Deacon Ore Reserve Economic Input Summary; Lanfranchi Nickel Mine, Kambalda District of Western Australia
Vancouver
, B.C. - Brilliant Mining Corp. (BMC: TSXV) ("Brilliant" or the "Company") today announced additional economic information regarding the initial Probable Ore Reserve of 1,695,433t at 2.54% Ni for 43,009 tonnes (94.8 million lbs) Ni metal contained within the Deacon orebody at the Lanfranchi Nickel Mine. (See BMC news release August 7, 2007) Brilliant Mining has a 25% interest in the operating Lanfranchi Nickel Mine, which is located in the world class Kambalda Nickel District of Western Australia.
Key Point Summary
Initial Deacon Probable Reserve estimated at 1,695,433 at 2.54% Ni for 43,009 tonnes of Ni metal
Deacon will have a positive economic impact on mining operations and projected revenues
Mining of the Deacon orebody will be incorporated into current underground mining operations, allowing substantial production rate increases
Table 1: Deacon - August 2007 Ore Reserve*
Class
|
Tonnes
|
Ni %
|
Ni Tonnes
|
Ni lbs
|
Cu %
|
Cu Tonnes
|
Cu lbs
|
Probable
|
1,695,433
|
2.54
|
43,009
|
94,819,000
|
0.22
|
3,798
|
8,373,000
|
* Underlying economic assumptions and mine design parameters detailed below
The Deacon Probable Reserve represents the conversion of 1,407,092 tonnes of Indicated Resource at a grade of 3.20% Ni containing 45,051 tonnes Ni. On a nickel tonne basis, a resource to reserve conversion rate of 95% was achieved. The component of the Deacon Resource (Table 2) not included in the conversion is an Indicated Resource of 202,109 tonnes at 2.33% Ni for 4,713 tonnes of Ni metal and an Inferred Resource of 300,363 tonnes at 2.77% Ni for 8,332 tonnes of Ni metal. The Deacon mineralization remains open both up and down plunge.
The Deacon was discovered in October 2006, adjacent to current underground mining operations within the Lanfranchi Nickel Mine, and has rapidly advanced to become a major component of future mining production and forecasted revenues. The planned development at Deacon is a continuation of current mine operations and not a new or separate mining operation.
The mining method selected is a series of longhole open stopes which will mine approximately 65% of the reserve with underhand cut and fill mining the remainder. All stoping voids will be completely filled with paste as part of the mining process. The move to longhole open stoping should reduce mining costs and allow for targeted production rates at Deacon of 30-40,000 tonnes per month. This represents a substantial increase over current production rates, from the entire Lanfranchi Nickel Mine operations, of 15-24,000 tonnes per month.
Capital Expenditures
Planned capital expenditures associated with bringing the Deacon orebody onstream, in addition to and above normal mine operational costs, are restricted to two main items:
1. Acquisition of new mining equipment (two 60 tonne trucks, one twin boom jumbo drill, and one loader)
2. Development of a raise bore for ventilation to allow for increased production rates and potential future down plunge mining of Deacon.
Key Economic Assumptions
The following are key assumptions and inputs utilized in the calculation of the Deacon Reserve and mine design:
Average grades expected from Deacon are 2.54%.
Nickel price used is $US30,000 per tonne.
AUD:USD exchange rate is assumed to be 0.80
The mining cut off grade is assumed to be 0.8% Ni
The reserve numbers have allowed for planned dilution (mining shapes which include design waste assigned at a 0% Ni grade), 4% unplanned dilution and 1% ore loss
Recovery rates vary between 88% and 92%, with 88% used in the models
Payability is 65% of recovered nickel
There is not expected to be any metallurgical issues leading to penalties
The planned development is a continuation of current mine operations and not a new operation.
The current year-to-date operating costs for the Lanfranchi Nickel Mine is A$200 per tonne mined
Mine Design Parameters
The Deacon Probable Reserve calculation was performed by Jon Bayley - Project Engineer for Sally Malay Mining Ltd. the Operator for the Lanfranchi JV and derived from the resource model prepared by BM Geological Services. The Deacon Reserve and Resource has been reconciled to the mineral resource and mineral reserve categories as set out by and adopted by the CIM Council. The Deacon resource used for the calculation of the reserve is all material between 513,664mN and 513,929m N. The mining method selected is a series of longhole open stopes which will mine approximately 65% of the reserve with underhand cut and fill mining the remainder. All stoping voids will be completely filled with paste as part of the mining process.
All shapes created for the reserve were broken into 2.5m sections along the line of advance. Each section was then analysed for diluted grade and the cutoff applied was 0.8%. The measured and indicated resource was broken into 5 x 55m blocks (north-south) separated by 10m wide pillars. Each block was then divided into 3 x 7m primary stopes separated by 2 x 12m secondary stopes. All stopes have vertical walls, have top and bottom drives, and are 25m tall from the floor of the lower drive to the backs of the upper drive. Each drive was then positioned vertically to capture the highest amount of nickel tonnes. Once positioned, each stope then had the lower drive raised and the upper drive lowered to see if the material removed was economic. Each stope was then further manually optimised to add further ore or remove waste on a 2.5m section basis.
All ore remaining after the above three stages was then sliced into 5m vertical sections corresponding with the drives in Helmut South. All sections were then divided into a series of 5 x 5m drives to mine the remaining ore where the diluted grade was above 0.8%. This included areas where smaller amounts of ore which were mined with paste if the resultant grade was still above 0.8%.
BM Geological Services Pty. Ltd. of Kalgoorlie, Western Australia has been contracted to prepare a NI 43-101 compliant technical report encompassing the mineral resource estimates for the Lanfranchi Nickel Mine. Brilliant management expects the NI 43-101 compliant technical report within 45 days. This report will address verification of data and any limitations thereof, as well as include the key assumptions, parameters and methods used to estimate the mineral resources and mineral reserves. It will also include a general discussion of the extent to which the estimate of mineral resources or mineral reserves may be materially affected by any known environmental, permitting, legal, title, taxation, socio-political, marketing, or other relevant issues.
The project is supervised by John Williamson, P.Geol., of Edmonton, Alberta. Mr. Williamson is CEO and a Director of Brilliant, and is the qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101.
About Brilliant Mining Corp.
Brilliant Mining Corp. is focused on the production, development and exploration of nickel opportunities world wide. The Company currently has a 25% interest in the producing Lanfranchi Nickel Mine in Western Australia and has 3 active nickel projects in Canada, including the Michikamau property in central Labrador.
On behalf of the Board of Directors
"Mike Sieb" Mike Sieb, B.Sc., MBA President Brilliant Mining Corp.
For further information about Brilliant Mining Corp., or this news release, please visit our website at www.brilliantmining.com, or contact:
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Certain disclosures in this release, including management's assessment of Brilliant's plans and projects, constitute forward-looking statements that are subject to numerous risks, uncertainties and other factors relating to Brilliant's operation as a mineral exploration company that may cause future results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Brilliant expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
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