| December 7, 2011 |
| Northern Abitibi Announces New Resource Estimate for Viking With 55% Increase in Gold Grade and 80% of Original Ounces Upgraded From Inferred to Indicated Category |
CALGARY, ALBERTA--(Marketwire - Dec. 7, 2011) - Northern Abitibi Mining Corp. (TSX VENTURE:NAI) ("Northern Abitibi") is pleased to announce that a second resource estimate has been completed for the Thor Trend Deposit on the company's 100% owned Viking gold property in Newfoundland. The new independent mineral resource estimate study was conducted by Giroux Consultants Ltd. This estimate follows up an initial mineral resource estimate completed by Mercator Geological Services Limited on March 2, 2011. The new resource is based on 109 holes drilled into the Thor Trend and includes 20 holes drilled after the initial resource estimate. The new estimate was completed in accordance with Canadian Securities Administrators National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101") and the CIM Standards on Mineral Resources and Reserves, and has an effective date of November 1, 2011.
Results of the new resource estimate are summarized in the table below.
At a cut-off grade of 0.20 g/t gold, the Thor Trend deposit contains an indicated resource of 98,000 ounces gold (3,232,000 tonnes at an average grade of 0.95 g/t) plus an inferred resource of 45,000 ounces gold (2,123,000 tonnes at an average grade of 0.66 g/t). These new results represent a 55% increase in grade over the previous estimate and a 16% increase in contained ounces. Approximately 80% of the contained gold ounces have been upgraded from the inferred to the indicated category.
THOR TREND - MINERAL RESOURCES
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tonnes greater than Grade greater than
Au Cut-off Cut-off Cut-off Contained
(g/t) (tonnes) Au (g/t) Ounces Au(i)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Indicated
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
0.10 3,593,000 0.87 100,000
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
0.20 3,232,000 0.95 98,000
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
0.50 1,817,000 1.42 83,000
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.00 937,000 2.09 63,000
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.00 357,000 3.19 36,600
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.00 147,000 4.33 20,500
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Inferred
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
0.10 2,459,000 0.59 47,000
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
0.20 2,123,000 0.66 45,000
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
0.50 847,000 1.15 31,000
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.00 350,000 1.79 20,000
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.00 94,000 2.90 8,800
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.00 29,000 4.10 3,800
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
(i)Mineralized domains are spatially constrained and capped.
Mineral resources are not mineral reserves and by definition do not demonstrate economic viability. There is no certainty that all or any part of the mineral resource will be converted into mineral reserves. An 'Indicated Mineral Resource' is that part of a Mineral Resource for which quantity, grade or quality, densities, shape and physical characteristics can be estimated with a level of confidence sufficient to allow the appropriate application of technical and economic parameters, to support mine planning and evaluation of the economic viability of the deposit. An 'Inferred Mineral Resource' is that part of a Mineral Resource for which quantity and grade or quality can be estimated on the basis of geological evidence and limited sampling and reasonably assumed, but not verified.
Highlights
-- 55% increase in the average grade
-- 16% increase in contained ounces
-- The bulk of the resources have been upgraded from inferred to indicated
category
-- Room for expansion and excellent exploration potential on the property
-- Discovery cost of roughly $28/ounce (Indicated + inferred categories)
Dr. Shane Ebert, President of the Company commented, "The significant increase in grade seen after further drilling and the upgrade from inferred to indicated resource categories is a significantly step forward for the Viking project. There remains excellent potential to increase both the grade and the contained ounces in the Thor Trend deposit through detailed drill delineation or underground exploration of the known high grade shoots that occur throughout the zone. The resource, although modest in size, has potentially favorable open pit geometry, excellent metallurgy, and is situated in a mining friendly jurisdiction adjacent to roads and power. The company is looking at a number of options to maximize the value of the Viking asset and continue to move the project forward."
Resource Details
The resource estimation was carried out by Giroux Consultants Ltd of Vancouver, British Columbia and Independent Qualified Person Gary Giroux, P.Eng is responsible for the estimate. The resource estimate is based on a database containing 109 holes drilled into the Thor Trend totaling 15,574 m of Diamond drilling, and 74 lines of surface channel samples cut from trenches using a Diamond saw.
Mineralization was constrained within 3D geologic solids built using Gemcom software. Some isolated high gold assays sit outside the mineralized solids and have not been included in the resource estimate. The distributions of gold within and outside the mineralized solids were examined using lognormal cumulative distribution plots and 6 overlapping gold populations were identified. Gold assays within the mineralized solid were capped at 66 g/t gold while those outside the solid were capped at 4.0 g/t gold. There is insufficient drill data at present to accurately model the high grade zones along the Thor Trend so an indicator approach was used to model the high grade.
Drill hole assay samples were composited into 2.5 metre intervals and a block model with 5m x 5m x 5m block size was created. Grades for gold were interpolated into all blocks, by a combination of Ordinary and Indicator Kriging. North-south cross sections showing the kriged block Au grades and drill hole composites were produced to validate the block model and in general the block grades match the composite grades well and there is no indication of bias present.
A Technical Report describing the resource estimate is expected to be filed on SEDAR within 45 days.
The Viking Property
The Viking Property contains numerous high grade veins within larger bulk tonnage style zones of gold mineralization located within a 3 to 4 kilometre long gold-in-soil anomaly. Drilling highlights include high grade intercepts of 5.75 metres grading 33.7 g/t gold, 3.7 metres grading 50.1 g/t gold, 0.5 metres grading 218.8 g/t gold as well as lower grade intercepts including 27 metres grading 7.9 g/t gold, 23.0 metres grading 5.1 g/t gold, and 57.4 metres grading 2.8 g/t gold. The Viking property is located in the mining friendly jurisdiction of Newfoundland and Labrador and has excellent access and local infrastructure, with a paved highway and power line located less than one kilometre from the project. Northern Abitibi has a 100% property interest in the Viking project subject to a 2% to 4% sliding scale net smelter royalty held by Altius Resources. A detailed description of the Viking project is available on our website (www.naminco.ca).
Quality Control
All drill core is logged, photographed, and cut in half with a Diamond saw. Half of the core is bagged and sent to Eastern Analytical or Accurassay Laboratories for analyses while the other half is archived and stored on site for verification and reference purposes. Gold is assayed by standard fire assay methods with additional elements analyzed by Induced Coupled Plasma (ICP). Samples with greater than 5 g/t gold and samples containing visible gold are re-assayed using a metallic sieve procedure to reduce the nugget effect created by free gold particles in the samples.
Duplicate samples, blanks, and certified standards are included with every sample batch and then checked to ensure proper quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC). Select samples are also sent to an outside laboratory for independent analyses as part of a check assay procedure.
Dr. Shane Ebert, P. Geo. is the Qualified Person responsible for the preparation of this news release. Gary Giroux, P.Eng of Giroux Consultants Ltd has reviewed the portion of this news release pertaining to the resource estimate.
Shane Ebert, President/Director
Except for the historical and present factual information contained herein, the matters set forth in this news release, including words such as "expects", "projects", "plans", "anticipates" and similar expressions, are forward-looking information that represents management of Northern Abitibi's internal projections, expectations or beliefs concerning, among other things, future operating results and various components thereof or the economic performance of Northern Abitibi. The projections, estimates and beliefs contained in such forward-looking statements necessarily involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which may cause Northern Abitibi's actual performance and financial results in future periods to differ materially from any projections of future performance or results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, among other things, those described in Northern Abitibi's filings with the Canadian securities authorities. Accordingly, holders of Northern Abitibi shares and potential investors are cautioned that events or circumstances could cause results to differ materially from those predicted. Northern Abitibi disclaims any responsibility to update these forward-looking statements.
The TSX Venture Exchange has neither approved nor disapproved of the contents of this press release. | |