-off grade of 10g Au/t while lower grades were left in the stopes. Exploration potential exists in several near-parallel quartz veins that contain mineralization but with insufficient drilling to be classified as a resource. A target with particularly good potential is the extension of the Giant Vein on the property. In addition, the last drill program in 2011 intersected 13.5g Au/t over 1.5 metres in a new vein located about 300 metres to the south of the No.1 and No.2 Vein underground workings. The additional work planned to evaluate these veins targets a potential mineral deposit of between 250,000 and 400,000 tonnes, grading between 9.0 and 12.0g Au/t and potentially containing 70,000 to 150,000 ounces of gold.
At Elizabeth, there are six known roughly parallel mineralized veins that are mostly covered with talus. In places, the veins are difficult to drill from surface, outcrop is scarce, and their absolute location may be in doubt.
The Inferred mineral resource estimate was delineated on the ends of two of the six known veins and drilling has not closed off the mineralization on the Southwest Vein. Mineralization at these zones has never been drilled below approximately 200 metres from surface. In the Company's opinion, good potential remains on the Southwest Vein, both along strike and at depth as well as within other nearby parallel veins.
The Company is of the opinion that additional potential mineral deposits exist at Elizabeth. Future exploration programs will target potential mineral deposits of one to two million tonnes grading between 9.0g Au/t to 12.0g Au/t, and potentially containing 260,000 to 770,000 ounces of gold.
Investors are cautioned that the potential quantity and grade of the material over and above the known mineral resources for both the Blackdome and Elizabeth properties are considered to be conceptual in nature; there has been insufficient exploration to define a mineral resource; and it is uncertain whether further exploration will result in the target being delineated as a mineral resource.
Possible Non-compliance of Timely Disclosure
In the news release of October 26, 2012, as part of a status report on the Project, the Company noted that the PEA had been updated internally to better reflect capital costs due to market conditions at the time. This in-house update of the PEA was not in any way compliant with NI 43-101 standards, and the Company simply used it to provide a framework for management and directors to make more informed decisions going forward. These references to an in-house update of the PEA were made in error, they should not have been released, and the Company retracts their mention.
To date, neither the mineral resources nor the PEA have been fully updated, neither in house nor by an independent engineering firm. As previously noted, the 2010 Micon PEA remains current and stands as the Company's 43-101 Technical Report of record.
The content of this news release has been reviewed by John P. Thompson, a Qualified Person for the purposes of NI 43-101, with the ability and authority to verify the authenticity and validity of the data.
This news release contains certain forward-looking statements, and such statements involve risks and uncertainties. The results or events predicted may differ materially from actual results or events. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date of this news release. Except as may be required by applicable securities laws, the Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or results, or any other occurrence.
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 release.
For more information, visit www.sonaresources.com.
Contact
Sona Resources Corp.
103-145 15th St. W.
North Vancouver, BC, Canada V7M 1R9
+1 (604) 684-6677
+1 (604) 684-6678
info@sonaresources.com