Battery Mineral Resources Corp. Announces Robust NI 43-101 Resource Estimate of 6.2 million Tonnes Indicated and 3.1 million Tonnes Inferred at its Punitaqui Copper Mine Complex.
Battery Mineral Resources Corp. Announces Robust NI 43-101 Resource
Estimate of 6.2 million Tonnes Indicated and 3.1 million Tonnes Inferred at
its Punitaqui Copper Mine Complex.
Vancouver, British Columbia – (August 16, 2022) – Battery Mineral Resources Corp.
(TSXV: BMR) ("BMR” “Battery" or the "Company") is excited to announce a robust
NI 43-101 resource update for its Punitaqui copper mining complex in Region IV of
Chile. This resource estimate, completed for Battery by independent consultants JDS
Energy & Mining Inc. (“JDS”), is a major milestone for the company.
The resource estimate is based on our Phase 1 drill program, initiated in August 2021
which totalled 32,526 meters (“m”) of diamond core drilling and also includes the
drilling and mining data from the Cinabrio mine completed by prior operators
including Glencore PLC. The BMR Phase 1 drilling focused on three zones at Punitaqui:
Dalmacia, San Andres, and Cinabrio Norte. An updated technical report will be filed
on the Company’s website and SEDAR within 45 calendar days of this disclosure.
Highlights:
• This Punitaqui resource update is separated into four underground resource
zones: Dalmacia, San Andres, Cinabrio Norte and Cinabrio.
• Total sulphide indicated resources are 6.2M tonnes grading 1.14% Cu and
2.47 g/t Ag.
• Total sulphide inferred resources are 3.1M tonnes grading 0.93% Cu and
2.64 g/t Ag.
• At the Cinabrio mine, the remanent pillars contain sulp hide indicated
resources of 1.0M tonnes at 1.51% Cu which could be mined in conjunction
with the use of mine backfill.
Battery CEO and director Martin Kostuik stated; “We are very proud of the outcome
of our Phase 1 drilling and the work done jointly by our team and those at JDS Energy
and Mining, Inc. to produce this NI 43 -101 resource estimate for Punitaqui. It was
always our goal to define 4M to 5M tonnes of total resources at Punitaqui to give us
approximately four to five years of potential mining, so we are thrilled to be able to
report Indicated resources of over 6M tonnes at grades similar to the historical values
seen by previous operators . This resource estimate will be the first of many for
Punitaqui and we plan to pursue an aggressive exploration drill program focussed on
extensions to the known resources as well as a series of brownfields targets within
our Punitaqui Mine Complex land h oldings. We are particularly optimistic about the
future potential of the Dalmacia zone, where the majority of the current resource
estimate incorporates only one-third of the known strike length based on the drilling
thus far. We believe its important to note that, before this resources report, only the
Cinabrio mine had underground resources. This demonstrates are ability to find new
mineralization and we will endeavour to continue thus successful process while the
mine is in operations . Combined with the strong metallurgical results released July
13th, we believe we have successfully demonstrated that the Punitaqui project has
as bright a future as it has ever had. To hear more, click the link below”.
https://link.edgepilot.com/s/79ab1a1f/Z92jyravjk_ent45KD3TYw?u=https://youtu.
be/rpjrBq4-UtM
Table 1: Punitaqui Sulphide Mineral Resource Estimate by Zone
Notes to the Sulphide Mineral Resource Estimate Table
• Prepared by Garth Kirkham (Kirkham Geosystems Ltd.) an Independent Qualified Person in accordance with NI
43-101.
• Effective date: August 16 , 2022 . All mineral resources have been estimated in accordance with Canadian
Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and Petroleum (“CIM”) definitions, as required under NI 43-101.
• Mineral Resources reported demonstrate reasonable prospect of eventual economic extraction, as required under
NI 43-101. Mineral Resources are not Mineral Reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability. The
Mineral Resources may be materially affected by environmental, permitting, legal, marketing, and other relevant
issues.
• Cut-off grades are based on a price of US$3.50/lb copper, US$20/oz silver and several operating costs,
metallurgical recoveries, and recovery assumptions, including a reasonable contingency factor.
Sulphide Resources
Indicated
Zone Cut-off (% CuT) tonnes CuT (%) Ag (g/t)
San Andres 0.70 1,736,000 1.06 4.83
Cinabrio 0.70 378,000 1.55 0.00
Cinabrio Pillars 0.70 1,027,000 1.51 0.00
Cinabrio Norte 0.70 833,000 1.01 4.57
Dalmacia 0.70 2,198,000 1.00 1.38
Indicated sulphides 6,172,000 1.14 2.47
Inferred
Zone Cut-off (% CuT) tonnes CuT (%) Ag (g/t)
San Andres 0.70 303,000 0.82 4.03
Cinabrio 0.70 90,000 0.98 0.00
Cinabrio Pillars 0.70 0 0.00 0.00
Cinabrio Norte 0.70 1,078,000 0.98 4.91
Dalmacia 0.70 1,599,000 0.93 1.00
Inferred sulphides 3,070,000 0.93 2.64
• Historic work at the Cinabrio Mine did not include silver analyses therefore silver grades are assumed to be at a
null grade for the purpose of completeness however, it is reasonable to assume that silver grades will be at a
similar tenor as Cinabrio Norte.
• An Inferred Mineral Resource has a lower level of confidence than that applying to an Indicated Mineral Resource
and must not be converted to a Mineral Reserve. It is reasonably expected that the majority of Inferred Mineral
Resources could be upgraded to Indicated Mineral Resources with continued exploration.
• Resources reported for Cinabrio, San Andreas, Cinabrio Norte and Dalmacia are reported with internal dilution
applied but are not fully diluted.
Note that all four zones of the resource estimate (the Cinabrio mine, the Cinabrio
Norte zone, the San Andres zone and the Dalmacia zone) have underground access
previously established by our predecessors.
Figure 1: Punitaqui Project Tenement Holdings, Resource Areas & Plant
Location Map
Cinabrio Mine Resource
- This Cinabrio mine was the main source of copper ore for the Punitaqui
processing and concentration plant for nine-plus years while the Punitaqui
Complex was in operation.
- BMR plans to initiate mining at Punitaqui in the Cinabrio mine as this area
requires the least amount of ore d evelopment to begin extraction. The San
Andres zone will be the second area to be mined at Punitaqui. Final operating
and environmental permits for mining both the Cinabrio mine and the San
Andres zone are expected in the next one to two months.
- BMR plans to begin underground drilling certain areas of the Cinabrio mine that
our technical team have identified as having strong potential to yield additional
resources in the coming months.
Cinabrio Norte Zone Resource
- This resource is the first such calculation for the Cinabrio Norte zone. The drill
results reported from Cinabrio Norte were very encouraging as this area
immediately north of the Cinabrio mine had very minor drilling prior to the
BMR Phase 1 surface drilling program.
- The Cinabrio Norte zone is open at depth, which BMR plans to continue drilling
from underground once access has been established. Potential mining of this
zone would commence once permits have been granted for this area which
have already been submitted approval.
San Andres Zone Resource
- This resource is the first such calculation for the San Andres zone.
- The main mineralized area of the San Andres zone has now been traced for up
to 450m in strike, up to 200m in width and up to 30m in thickness.
- The planning for a Phase 2 RC infill drill program at San Andres is well
underway with the construction of all drill pads already completed.
Figure 2: Plan Map of Cinabrio Mine, Cinabrio Norte & San Andres Historic
& BMR Phase 1 Drill Collars
Dalmacia Zone Resource
- The resource estimate for the Dalmacia zone is an underground resource.
Previously, only an open pit resource was calculated for Dalmacia in the
estimate completed by JDS in 2018 for Xiana Mining Inc.
- The vast majority of the sulphide resources in the resource calculation for the
Dalmacia zone are contained the circled area in Figure 3 below, which
encompasses approximately one-third of the known strike extent and thus the
company is optimistic this resource could be substantially increased by further
infill drilling, which will commence in the coming months.
- Mining at Dalmacia could commence when permits are granted for this area
which have already been submitted for approval.
Figure 3: Plan Map of Dalmacia North Historic & BMR Phase 1 Drill Collars
Oxide Resources
In addition to the sulphide resources, an oxide near surface resource was calculated
at Dalmacia, which is show in Table 2. At present, BMR is not planning to proceed
with mining oxides at Dalmacia but may study the possibility of this in the future.
Table 2: Punitaqui Oxide Resources at Dalmacia
Notes to the Punitaqui Oxide Mineral Resource Estimate Table
• Prepared by Garth Kirkham (Kirkham Geosystems Ltd.) an Independent Qualified Person in accordance with NI
43-101.
• Effective date: August 16 , 2022 . All mineral resources have been estimated in accordance with Canadian
Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and Petroleum (“CIM”) definitions, as required under NI 43-101.
• Mineral Resources reported demonstrate reasonable prospect of eventual economic extraction, as required under
NI 43-101. Mineral Resources are not Mineral Reserves and do not have demonstrated e conomic viability. The
Mineral Resources may be materially affected by environmental, permitting, legal, marketing, and other relevant
issues.
• Cut-off grades are based on a price of US$ 3.50/lb copper, US$20/oz silver and several operating costs,
metallurgical recoveries, and recovery assumptions, including a reasonable contingency factor.
• An Inferred Mineral Resource has a lower level of confidence than that applying to an Indicated Mineral Resource
and must not be converted to a Mineral Reserve. It is reasonably expected that the majority of Inferred Mineral
Resources could be upgraded to Indicated Mineral Resources with continued exploration.
Geology and Mineral Resource
The Punitaqui project is a past producing copper-gold mining complex located about
50 km south of the Andacollo Copper mine owned by Teck Resources Region 4 of
Chile, near the towns of Punitaqui and Ovalle. The asset consists of a centralized
process plant that to be fed by four satellite copper deposits - San Andres, Cinabrio,
Cinabrio Norte, and Dalmacia.
Geology
The mineral resource has a surface area of 2,000m x 750m and between elevations
of -270 meters and 650m meters above sea level. The updated es timate is a result
of surface drilling along with underground drilling and sampling by BMR and previous
operators 3,762 drill holes and channel samples). The mineral resource estimate is
based on robust geological models, supported by underground infrastru cture that
allowed underground mapping, channel sampling, and underground drilling that was
critical to BMR’s current understanding and validation of the Punitaqui geological
models.
The differences in resources from this estimate (effective date August 16, 2022)
compared to the previous resource estimate is due not only to additional surface
drilling but also improved interpretation and modelling of the lithological units which
was imperative for potential underground mining operations.
Oxides
Indicated Cut-off (% CuT) tonnes Sol Cu (%) Ag (g/t)
Dalmacia 0.30 872,848 0.62 1.15
Indicated oxides 872,848 0.62 1.15
Inferred Cut-off (% CuT) tonnes CuT (%) Ag (g/t)
Dalmacia 0.30 1,325,957 0.50 1.11
inferred oxides 1,325,957 0.50 1.11
Mineral Resource Estimation Methodology
The mineral resource estimate for Punitaqui was prepared to industry standards and
best practices by Garth Kirkham, P.Geo., an Independent Qualified Person for the
purposes of NI 43-101. The mineral resource was estimated using commercial mine
modelling and geostatistical software.
From a total of 3,762 drillhole and channel samples, the San Andreas, Cinabrio,
Cinabrio Norte and Dalmacia deposits were estimated with 509, 2,853, 75 and 325
drillhole and channel samp les, respectively. These datasets are a combination of
validated and verified historic data performed by previous operators and recent
drilling performed by BMR.
Each of the deposits were segregated into multiple estimation domains based on
geologic models which were coded for geological matching within the database.
Composites were created to 1.0 -meter composite lengths which offered the best
balance between suppl ying common support for samples and minimizing the
smoothing of grades. To eliminate any potential over-estimation due to the effect of
high-grade outliers, cumulative frequency plots were analysed to determine
appropriate thresholds for which to cut the o utlier grades. The copper outlier
thresholds chosen San Andreas, Cinabrio, Cinabrio Norte and Dalmacia were 4%,
5%, 2.5% and 4.5%, respectively. The silver outlier threshold chosen were 20 g/t
for San Andreas and 30 g/t for Cinabrio Norte as there was no s ignificant silver for
Cinabrio nor Dalmacia.
All block models are orthogonally oriented apart from Dalmacia that is rotated to 325
degrees. In addition, all block models have 2m x 2m x 2m dimensions and are sub -
blocked to 0.25m x 0.25m x 0.25m for ease of mine planning. All mineral resources
were estimated using ordinary kriging interpolation for the continuous domains and
validated using nearest neighbour and inverse distance estimates.
Search ellipse anisotropy and orientation were guided by the orient ation of the
domain solids models. Copper and silver block grades were estimated from capped
composited samples in a single pass. Specific gravity readings were derived from
measurements within the individual deposits and assigned as an average within the
mineralized zones.
Mineral Resources are classified under the categories of Indicated and Inferred
according to CIM guidelines. Mineral Resource classification for gold was based
primarily on drill hole spacing and on continuity of mineralization. Indicated resources
were defined as those with a drillhole spacing of than ~30 meters and informing at
least four drill holes. Inferred resources were defined as those with a drill hole spacing
of less than ~60 meters distance and informing at least three drillholes.