Woulfe Mining's Plan to Expedite Production at Sangdong in 2012
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwire) -- 06/27/11 -- Woulfe Mining Corp. ('Woulfe' or the 'Company') (TSX VENTURE: WOF)(OTCQX: WFEMF) is pleased to announce the major milestones of the Company's plan to move the Sangdong tungsten and molybdenum project towards production in 2012. Woulfe's aggressive timeline to commission the mine in 2012 requires many of these initiatives to be worked on in parallel by multiple teams.
Brian Wesson CEO/President of Woulfe added, 'The APT price has increased substantially over the past 6 months so we are working as hard and fast as possible to bring Sangdong back into production. The recent drilling confirms the historical data and the results have mostly been very encouraging. We are pushing ahead with the pre-feasibility and full feasibility studies in parallel and an updated resource estimate will be released shortly. We look forward to updating the market as we achieve these goals.'
Q3 2011
Woulfe is currently conducting a 19 hole geotechnical drill program focused on testing the characteristics of the site. This site investigation will finalise the process plant layout and allow the detailed civil engineering to move forward.
The construction application and land lease documentation will be submitted to the county by the end of June. These applications complete the process to secure the land and permissions required to move to construction. Woulfe expects the submissions to be considered favourably by the county as we have been working closely together to move the project forward as quickly as possible.
The phase one drilling program carried out from January to May 2011 focused on the areas above the valley floor to verify the historical data and to upgrade sufficient resources to support the pre-feasibility study. Phase one was successfully completed and a subsequent drilling program is underway targeting the unmined Hangingwall and Footwall mineralised zones on Level 1 and above and the main mineralised zone above the Sangdong Level. Wardrop Engineering UK, a Tetra Tech company, have personnel on the ground in South Korea and are focused on completing the prefeasibility study and updating the current NI43-101 resource estimate for release in Q3 2011.
The phase two drilling program will be completed by the end of September, 2011. This program will target additional high grade zones in the main zone and the extensive footwall zone above Level 1.
To accelerate project construction, Woulfe in conjunction with its external consultants is moving ahead with detailed design of the operation. The crushing and grinding sections of the process plant are well advanced and all major pieces of equipment specified. The crusher design is for 2.4 million tonnes per annum and the initial milling capacity will be 1.2 million tonnes per annum, but can be readily expanded to 2.4 million tonnes. The design has been progressed to allow tenders to be called for the front end of the plant. This will provide definitive construction costs for feasibility work and demonstrate the comparative cost advantage in South Korea. The design of the upgrade has been included as there is a real prospect that the tungsten markets will remain strong and could justify the increase in production. The price of molybdenum might also return to historical highs. The molybdenum content in the Sangdong mineralised zones ranges from 0.04 to 0.06% MoS2 and an additional zone of molybdenum mineralisation, as outlined by historical drilling, lies below the Sangdong mineralised zones.
Woulfe will be shipping one tonne of drill core to Canada for metallurgical testing and finalising the process flow sheet. The flow sheet will be simple and conventional, with two stage crushing followed by rod mill grinding and flotation, with the tungsten concentrate further processed to produce APT; all well-established proven technologies. Sangdong was a world leader in tungsten production for many years, initially producing synthetic scheelite and later APT on site. By-products included molybdenum and bismuth.
Q4 2011
Woulfe is assessing several options to finance the project. The 2010 scoping study capital cost estimate to build the operation was US$269 million based on a greenfields site. The pre-feasibility estimate is expected to be lower, based on the brownfields site and the comparative construction cost advantages in South Korea. The project is forecast to generate strong cash flows which will make funding reasonably easy to conclude in Q4 2011.
Funding is likely to be in the form of a cash component and debt. The cash component will minimise dilution through strategic partnerships and off-take agreements. Once the pre-feasibility study is completed, the Company will be in a position to complete the financing.
Woulfe will continue to secure major items of equipment, such as the new crushing circuit, and expects to make announcements regarding the mills and other major purchases throughout the year.
The feasibility study to be completed later this year will be the final document prior to construction as the full detailed design will have been completed prior to this document coming out. This document will be based on actual design and tendered construction packages. Earthworks are scheduled to start in December 2011.
2012
Woulfe plans to commission the Sangdong mine in 2012 at an initial production rate of 1.2 million tonnes per annum. As the Company achieves the milestones outlined above, a definitive production date will be determined and communicated to shareholders. Commissioning is currently expected in Q4 2012.
Brian Wesson, CEO/President of Woulfe added, 'I believe the team we have assembled has the ability to achieve these goals as outlined. We continue to drive this project forward aggressively to achieve maximum value for all Woulfe shareholders.'
On Behalf of the Board of Directors
Woulfe Mining Corp.
Brian Wesson (FAusIMM), President, CEO and Director
About Woulfe Mining Corp.
Woulfe Mining Corp. is a TSX-V listed company with a diversified portfolio of mining licenses for tungsten, molybdenum, gold, base metals and uranium-vanadium in South Korea.
The Company's current projects include the Sangdong tungsten-molybdenum mine, historically, one of the largest producing tungsten mines in the world; the Muguk gold-silver mine, formerly South Korea's largest gold mine, as well as a number of other properties with significant known mineralization and excellent regional exploration potential.
Woulfe has high expectations for near-term, low-cost production. The company has assembled a highly skilled, in-country, bilingual technical team and a board of directors with an outstanding track record of success.
Forward-looking statements and forward-looking information by their nature are based on assumptions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements or information. We have made certain assumptions about the forward-looking statements and information and even though our management believes that the assumptions made and the expectations represented by such statements or information are reasonable, there can be no assurance that the forward-looking statement or information will prove to be accurate. Furthermore, should one or more of the risks, uncertainties or other factors materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in forward-looking statements or information. These risks, uncertainties and other factors include, among others, the following: commodity price volatility; discrepancies between actual and estimated production, mineral reserves and resources and metallurgical recoveries; mining operational and development risk; litigation risks; regulatory restrictions, including environmental regulatory restrictions and liability; risks of sovereign investment; currency fluctuations; speculative nature of mineral exploration; global economic climate; dilution; share price volatility; competition; loss of key employees; additional funding requirements.
There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements or information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, you should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements or information contained herein. Except as required by law, we do not expect to update forward-looking statements and information continually as conditions change and you are referred to the full discussion of the Company's business contained in the Company's reports filed with the appropriate regulatory authorities.
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.
Contacts:
Renmark Financial Communications
Barbara Komorowski
Office phone 1 (514) 939-3989
bkomorowski@renmarkfinancial.com
Nicola Street Capital
Nick Smith
Mobile phone 1 (415) 595-0865
nsmith@nicolastreetcapital.com
Woulfe Mining Corp.
Administration Office
1 604 684 6264
1 604 684 6242 (FAX)
info@woulfe.com.au
www.woulfemining.com