- Published: 19 November 2009
- Written by Editor
Champion Minerals Outlines 503.3 Million Tonne Inferred Resource Grading 28.0% Iron on Bellechasse and Fire Lake North Claim Blocks of the Fermont Iron Property, Quebec
CHAMPION MINERALS INC. ("Champion" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE:CHM)(FRANKFURT:P02) is pleased to announce an initial Mineral Resource Estimate ("MRE") on the Company's Fermont Iron Property (the "Property") in the Fermont Mining District of north-eastern Quebec. P&E Mining Consultants Inc. ("P&E") has provided the Company with an initial MRE from the Bellechasse and Fire Lake North Claim Blocks ("Bellechasse" and "Fire Lake North"). The MRE will form part of a National Instrument ("NI") 43-101 Technical Report to be available within 45 days under the Company's filings on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.
The current MRE was estimated by Fred Brown, CPG, Pr. Sci. Nat., and Eugene Puritch, P. Eng., both of P&E and independent Qualified Persons under NI 43-101 guidelines. At a 15% Iron cut-off grade, there are a combined 503.3 million tonnes grading 28.0% Iron in the Inferred Mineral Resources category from both Bellechasse and Fire Lake North divided as follows:
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Inferred Mineral Resources(1)
@ 15% Iron ------------------------------------------
cut-off grade Tonnes (millions) Grade (% Iron)
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Bellechasse Claim Block
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215.1 28.7
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Fire Lake North Claim Block
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288.2 27.5
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Total 503.3 28.0
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(1) The quantity and grade of the reported Mineral Resources within the Bellechasse and Fire Lake North claim blocks are categorized as Inferred Mineral Resources. Inferred Mineral Resources are 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, geological and grade continuity. The estimate is based on limited information and sampling gathered through appropriate techniques from drill holes and outcrops. There has been insufficient exploration to define any of the resources as Indicated or Measured Mineral Resources and there is no guarantee that further exploration will upgrade the Inferred Mineral Resources to Indicated or Measured Mineral Resources. Mineral Resources which are not Mineral Reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. The estimate of Inferred Mineral Resources may be materially affected by environmental, permitting, legal, title, taxation, socio-political, marketing, or other relevant issues.
Geological and Resource Modeling Parameters
-- The resource estimates were done using Inverse Distance Squared ("ID2")
interpolation on four-meter composites within modeled mineralization
domains defined by assay values.
-- Resources were evaluated from historic and current drill hole assay
results. The mineralized areas were interpreted from transverse sections
defined by drill hole traces combined with geophysical data.
-- The 15% Iron cut-off grade was derived from the following: US$1.00 per
iron unit, based on the ArcelorMittal Mines Canada October 2009 European
deliveries of concentrate (FOB Port-Cartier, Quebec) price set at
US$1.0242 per iron unit (www.arcelormittal.com); processing of
US$1.67/tonne of ore; concentrate transport of US$4.75/tonne of ore; G&A
of US$0.75/tonne of ore; and a process recovery of 85%.
-- A bulk density of 3.30 tonnes per cubic metre was used to calculate
tonnages from the volumetric estimates of the resource grade block
model. The bulk density was verified by P&E site visit samples which
were analyzed at SGS Lakefield.
-- Any discrepancies in the estimate numbers are due to rounding effects;
rounding followed the recommendations in NI 43-101.
-- The Mineral Resources for the Bellechasse and Fire Lake North were
estimated using the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and
Petroleum (CIM), CIM Standards on Mineral Resources and Reserves,
Definitions and Guidelines prepared by the CIM Standing Committee on
Reserve Definitions and adopted by CIM Council December 11, 2005.
The following table outlines sensitivities to the Resource Estimate from the previous table and presents conceptual optimized pit-shell results, undiluted and in-situ, utilizing a mining cost of US$1.76/tonne of ore and waste, and pit slopes of 45 degrees.
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Conceptual Optimized-Pit Results
@ 15% Iron ------------------------------------------
cut-off grade Tonnes (millions) Grade (% Iron)
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Bellechasse Claim Block
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177.2 29.2
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Fire Lake North Claim Block
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274.4 27.7
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Total 451.6 28.3
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A comparison of results demonstrates the amenability of the Inferred Mineral Resources to potential open pit mining with 90% of Inferred Mineral Resource reporting within a conceptual open-pit shell.
In addition to the Inferred Mineral Resources identified at Fire Lake North, it is estimated that between 140 million to 175 million tonnes of additional "mineralized material" is present for which no sampling data is available to estimate grade. Furthermore, magnetic signatures and 3 diamond drill holes in the NE portion of Fire Lake North indicate a complexly re-folded unit of Iron formation is present that has yet to be modeled for additional "potential resources" due to insufficient drilling. Mineralized material and potential resources are not recognized Mineral Resources categories and there is no guarantee that future exploration will convert any of this material and/or potential to compliant NI 43-101 Mineral Resources.
Iron mineralization at Bellechasse is magnetite-rich, while at Fire Lake North the primary Iron bearing mineral is specular hematite. Both varieties are typical Fermont Mining District styles of mineralization and differ from taconite Iron mineralization. The taconite is finer grained and generally less favourable for concentration, requiring more energy for crushing and grinding when compared to varieties found in the Fermont Mining District.
All drill core logging and sample preparation from the recent diamond drilling was conducted by qualified Company personnel under NI 43-101 guidelines at the Company's core logging facilities in Labrador City, Newfoundland. The NQ-sized drill core was split and one-half retained in the core tray as a reference sample while the other half core samples were individually bagged, tagged, and sealed within large sealed nylon bags and shipped by commercial ground transport for analysis to ALS-Chemex Laboratories in Val d'Or, Quebec. Certified reference standards and blank samples were inserted regularly for Quality Assurance and Quality Control purposes.
Mr. Thomas Larsen, President and CEO of Champion stated, "With these current Iron resources we have now clearly demonstrated the upside potential of the Property, the proximity of Iron resources to surface infrastructure and effectiveness in drilling mineral resources. The combined 500 plus million tonnes are more than 4-times the historical Mineral Resources at both Bellechasse and Fire Lake North. Drilling to date confirmed that magnetic responses from the airborne geophysical survey flown in 2008 are linked to Iron formations along a 15km long corridor, the Bellechasse - Fire Lake Iron Corridor, one of several target areas within the Property."
Mr. Larsen added, "The current Iron resources bode well for the other claim blocks, 6 of which host historical Mineral Resources of 578 million tonnes and another 8 claim blocks that host significant magnetic anomalies outlining Iron formations. The Iron grades of the historical Mineral Resources are similar to the producing mines and other deposits in the area. Both Bellechasse and Fire Lake North are located 20 km northeast of Consolidated Thompson Iron Mine's combined Lamalee-Peppler Lake projects (935 million tonnes grading 29.7% Iron; www.consolidatedthompson.com), and 45 km to the south of the Bloom Lake Mine that is under construction. Fire Lake North sits adjacent to the north of ArcelorMittal's Fire Lake Mine (341 million tonnes @ 33.4% Iron; www.arcelormittal.com)."
The Fermont Iron Property
Champion has optioned from Fancamp Exploration Ltd., and the Sheridan Platinum Group Ltd., a land package of approximately 384.6km2 in 16 strategic claim blocks grouped into 3 clusters comprising the Property. Champion had previously announced 8 claim blocks with historical Mineral Resources of 694 million tonnes grading 30.4% Iron, but now 2 of the 8 claim blocks host the updated and current MRE announced today. As a result, the 6 remaining claim blocks host historical Mineral Resources of 578 million tonnes grading 30.4% Iron as outlined in the table below.
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Historical Mineral Resources(1)
Cluster and Claim Block No. Claims -----------------------------------
(km2) Tonnes (millions) Grade (% Iron)
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CLUSTER 1
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1 Moire Lake 25/10.9 101 30.8(3)
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CLUSTER 2
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2 O'Keefe-Purdy-Audrea Lakes 71/37.2 25 35.5(3)
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3 Harvey-Tuttle Lakes 122/63.9 n/a n/a
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4 Bellechasse 13/6.8 updated and current
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5 Midway Southeast 15/7.9 n/a n/a
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6 Oil Can Lake 19/10.0 n/a n/a
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7 Fire Lake North 76/39.9 updated and current
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8 Hope Lake 61/32.2 n/a n/a
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9 Lamelee Lake(2) 16/8.4 n/a n/a
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CLUSTER 3
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10 Casse Lake 27/14.2 n/a n/a
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11 Audrey-Ernie Lakes 106/56.0 23 33.2(3)
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12 Big Three Lakes 9/4.8 25 34.0(3)
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13 Aubertin-Tougard Lakes 52/27.6 n/a n/a
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14 Jeannine Lake 6/3.2 n/a n/a
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15 Silicate-Brutus Lakes 56/29.8 304 29.4(3)
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16 Penguin Lake 60/31.8 100 30.0(3)
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TOTALS 34/384.6 578 30.4
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(1) The historical Mineral Resources estimates quoted are strictly
historical in nature and are non-compliant to NI 43-101 Mineral Resource
standards, and should therefore not be relied upon. A Qualified Person
has not done sufficient work to classify these historical Mineral
Resource estimates as current NI 43-101 compliant Mineral Resources.
(2) Champion holds a first right of refusal to acquire the Lamelee Lake
Claim Block.
(3) From Paquet, 1963 (Ministere des ressources naturelles et de la faune
Quebec Assessment File GM 13035).
About Champion Minerals Inc.
Champion is an exploration Company focused on discovering and developing significant metal resources in eastern Canada, particularly in the provinces of Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador. The Company's projects include the Attikamagen Iron Property, located in western Labrador and northeastern Quebec, the Fermont Iron Property in northeastern Quebec and the Powderhorn and Gullbridge Base Metal Projects located in central Newfoundland.
The technical information in this news release was prepared, revised and approved by Jeff Hussey, P. Geo., VP Exploration for Champion; Jean Lafleur, P. Geo., Director and Technical Advisor to the President and CEO of Champion; and Eugene Puritch, P. Eng., President of P&E, all of whom are Qualified Persons under NI 43-101 regulations.
The statements made in this news release that are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" and readers are cautioned that any such statements are not guarantees of future performance, and that actual developments or results, may vary materially from those in these "forward-looking" statements.
SOURCE: Champion Minerals Inc.
Champion Minerals Inc. Thomas G. Larsen President and CEO (416) 866-2200 Champion Minerals Inc. Jorge Estepa Vice-President (416) 866-2200
