2005 Estimate of VL gold resourcesIn an ealier post, dated Sept 9 , I reconstructed estimates of VL gold resources , had the cut-off been lower than the 5 gms/ton that was used in the 2005 43-101 estimate.
The reason for doing so was because the 2005 estimate assumed an u/g mine , whereas now VL will be an open pit mine where grades below 1 gm /ton are typicallly economic.
My starting point was the 359,000 oz estimated in 2005 , using a 5 gm/ton cut-off.
Using the same exemplar ( from another mine of similar composition ) as before and assuming that the ratio between 5 gm.s to 4 gms is the same as 4 gms to 3 gms and that between 1 gm and 0.5 gm is the same as that between 2 gms and 1 gm, the revised ( and best estimate ) estimate of the 2005 estimate to include gold in the assays below 5gms/ton cut-off is as follows......
...........359,000 oz at 5gm cutoff with an average grade of 10.8 gms/ton
..........453,000 oz at 4 gm cutoff with an average grade of 8.7 gms/ton
......... 571,000 oz at 3 gm cutoff with an average grade of 7 gms/ton
....... 748,000 oz at 2 gm cutoff with an average grade of 5.3 gms /ton
....... 905,000 oz at 1 gm cutoff with an average grade of 4 gms/ton
.......1,095,000 oz at 0.5 gm cutoff with an average grade of 3.2 gms/ton
Note that in the Mett press release they used a sample of average 4.16 gms/ton which they reported as being typical of the average grade of VL ore. If so, this estimate.........................which is the highest that I know of , for an open pit.....adds significant information that allows one to zero in more confidently on what the 2005 estimate would have been at a much lower cut-off.
From the above reconstruction, 4.16 gms/ton would place the 2005 estimate between 748,000 and 905,000 oz or more precisely 870,000 oz. I am fully confident that this is very close to the truth and that the new 43-101 will almost certainly be above 1 million oz ,with 2 million oz being possible if not probable.
The reason I say this is because the distribution of open pit gold grades are usually skewed to the left ,which, at an average grade of 4.16 gms/ton means that there was a hellava lot of ore, less than the 5 gm cut-off which constrained the 2005 estimate......and the 3m blocking would have constrained that estimate even further.
Question on Glovers Island Owned by NIS.............my understanding is that NIS owes MOA $460,000 which does not seem to be in their treasury.
Any chance that NIS might transfer the rights to MOA in exchange for loan forgiveness ?