Woulfe Mining Announces Revised Capital Cost for Sangdong
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwire) -- 07/27/11 -- Woulfe Mining Corp. ('Woulfe' or the 'Company') (TSX VENTURE: WOF)(OTCQX: WFEMF) is pleased to provide an updated capital cost estimate for the development of the Sangdong tungsten-molybdenum project in South Korea. The new capital cost estimate is US$135 million for construction of a 1.2 million tonne per annum ('Mta') operation. Woulfe is fast tracking the Sangdong project as previously announced. In order to understand the costs associated with building the project for valuation and funding purposes, Woulfe requested the design engineers PT Contromation Energy Services (Engineering division) of Jakarta, Indonesia ('Contromation') to put together a price estimate to a level of accuracy of plus or minus 20%.
Brian Wesson, CEO/President of Woulfe, commented, 'Woulfe is moving forward rapidly as the tungsten market is very strong and molybdenum is expected to strengthen over coming months. The cost estimate allows the company to fully appreciate the value scenario and economics of the project. The costs will be benchmarked in Korea later this month as Woulfe has gone out for pricing to reputable engineering construction companies in Korea for the crushing and grinding.'
The new estimate of US$135 million considers the construction of a 1.2 Mta process plant and a bulk underground drift and fill mining operation focused on the top 25% of the deposit which is mostly above the valley floor on the eastern side of the mine. The updated resource statement released on July 18th focused on this area and suggests that there are sufficient Indicated resources to support a 5 year mining operation at the 1.2 Mta production rate. There is good potential to expand the Indicated resource base in the near future with the current drilling programme. Costs are different to the Scoping as it's a whole new plan with ventilation via the existing incline shaft and most of the mining is above the valley floor with minimal dewatering of the old mine as it is self-draining below 1 level.
Some 78% of the capital cost is associated with the construction of the process plant consisting of crushing, grinding, concentration and refining into Ammonia Paratungstate ('APT'). Contromation is a multi-disciplined engineering and construction group with extensive experience in providing outsourcing services to projects particularly in Asia.
The Sangdong Project has changed dramatically from the Scoping study last year which considered a 2.4 Mta process plant and mine on a greenfields basis. The capital assumed that a ring road would be developed to mine the footwall zone at depth. Cost estimates were benchmarked against North American costs for the deep underground mine at twice the production rate and 15% less grade. The Scoping study required two ventilation shafts and a substantial amount of development and did not take into account any existing infrastructure. The Scoping study was carried out prior to Woulfe reopening the underground mine and developing a detailed model of the mine for licensing. The scoping study capital cost estimate was US$289 million for the 2.4 Mta operation.
Contromation were contracted by Woulfe to carry out the definitive design of the process plant. The primary crushing equipment was purchased last year and the design of the crushing and grinding areas has been completed to a high level of accuracy that would be expected after feasibility. This was necessary to move the project ahead and ensure that the capital costs to be used in the Wardrop, A Tetra Tech Company, ('Wardrop') Prefeasibility due out September are based on quotations in Asia.
The capital cost estimate will be further refined as part of the Prefeasibility (September 2011) and Feasibility Study to be undertaken by Wardrop. Economic viability of the project will remain uncertain until completion of at least the Prefeasibility Study.
This news release has been reviewed and approved in the form and context in which it appears by Brian Wesson. Mr. Wesson is an Engineer with 30 years' experience, an MBA and is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Mr. Wesson has appropriate qualifications and sufficient relevant experience to qualify as a Qualified Person for the reporting of the information in this release.
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 is focused on the development of the Sangdong tungsten mine (one of the world's largest and most renowned tungsten mine's for 40 years) a property that we believe has substantial value for our shareholders. The outcome of the scoping study in March 2010 determined that the project NPV was US$467 million at a commodity price of $25,000 per tonne Ammonium Paratungstate (APT). Today, the APT price is over US$45,000 per tonne. Woulfe has accelerated the project due to the robust project and market. The company's target is to move to production at the end of 2012. In the last 18 months the company has focused on building the Sangdong tungsten mine team and reopening the mine. The project is well staffed with professionals and is moving forward rapidly.
Woulfe Corporate has now turned its focus to the Muguk gold project, historically Korea's largest producing gold mine. In 1998, Muguk was reported by Korea Resources Corporation (KORES) to contain a combined resource of 1,418,980 tonnes @ 13.5 g/t gold, 72.8 g/t silver (615,956 oz gold and 3,321,599 oz silver). Woulfe cautions that a Qualified Person has not done sufficient work to classify the historical estimate as current, that it is not treating the historical estimate as current and that the historical estimate should not be relied upon. A drill campaign is starting drilling the down dip extensions of the Three Brothers Vein in June 2011. Wolfe's other projects will be considered once these two projects are moving to production, in order to unlock value for shareholders and to move the company to a positive cash flow as quickly as possible.
Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability.
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
1 (514) 939-3989
bkomorowski@renmarkfinancial.com
Nicola Street Capital
Nick Smith
Mobile: 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