VANCOUVER, April 22, 2014 /CNW/ - Rathdowney Resources Ltd. ("Rathdowney" or the "Company") (TSX-V: RTH) is pleased to provide a report on the progress of its Phase II
activities at the Olza Zinc-Lead-Silver Project in southwest Poland.
Phase II involves engineering, environmental and community segments,
designed to advance project evaluation and permitting as outlined for
projects in Poland.
Rathdowney's consultants and in-country specialists have undertaken a
thorough assessment of the requirements under Polish law for
permitting. The Rathdowney team has engaged with local and regional
authorities to inform them of its plans. The permitting process in
Poland has several aspects which include an assessment of geological
documentation, consideration of local land use plans and collection of
data for completion of studies necessary to prepare an Environmental
Impact Assessment report. This work is carried out in parallel with
deposit development planning.
A comprehensive appraisal of the historical data, including that
compiled by the Polish government surveys and that collected during
Rathdowney's resource confirmation drilling in Phase I has been
completed in order to determine what data will best support development
of the project. A report documenting the compilation of both the
historical and modern data sets has been submitted to the Chief
Geologist for Poland. Approval of Rathdowney's bid for the
documentation has been received from the Polish government, securing
the Project Olza tenure. The approval also marks completion of an
initial step of the permitting process in Poland.
Rathdowney has also planned for comprehensive data collection programs
to support engineering studies and the environmental assessment
process. Baseline investigations (flora, fauna, air, ground and
surface water, soil and rock, climate, land use, protected areas and
monuments) have been designed to characterize existing environmental
and social conditions of the project-area, which will help to establish
pre-project monitoring sites for long term assessment of project
activities, provide critical environmental input to project engineering
and design, and allow for a detailed assessment of the project effects
and mitigation measures.
Key programs have been initiated. One of the largest is the
hydrological study. Specialists from the AGH Krakow University of
Science and Technology ("AGH") in Poland were engaged to conduct the
hydrological assessment of the Olza resource-area. The program
involves desk top studies as well as a survey of hundreds of existing
hand-dug and drilled wells in the area. To facilitate the program,
Rathdowney's site team and AGH have met with each of the local
landowners to arrange access to the existing wells from which data on
flow rates and chemistry will be collected. Data will also be collected
from surface water bodies. Once an initial assessment of the regional
hydrology has been made, AGH will propose locations for additional
groundwater monitoring stations, as required. Concurrently, a regional
hydrogeological model will be developed from over 1000 historical
drill holes. This compilation of historical data and new data for Olza
is expected to create one of the most comprehensive hydrological models
in Poland.
More recently, the Company engaged the Polish NGO Fundacja Przyroda i
Człowiek (Nature and Human Foundation) to carry out flora and fauna
studies. These detailed baseline studies will cover an area of over
100 square kilometres.
Rathdowney began community engagement activities at Project Olza in
2010. The initial work mainly involved engagement with government and
local landowners in the area of some 225 holes completed by the Company
during the initial drilling phase. An expanded community program began
in 2013, encompassing over 30 meetings with surrounding communities and
direct engagement with local landowners. Some 708 households were
contacted in 2013 in order to access sampling sites for the
hydrological program. This ongoing program will also assist with
access for the flora and fauna studies.
President and CEO David Copeland said "Our Phase II activities are
progressing well, building on the positive results of the resource
assessment in Phase I. With the acceptance of our comprehensive report
on geological documentation, we have secured our project tenure for the
evaluation and permitting phase. Our current focus is on data
collection to support engineering studies and an environmental
assessment report, as well as continued stakeholder engagement."
About Project Olza
Project Olza is located in the Upper Silesian Mining District of
southwestern Poland, a world-class region of Mississippi Valley-type
deposits with well-developed mining infrastructure. Easily accessible
by road, the Olza project site is a one-hour drive from Krakow, a major
city with full services, including an international airport. The
deposits at Olza are along strike from the long-life Pomorzany
zinc-lead mine and 30 km from the ZGH zinc smelter at Boleslaw. A
railway line to the smelter runs through the Olza project-area.
Since 2010, Rathdowney has invested some $16.8 million at Olza. The
Company's Phase I confirmatory drilling program built on the extensive
historical drill database assembled by the Polish State Survey to
delimit 21.2 million tonnes of inferred mineral resources, grading
7.42% combined zinc and lead1, with excellent potential for resource expansion. Work by Rathdowney
also indicates significant silver concentrations in the Olza
mineralization. These mineral resources provide the foundation for
engineering, environmental baseline and other technical studies
necessary for project planning and permitting.
About Rathdowney
Rathdowney Resources Ltd. is an exploration and development company
focused on advancing the Olza zinc-lead-silver project in Poland
through permitting and into production. Rathdowney is associated with
Hunter Dickinson Inc. ("HDI") a diversified, global mine development
company with a 25-year history of mineral development success.
For further details on Rathdowney and Project Olza, please visit the
company website:
www.rathdowneyresources.com.
On behalf of the Board of Directors
David J. Copeland
President and CEO
Neither the 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.
This release includes certain statements that may be deemed
"forward-looking statements". All statements in this release, other
than statements of historical facts, that address exploration drilling,
exploitation activities and events or developments that the Company
expects, are forward looking statements. Although the Company believes
the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based
on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future
performance and actual results or developments may differ materially
from those in the forward-looking statements. Assumptions used by the
Company to develop forward-looking statements include the following:
the Olza project will obtain all required environmental and other
permits and all land use and other licenses, studies and development of
the Olza project will continue to be positive, and no geological or
technical problems will occur. Factors that could cause actual results
to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include
market prices, potential environmental issues or liabilities associated
with exploration, development and mining activities, exploitation and
exploration successes, continuity of mineralization, uncertainties
related to the ability to obtain necessary permits, licenses and title
and delays due to third party opposition, changes in government
policies regarding mining and natural resource exploration and
exploitation, continued availability of capital and financing, and
general economic, market or business conditions. Investors are
cautioned that any such statements are not guarantees of future
performance and actual results or developments may differ materially
from those projected in the forward-looking statements. For more
information on the Company, investors should review the Company's
continuous disclosure filings that are available at www.sedar.com.
__________________________________
1 Estimated at a 2.0% zinc cutoff; individual grades are 5.88% zinc and
1.54% lead (see Rathdowney News Release dated September 11, 2012).
Silver was not analysed during historical drilling so was not included
in the estimate.
SOURCE Rathdowney Resources Ltd.
