Maritime Resources\u00a0has started an initial 10,000-metre diamond drill program at its 98-sq.-km Hammerdown gold project\u00a0in Canada’s Newfoundland and Labrador province. <\/p>\n
The program will focus on testing prospective areas for new gold discoveries, growing the existing resource inventory and optimizing the mine plan outlined in a preliminary economic assessment (PEA) earlier this year.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur Hammerdown and Orion gold deposits lie within a 5-km deformation zone that has numerous exploration targets identified from our geophysics and structural work,\u201d Garett Macdonald, the company\u2019s president and CEO, said in a release. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe strongly believe there is potential for additional discoveries within this largely untested area and will be aggressively exploring this area for new high-grade resources similar to Hammerdown.\u201d<\/p>\n Maritime plans to extract a sample of over 10,000 tonnes for feasibility-level sorting test work with the feasibility study expected in the first half of next year<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n At Hammerdown, Maritime intends to drill deeper levels of the deposit to test for additional high-grade gold systems with additional infill work planned for areas outlined in the PEA mine plan to upgrade inferred resources. <\/p>\n Drilling is also scheduled for grade control testing to evaluate gold grade variability and to test the 2-km strike length between the Hammerdown and Orion deposits. <\/p>\n Lastly, infill drilling is also planned for the upper 200 metres of the Orion deposit to upgrade inferred resources and test for extensions of higher-grade mineralization.<\/p>\n Maritime Resources holds a 100% interest in the Green Bay property, which includes the past-producing Hammerdown gold mine and Orion deposit. <\/p>\n Richmont Mines operated the Hammerdown open pit and underground mine between 2000 and 2004, producing 143,000 gold oz. from an average head grade of 15.7 g\/t gold.<\/p>\n Combined open-pit resources at Hammerdown and Orion stand at 1.7 million the measured and indicated tonnes grading 6.65 g\/t gold for a total of 368,000 oz. Inferred resources add a further 1.3 million tonnes grading 4.77 g\/t gold for 206,200 gold oz. These are at a cut-off grade of 1 g\/t gold.<\/p>\n Total resources across the two deposits in the underground classification include 1.2 million measured and indicated tonnes at 4.13 g\/t gold for a total of 153,000 oz. with an additional 1.9 million inferred tonnes grading 4.29 g\/t gold containing 260,000 gold oz. <\/p>\n Underground resources are derived using a 2 g\/t gold cut-off grade.<\/p>\n In February, Maritime published the results of a preliminary economic assessment on open pit and underground mining at the Hammerdown and Orion deposits. <\/p>\n The material mined would be pre-concentrated on site and hauled to an offsite mill to produce gold dor\u00e9. <\/p>\n The 9-year mine would produce an average of 57,900 gold oz. annually at all-in sustaining costs of $939 per oz. With a pre-production capital cost estimate of C$57 million, the resulting after-tax net present value estimate for the project, at a 5% discount rate, is C$142.1 million with a 61.2% internal rate of return.<\/p>\n Maritime plans to extract a sample of over 10,000 tonnes for feasibility-level sorting test work with the feasibility study expected in the first half of next year.<\/p>\n\n