Northquest Ltd. Announces Initial Mineral Resource Estimate at Pistol Bay Project
08.04.2016 | Marketwire
TORONTO, April 8, 2016 - Northquest Ltd. (TSX VENTURE:NQ) (FRANKFURT:N3Q) ("Northquest" or "the Company") is pleased to report its initial mineral resource estimate for the Vickers Gold Zone of the Pistol Bay project in eastern Nunavut, Canada. The mineral resource estimate was prepared by Roscoe Postle Associates Inc. ("RPA"). The technical report supporting this mineral resource estimate (the "Technical Report") will be filed on SEDAR within 45 days. In addition to the initial mineral resource estimate of the Vickers Gold Zone, the Technical Report will also describe in detail the nature and distribution of 16 other gold occurrences on the Pistol Bay property for which there has been a minor amount of drilling by the Company.The mineral resource estimate is confined to analysis of exploration work conducted on the Vickers Zone at the Pistol Bay project and it is based on 69 drill holes totalling 17,240 m at the Vickers Zone. The mineral resources are provided by domain in the following table. There are no resources included in the mineral resource estimate relating to Domains 107 and 108, which are located outside of the Whittle resource shell.
| VICKERS ZONE MINERAL RESOURCE ESTIMATE - MARCH 31, 2016 | ||||
| Domain | Category | Tonnes (000) | Gold Grade (g/t) | Contained Ounces (000) |
| 101 | Inferred | 5,616 | 3.09 | 558 |
| 102 | Inferred | 1,026 | 2.46 | 81 |
| 103 | Inferred | 111 | 2.54 | 9 |
| 104 | Inferred | 240 | 2.91 | 22 |
| 105 | Inferred | 196 | 3.01 | 19 |
| 106 | Inferred | 168 | 2.53 | 14 |
| 109 | Inferred | 435 | 2.51 | 35 |
| Total | Inferred | 7,792 | 2.95 | 739 |
| Notes: | |
| 1. | CIM definitions were followed for classification of mineral resources. |
| 2. | Mineral resources are estimated at a cut-off grade of 1.25 g/t Au. |
| 3. | Mineral resources are estimated using a gold price of US$1,500 per ounce. |
| 4. | Assays were capped at 40 g/t Au. |
| 5. | Bulk density varies from 2.70 g/cm3 to 2.79 g/cm3 based on lithology. |
| 6. | The resources are constrained by a Whittle pit shell. |
| 7. | Numbers may not add due to rounding. |
| 8. | The quantity and grade of reported inferred mineral resources in this estimation are uncertain in nature and there is insufficient exploration to define these inferred mineral 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. |
| 9. | The effective date of the mineral resource estimate is March 31, 2016. |
RPA is not aware of any known environmental, permitting, legal, title, taxation, socioeconomic, marketing, or other relevant factors that could materially affect the resource estimate.
Mineral Resource Assumptions
RPA prepared the initial mineral resource estimate for the Vickers Zone using block models constrained with 3D wireframes on the principal mineralized domains. Values for gold were interpolated into blocks using inverse distance squared (ID2). The Vickers Zone block model has 5 m by 5 m by 5 m whole blocks with the model origin at 507,400E, 6,910,000, and 50 m elevation. It has 240 columns, 200 rows, and 70 levels for a total of 3.36 million blocks.
RPA has estimated the Vickers Zone mineral resources using a cut-off grade of 1.25 g/t Au. Only those blocks contained within the preliminary pit shell are reported as a mineral resource. For reporting of open pit mineral resources, an open pit shell was produced using Whittle open pit optimization software. Only classified blocks greater than or equal to the open pit cut-off grade and within the open pit shell were reported. The operating parameters for the optimization and cut-off grade estimate are summarized in the following table.
| Item | Value |
| Au | US$1,500/oz Au |
| Exchange Rate (C$/US$) | 1.30 |
| Reference Mining Cost | $3.50/t mined |
| Processing and G&A costs | $75.00/t mineralized material |
| Average Recovery | 95% |
| Maximum Pit Slope | 50° |
| Estimated Cut-off Grade | 1.25 g/t Au |
Sampling and Data Verification
Northquest diamond drilling data from 2012 to 2015 was used for the resource estimate. The BTW diameter (42 mm) core was cut in half with a rock saw and sent to accredited laboratories for screen metallics gold fire assays. Northquest's quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC) procedures included the insertion of standards and blanks and sending samples to a secondary laboratory for check assaying. The QA/QC results confirm that the assays from 2012 to 2015 are acceptable to support the resource estimate. RPA used the assay certificates to verify 74% of the resource related samples in the drill hole database and found no errors.
Qualified Person
The technical information contained in this press release has been reviewed and approved by Luke Evans, M.Sc., P.Eng., of RPA, a "Qualified Person" within the meaning of National Instrument 43-101 who is independent of Northquest.
About Northquest
Northquest is a mineral exploration company focused on the acquisition, exploration and development of properties for the mining of gold and other minerals. For further information please visit www.northquest.biz.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information
Certain information set forth in this news release may contain forward-looking statements that involve substantial known and unknown risks and uncertainties. These statements relate to future events or future performance and reflect the Company's expectations regarding the future growth, results of operations, business prospects and opportunities and include but are not limited to information relating to information relating to the estimation of mineral resources. In some cases forward-looking information can be identified by terminology such as "may", "will", "should", "expect", "intend", "plan", "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "projects", "potential", "scheduled", "forecast", "budget" or the negative of those terms or other comparable terminology. These forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, certain of which are beyond the control of the Company, including, but not limited to impact of general economic conditions, industry conditions, volatility of commodity prices, risks associated with the uncertainty of exploration results and estimates, metallurgical test results and that the resource potential will be achieved on exploration projects, currency fluctuations, dependence upon regulatory approvals, political and country risk, and the uncertainty of obtaining additional financing and exploration risk. Readers are cautioned that the assumptions used in the preparation of such information, although considered reasonable at the time of preparation, may prove to be imprecise and, as such, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements. The Company expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, events or otherwise, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.
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Contact
Northquest Ltd.
Jon North, Ph.D., P.Geo., President and Chief Executive Officer
(416) 306-0202, Mobile (416) 786-6348