Stuhini Completes Molybdenum Resource Estimate FOR Ruby Creek Project, Defines a Measured and Indicated Resource of 433 Million Lbs Molybdenum
STUHINI COMPLETES MOLYBDENUM
RESOURCE ESTIMATE FOR RUBY CREEK
PROJECT, DEFINES A MEASURED AND
INDICATED RESOURCE OF 433 MILLION LBS
MOLYBDENUM
VANCOUVER, BC
,
March 15, 2022
/CNW/ - Stuhini Exploration Ltd. (the "
Company
" or "
Stuhin
i")
(TSX-V: STU) is pleased to announce a pit-constrained Mineral Resource Estimate ("MRE"), for the
Ruby Creek molybdenum deposit ("Ruby Creek Molybdenum Deposit"), located 35 kilometres (km)
by road east of
Atlin, BC
. The MRE was undertaken by Mine Development Associates ("MDA"), a
division of RESPEC. The effective date of this MRE is
March 10, 2022
and an NI 43-101 Technical
Report (the "Technical Report") will be filed on SEDAR within 45 days of this news release and
posted on the Company's website.
Open Pit Resource Estimate
The pit constrained Measured and Indicated resources contain 432,991,000 pounds ("lbs") of
molybdenum ("Mo") hosted within 369,398,000 tonnes at an average Mo grade of 0.053 % at 0.020
% Mo cutoff (Table 1). Resources within the Inferred category include 43,650,000 lbs of Mo hosted
within 41,946,000 tonnes at an average Mo grade of 0.047 % (Table 1).
"MDA, has developed a very robust resource model that will form the basis for future economic
studies" notes Ehsan Salmabadi, P.Geo, Stuhini's Vice President of Exploration. "Our efforts in the
coming months will focus on internal scoping studies to give us guidance on our next steps in
assessing the economics of the Ruby Creek Molybdenum Deposit."
Mr.
David O'Brien President
& CEO of Stuhini goes on to add, "We are very excited about being
able to update the Ruby Creek Molybdenum Resource and look forward to what the future holds,
especially in light of the dramatic increase in molybdenum prices in the last 20 months. I wish to
thank our consultants and our in-house technical team for their efforts and professionalism in bringing
this MRE to fruition."
Table 1: Ruby Creek Measured plus Indicated and Inferred open-pit resources reported at various
Mo cut-off grades.
Measured + Indicated
Inferred
Cutoff (Mo%)
Tonnes
Mo%
lbs Mo (x1,000)
Cutoff (Mo%)
Tonnes
Mo%
lbs Mo (x1,000)
0.015
392,179,000
0.051
441,726
0.015
52,578,000
0.041
47,640
0.020
369,398,000
0.053
432,991
0.020
41,946,000
0.047
43,650
0.025
339,466,000
0.056
417,930
0.025
36,404,000
0.051
40,850
0.030
303,203,000
0.059
395,929
0.030
31,666,000
0.055
38,050
0.035
264,499,000
0.063
368,629
0.035
26,998,000
0.058
34,700
0.040
225,911,000
0.068
336,773
0.040
23,062,000
0.062
31,420
0.045
191,616,000
0.072
304,656
0.045
19,666,000
0.065
28,270
0.050
160,991,000
0.077
272,762
0.050
15,739,000
0.070
24,180
0.060
111,516,000
0.087
212,848
0.060
10,521,000
0.077
17,880
0.070
76,167,000
0.097
162,549
0.070
6,175,000
0.086
11,710
0.080
51,026,000
0.108
121,118
0.080
2,891,000
0.099
6,280
0.090
33,852,000
0.119
89,150
0.090
1,773,000
0.108
4,210
0.100
23,209,000
0.131
66,966
0.100
926,000
0.119
2,430
Table 2: Ruby Creek Measured and Indicated open pit resources reported at various Mo cut-off
grades.
Measured
Indicated
Cutoff (Mo%)
Tonnes
Mo%
lbs Mo (x1,000)
Cutoff (Mo%)
Tonnes
Mo%
lbs Mo (x1,000)
0.015
52,381,000
0.063
72,406
0.015
339,798,000
0.049
369,320
0.020
49,638,000
0.065
71,351
0.020
319,760,000
0.051
361,640
0.025
46,478,000
0.068
69,780
0.025
292,988,000
0.054
348,150
0.030
42,768,000
0.072
67,509
0.030
260,435,000
0.057
328,420
0.035
38,876,000
0.076
64,709
0.035
225,623,000
0.061
303,920
0.040
35,037,000
0.080
61,563
0.040
190,874,000
0.065
275,210
0.045
31,495,000
0.084
58,256
0.045
160,121,000
0.070
246,400
0.050
28,462,000
0.088
55,092
0.050
132,529,000
0.075
217,670
0.060
22,272,000
0.097
47,578
0.060
89,244,000
0.084
165,270
0.070
16,997,000
0.107
40,059
0.070
59,170,000
0.094
122,490
0.080
12,838,000
0.117
33,228
0.080
38,188,000
0.104
87,890
0.090
9,416,000
0.129
26,820
0.090
24,436,000
0.116
62,330
0.100
7,025,000
0.141
21,836
0.100
16,184,000
0.127
45,130
Ruby Creek Mineral Resource Estimate Notes:
The mineral resources disclosed in this press release were estimated following the Canadian
Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum ("CIM") Definition Standards - For Mineral
Resources and Mineral Reserves prepared by the CIM Standing Committee on Reserve
Definitions adopted
May 10, 2014
.
Mineral resources are not mineral reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability.
There is no certainty that all or any part of the mineral resources estimated will be converted
into mineral reserves.
The number of metric tonnes and pounds were rounded to the nearest thousand. Any
discrepancies in the totals are due to rounding effects.
As defined by NI 43
101, the Independent and Qualified Persons for the Technical Report are
Steven Ristorcelli
, C. P. G.,
Peter Ronning
, P. Eng.,
Finley Bakker
, P. Geo., and
John Eggert
,
P. Eng.
Reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction were determined by applying open-pit
mining and operating parameters in pit optimization to build a resource-constraining pit.
This MRE was derived from a database containing 305 diamond drill holes, four rotary holes,
plus underground bulk samples entered as 17 "drill holes".
The Effective Date of the Ruby Creek database used in the MRE is
January 27, 2020
.
Mo price used for the resource pit was
US$15
/lb Mo.
Estimated operating costs used in the MRE (in US$) were
$2.00
/tonne for mining,
$1.00
/tonne
for G&A,
$5.00
/tonne for processing and a roasting charge of
$1.77
/kilogram ("kg") of Mo.
Metallurgical recoveries of 92% were utilized in the determination of cut-off grades for the open-
pit resource.
The resource is reported at a cutoff of 0.02% Mo. Cut-off calculations were based on
metallurgical recoveries, operating costs for mining and processing, and metal prices described
above.
Tonnage was estimated from volumes using specific gravities ranging from 2.57 to 2.60 for
different igneous lithologies.
The geologic models and 3D block model were created in HxGN MinePlan by
Steven Ristorcelli
,
C. P. G., an associate of MDA, and
Finley J. Bakker
, P. Geo., of Finley Bakker Consulting.
The database auditing and quality assurance/quality control ("QA/QC") was conducted by
Peter
Ronning
, P. Eng.
The review of the historic metallurgical work was conducted by
John Eggert
, P. Eng.
A rotated block model with block sizes of
10 m
by
10 m
by
10 m
was used. The block
dimensions were chosen to best reflect potential block sizes for open-pit mining
Inverse distance cubed ("ID
3"
) was used for estimation.
The deposit was divided into three estimation domains with unique orientations: (1) a main
mineralized horizontal domain; (2) a steeply northwest dipping domain along the Adera fault
zone and (3) shallow dipping in the footwall of the Adera fault zone.
The drill samples were coded by domain and were capped to different grades depending on the
domain.
The main mineralized horizontal domain samples were capped to 0.90% Mo. The steeply
northwest dipping domain along the Adera fault zone and the shallow dipping footwall zone was
capped to 1.5% Mo. Along the southwest end of the deposit where drilling is spaced widely,
grades were capped to 0.4% Mo in four holes.
The mineral resources estimate was done in two passes. A quadrant search with a maximum of
two composites per quadrant was used in the domains because of significantly clustered data.
Volumes outside the domains were estimated in a single pass.
The quantity and grade of reported Inferred mineral resources in this estimation are uncertain in
nature and there has been insufficient exploration to re-define these Inferred mineral resources as
Indicated mineral resources. It is uncertain if further exploration will result in upgrading them to the
Indicated mineral resources category.
Qualified Persons
The Independent and Qualified Persons for the Ruby Creek Technical Report are
Steven Ristorcelli
,
C. P. G.,
Peter Ronning
, P. Eng.,
Finley Bakker
, P. Geo., and
John Eggert
, P. Eng., who have
reviewed the technical disclosure in this release. In accordance with National Instrument 43-101
Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, Ehsan Salmabadi, P. Geo. Vice President Exploration,
is the Qualified Person for the Company and has also validated and approved the technical and
scientific content of this news release. The Company adheres to CIM Best Practices Guidelines in
conducting, documenting, and reporting its activities on its various exploration projects.
Proactive Investor Interview
A brief video highlighting this release can be found on the Company website or by clicking the link
below:
Proactive Investor interview with
Dave O'Brien
, President & CEO of Stuhini Exploration.
About Stuhini Exploration Ltd.
Stuhini is a mineral exploration company focused on the exploration and development of it's base and
precious metal properties in western
Canada
. The Company's portfolio of exploration properties
includes its flagship the Ruby Creek Property located approximately 20 km east of
Atlin, BC
, the
Que Project located approximately 70 km north of Johnson's Crossing in the
Yukon
, the South
Thompson Project located approximately 35 km northwest of
Grand Rapids, Manitoba
and the Big
Ledge Property located approximately 57 km south of
Revelstoke, BC
.
Forward Looking Statements
This news release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Canadian securities
legislation. Such forward
looking statements concern the Company's strategic plans, future price
estimates for Molybdenum ("Mo"), and updating the historic Mo resource to a current resource
estimate. Such forward
looking statements or information are based on a number of assumptions,
which may prove to be incorrect. Assumptions have been made regarding, among other things:
conditions in general economic and financial markets; accuracy of assay results; geological
interpretations from sampling results, price estimates for Mo; the effect of Covid-19 on the
Company's ability to conduct exploration; performance of available laboratory and other related
services; effects on general economic conditions and commodity prices, including Mo,; and future
exploration costs. The actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these
forward
looking statements as a result of the risk factors including: downturn in future price
estimates for Mo, the timing and content of work programs; results of exploration activities and
development of mineral properties; the interpretation and uncertainties of sampling results and other
geological data; receipt, maintenance and security of permits and mineral property titles;
environmental and other regulatory risks; project costs overruns or unanticipated costs and
expenses; availability of funds and general market and industry conditions. Forward-looking
statements are based on the expectations and opinions of the Company's management on the date
the statements are made. The assumptions used in the preparation of such statements, although
considered reasonable at the time of preparation, may prove to be imprecise and, as such, readers
are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as
of the date the statements were made. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise
any forward-looking statements included in this news release if these beliefs, estimates and opinions
or other circumstances should change, except as otherwise required by applicable law.
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.
SOURCE
Stuhini Exploration Ltd.
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For further information:
David O'Brien, President & Chief Executive Officer, Stuhini Exploration
Ltd., Email: [email protected], Phone: (604) 835-4019, Web: www.stuhini.com
CO: Stuhini Exploration Ltd.
CNW 10:00e 15-MAR-22