Moneta Increases Resources to 4,265,000 OZ GOLD Indicated and 7,496,000 OZ GOLD Inferred at Tower GOLD Project
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NEWS RELEASE – 10/2022 Symbol: TSX: ME FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MONETA INCREASES RESOURCES TO 4,265,000 OZ GOLD INDICATED AND
7,496,000 OZ GOLD INFERRED AT TOWER GOLD PROJECT
Toronto, Ontario – May 11, 2022 - Moneta Gold Inc. (TSX: ME) (OTCQX: MEAUF) (XETRA: MOP)
(“Moneta” or the “Company”) is pleased to provide an updated mineral resource estimate (“MRE”) for
its 100% owned Tower Gold project (“Project”), located 100 kilometres (“km”) east of Timmins, Ontario .
The consolidated mineral resource now totals 4.27 million (“M”) ounces (“oz”) indicated gold (“Au”) and
7.50 Moz inferred gold, positioning Tower Gold as one of the advanced exploration projects in Canada.
The MRE will form the basis of an updated preliminary economic assessment (“PEA”) scheduled for
completion later this quarter.
Highlights of the Updated Tower Gold Mineral Resource Estimate:
• 70% increase in total contained Au to 7,496,000 oz (combined underground and open pit) in
the inferred category on the Tower Gold project
o Addition of 3,097,000 oz of total inferred gold resources
• 8% increase in total contained Au to 4,265,000 oz (combined underground and open pit) in the
indicated category on the Tower Gold project
o Addition of 298,000 oz of total indicated gold resources
• Increase in grade of the underground resources (22% indicated and 2% inferred) and no
material change in the average grade of the open pit resources
• 25% increase of indicated open pit Au resources to 4,1 53,000 oz and 156% increase in inferred
open pit Au resources to 5,801,000 oz
• Increase in higher grade ounces in the Garrison starter pit to 1,748,000 oz contained Au
indicated resources at a grade of 1.07 g/t Au
• Definition of high -grade open pit at Westaway contai ning 1,067,000 oz at a grade of 2. 14 g/t
Au inferred resources
• Re-establishment of the open pit at South West containing 316,000 oz Au indicated and
1,195,000 oz Au inferred resources
• Infill of the Windjammer open pit to contain 1 ,767,000 oz Au indicated and 2,393,000 oz Au
inferred contained ounces (Windjammer South and Windjammer Central)
The updated mineral resource was independently prepared by A PEX Geoscience Ltd. in accordance with
National Instrument 43-101 (“NI 43-101”), with an effective date of May 11, 2022, and using a database
current as of March 15, 2022. The Tower Gold project has shown a significant improvement in size over
the December 2020 resource estimate and remains open in several directions. The majority of the new
resources are attributed to the addition of over 3.0 Moz of total inferred gold re sources and 0.3 Moz
indicated resources, including the re-establishment of an open pit resource at South West, the discovery
of additional resources at Westaway, the infill of the Windjammer open pit at Windjammer Central, and
the definition of underground resources at Garrcon.
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Mr. Gary O’Connor, Chief Executive Officer commented “We are extremely pleased with the outcome of
this mineral resource estimate update for the Tower Gold project . The objective of a significant increase
in mineral resources was achieved, while confirming once more the potential of this exceptional Project.
We have seen an increase in the underground grade and an expansion of our open pit resource base
without any material loss in grade, whilst capturing some of the previous underground resources within
the new open pits. This resource update will form the basis of the long-life mine plan, with large scale
open pit and high -grade underground optionality, to be outlined in a preliminary economic assessment
(“PEA”) study, anticipated to be completed in late June 2022. We would also like to acknowledge the
excellent work of our employees and contractors in managing our significant drill program to deliver this
very significant resource and a special thank you to our Wahgoshig First Nation hosts, stakeholders, and
shareholders for their continued support as we advance this Project”.
Table 1: NI 43-101 Mineral Resource Estimate by Deposit – Tower Gold Project
May 2022 Resource Category
Indicated Inferred
Tonnes
(t)
Grade
(g/t Au)
Ounces
(oz)
Tonnes
(t)
Grade
(g/t Au)
Ounces
(oz)
Total Open Pit 146,294,000 0.88 4,153,000 207,878,000 0.87 5,801,000
Underground 701,000 4.95 112,000 12,269,000 4.30 1,695,000
Total Open Pit + Underground 146,995,000 0.90 4,265,000 220,147,000 1.06 7,496,000
Breakdown by Deposit
South West Open Pit 11,176,000 0.88 316,000 41,178,000 0.90 1,195,000
Underground 168,000 4.54 25,000 6,761,000 4.36 948,000
Windjammer South Open Pit 45,146,000 0.78 1,135,000 26,631,000 0.72 613,000
Underground - - - 918,000 4.57 135,000
Westaway Open Pit 312,000 2.22 22,000 15,530,000 2.14 1,067,000
Underground - - - 3,214,000 3.94 407,000
Windjammer Central Open Pit 31,986,000 0.62 632,000 85,086,000 0.65 1,780,000
Underground - - - - - -
55 Zone Open Pit 4,379,000 1.25 176,000 4,621,000 1.02 151,000
Underground - - - 186,000 4.20 25,000
Discovery Open Pit 2,251,000 1.72 125,000 5,511,000 1.50 266,000
Underground - - - 440,000 4.19 59,000
Garrcon Open Pit 25,614,000 1.02 841,000 707,000 0.67 15,000
Underground 533,000 5.08 87,000 750,000 4.98 120,000
903 Open Pit 18,843,000 1.01 610,000 25,040,000 0.74 600,000
Underground - - - - - -
Jonpol Open Pit 6,587,000 1.40 297,000 3,574,000 0.99 114,000
Underground - - - - - -
Notes:
1. Mineral Resource Estimates are reported at t wo different cut-off grades; 0.3 g/t Au for the surface mining scenario
and 2.6 g/t Au for the underground mining scenario.
2. The cut-off grade was determined at a gold price of US$1, 750 per ounce and an exchange rate of USD$/CDN$ of
0.78.
3. The resource estimate is supported by statistical analysis with different high -grade capping applied to each of the
deposits ranging from 1.6 g/t Au to 80.0 g/t Au applied on assays composited into one (1) metre composites
4. The mineral resources presented here were estimated with a block size of 2.5mx2.5mx2.5m utilizing percent blocks
and constrained within geological wireframes with a minimum width of 1.50m. Gold was estimated by Ordinary
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Kriging using locally varying anisotropy variogram models. The max range of the variogra m models generally are
between 65mx25mx2.5m and 80m x 45m x5m. The search ellipse was constrained to selecting composites flagged
within each domain.
5. The mineral resources presented here were estimated by APEX Geoscience Ltd. using the Canadian Institute o f
Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM) Standards on Mineral Resources and Reserves definitions and guidelines.
6. Mineral resources which are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. The estimate of
mineral resources may be material ly affected by environmental, permitting, legal, title, market or other relevant
factors.
7. The quantity and grade of reported Inferred Resources are uncertain in nature and there has not been sufficient
work to define these Inferred Resources as Indicated o r Measured Resources. It is reasonably expected that the
majority of the Inferred Mineral Resources could be upgraded to Indicated Mineral Resources with continued
exploration.
8. The historical underground voids from mining in any of the deposit areas have been removed.
9. Tonnage estimates are based on bulk densities individually measured and calculated for each of the deposit areas.
Resources are presented as undiluted and in situ.
10. This mineral resource estimate is dated May 11, 202 2. The effective date for the drill -hole database used to
produce this updated mineral resource estimate is March 15, 2022. Tonnages and ounces in the tables are rounded
to the nearest thousand and hundred, respectively. Numbers may not total due to rounding.
11. A new NI 43 -101 report will not be produced as the total tonnage or total contained metal have not changed by
more than 100% over the most recent previous resources. A new updated NI 43 -101 technical report will be
produced with updated resources upon completion of the updated PEA.
12. Discovery includes the Windjammer North resource.
13. Mr. Mike Dufresne, P.Geo. of A PEX Geoscience Ltd., who is deemed a qualified persons as defined by N I 43-101 is
responsible for the completion of the updated mineral resource estimation.
Mineral Resource Comparisons; May 2022 versus December 2020
Table 2: NI 43-101 Mineral Resource Estimate Comparison – Total Resources
May 2022 vs December 2020
Open Pit + Underground Indicated Inferred
Category Tonnes
(t)
Grade
(g/t Au)
Ounces
(oz)
Tonnes
(t)
Grade
(g/t Au)
Ounces
(oz)
December 2020 121,604,000 1.01 3,967,000 95,083,000 1.44 4,399,000
May 2022 146,995,000 0.90 4,265,000 220,147,000 1.06 7,496,000
Difference 25,391,000 298,000 125,064,000 3,097,000
Percentage Change 21% 8% 132% 70%
Table 3: NI 43-101 Mineral Resource Estimate Comparison – Open Pit Resources
May 2022 vs December 2020
Total Open Pit Indicated Inferred
Category Tonnes
(t)
Grade
(g/t Au)
Ounces
(oz)
Tonnes
(t)
Grade
(g/t Au)
Ounces
(oz)
December 2020 116,745,000 0.89 3,335,000 79,372,000 0.89 2,270,000
May 2022 146,294,000 0.88 4,153,000 207,878,000 0.87 5,801,000
Difference 29,549,000 818,000 128,506,000 3,531,000
Percentage Change 25% 25% 162% 156%
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Table 4: NI 43-101 Mineral Resource Estimate Comparison – Underground Resources
May 2022 vs December 2020
Total Underground Indicated Inferred
Category Tonnes
(t)
Grade
(g/t Au)
Ounces
(oz)
Tonnes
(t)
Grade
(g/t Au)
Ounces
(oz)
December 2020 4,859,000 4.05 632,300 15,711,000 4.21 2,128,100
May 2022* 701,000 4.95 112,000 12,268,000 4.30 1,694,000
Difference -4,158,000 -520,300 -3,443,000 -434,100
Percentage Change -86% -82% -22% -20%
Resources reported in the underground category in December 2020 have been reclassified into the open
pit category in May 2022 due to the expansion and deepening of the open pits in the current estimate.
Mineral Resource Sensitivities
Mineral resources at various cut -off grades are presented for the open pit resources and for the
underground resources in Table 5 and Table 6 . Design basis assumptions for the calculation of the cut -
off grades applied to the resource estimates are provided below for the open pit resources and for the
underground resources. The mineral resources are reported at the same cut-off grades as for the
December 2020 open pit resource estimates (0.30 g/t Au) in both the Golden Highway and Garrison
areas, and for the December 2020 underground mineral resource for the South West deposit at Golden
Highway (2.60 g/t Au).
Table 5: Tower Gold, Open Pit Resource Estimate Sensitivity Table
Indicated Inferred
Cut-Off
Grades
Tonnes
(t)
Grade
(g/t Au)
Ounces
(oz)
Tonnes
(t)
Grade
(g/t Au)
Ounces
(oz)
0.20 179,584,000 0.77 4,421,000 259,798,000 0.74 6,218,000
0.25 162,836,000 0.82 4,299,000 232,794,000 0.80 6,023,000
0.30 146,293,000 0.88 4,153,000 207,879,000 0.87 5,802,000
0.40 117,035,000 1.02 3,826,000 162,690,000 1.01 5,296,000
0.50 94,078,000 1.16 3,495,000 128,435,000 1.16 4,803,000
Table 6: Tower Gold, Underground Resource Estimate Sensitivity Table
Indicated Inferred
Cut-Off
Grades
Tonnes
(t)
Grade
(g/t Au)
Ounces
(oz)
Tonnes
(t)
Grade
(g/t Au)
Ounces
(oz)
1.50 1,584,000 3.30 168,000 28,201,000 2.99 2,711,000
2.00 1,035,000 4.10 136,000 18,983,000 3.59 2,190,000
2.60 701,000 4.95 112,000 12,268,000 4.30 1,695,000
3.00 545,000 5.53 97,000 9,443,000 4.74 1,438,000
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Mineral Resource Methodology, Assumptions and Cut-Off Grades
Modeling was conducted in the Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) coordinate space relative to the
North American Datum (NAD) 1983, and UTM zone 17N. The mineral resource block model utilized a
block size of 2.5 m (X) x 2.5 m (Y) x 2.5 m (Z) to honor the mineralization wireframes. The percentage of
the volume of each block below the bare earth surface, below the modeled waste overburden surface
and within each mineralization domain was calculated using the 3D geological models and a 3D surface
model. For the open pit resources, the block model was block -averaged up to a 5 m (X) x 5 m (Y) x 5 m
(Z) SMU block size for pit optimization with the outer blocks on the boundaries of the domains diluted.
The MRE is based on the combination of geological modeling, geostatistics and conventional block
modeling using the Ordinary Kriging method of grade interpolation with locally varying anisotropy
variogram models.
The Golden Highway area drillhole database consists of 748 drill holes that intersected the interpreted
mineralization wireframes. The gold assays were composited to 1 met re composites lengths and the
estimation utilized 75,652 composited samples. A total of 10% of the total drilled met res insid e the
interpreted mineralization wireframes were not sampled, assumed to be waste, and assigned a nominal
waste value of half the detection limit of modern assay methods (0.0025 g/t)
The Garrison area drillhole database consists of 992 drillholes that int ersect the interpreted
mineralization wireframes. The gold assays were composited to 1 met re composites lengths and the
estimation utilized 166,673 composited samples. A total of 13% of the total drilled met res inside the
interpreted mineralization wireframes were not sampled, assumed to be waste, and assigned a nominal
waste value of half the detection limit of modern assay methods (0.0025 g/t).
The Gold estimation was completed using ordinary kriging. The search ellipsoid size used to estimate the
Au gra des was defined by the modelled variograms. Block grade estimation employed locally varying
anisotropy, which uses different rotation angles to define the principal directions of the variogram
model and search ellipsoid on a per -block basis. Blocks within estimation domains are assigned rotation
angles using a modelled 3D mineralization trend surface wireframe, which allows structural complexities
to be reproduced in the estimated block model. The number of variogram structures, contributions of
each structure, and their ranges are set per estimation domain and do not vary within the estimation
domain.
A total of 11,252 bulk density samples are available from the Golden Highway area drillhole database.
APEX personnel performed exploratory data analysis of the bulk density samples available and the
density was assigned for each deposit in the Golden Highway area. The density of the deposits ranged
from 2.7 g/cm 3 to 2.84 g/cm 3. The non -mineralized zones were assigned density based on lithological
unit. The modeled overburden was assigned a density of 1.8 g/cm3.
A total of 4,228 bulk density samples were available from the Garrison area drillhole database. APEX
personnel performed exploratory data analysis of the bulk density samples available and density was
assigned based on lithological unit. The density of the lithological units ranged from 2.77 g/cm 3 to 3.1
g/cm3. The modeled overburden was assigned a density of 1.8 g/cm3.
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The resource is classified according to the CIM “Estimation of Mineral Resources an d Mineral Reserves
Best Practice Guidelines” dated November 29th, 2019 , and CIM “Definition Standards for Mineral
Resources and Mineral Reserves” dated May 10th, 2014. Mr. Dufresne believes the Tower Gold project
has the potential for future economic extraction. The unconstrained resource block model was
subjected to several open pit optimization scenarios and underground mining parameters. The following
criteria, detailed in Table 7 and Table 8, were considered reasonable and were utilized.
Table 7: Tower Gold, Parameters Used for Open Pit Resource Estimate
Parameters Unit Value
Gold Price US$/oz 1,750
Exchange Rate US$/C$ 0.78
Mill Recovery by Deposit
Discovery, Windjammer-North % 89.40
Windjammer-Central % 92.20
Windjammer-South % 94.10
South West % 93.33
Westaway, Westblock, 55 % 92.54
Bulk Rock Banded Iron Formation % 90
903 Formula
1-(0.0828*Head Grade Au Gpt
^ 0.4854)/Head Grade Au Gpt)
Jonpol – Non-Refractory % 92.54
Jonpol – Refractory % 56.20
Garrcon % 96.11
Mining Parameters
Sell Cost C$/oz 2.40
Royalties* % 0.00/1.50
Mining Cost - Rock C$/t mined 2.75
Mining Cost – Overburden C$/t mined 1.84
G&A Cost C$/t milled 1.00
Processing Cost C$/t milled 10.60
Pit Slope in Rock degrees 50
Pit Slope in Overburden degrees 25
Reporting Cut-Off Grade Au g/t 0.30
*Golden Highway area has no royalties and in the Garrison area royalties average 1.50%
For the open pit optimization, the estimation models were block averaged to a 5m x 5m x 5m SMU block
size and the blocks partially outside of the mineralized wireframes were diluted with a nominal waste
value of 0.0025 g/t based on the volume of block outs ide of the mineralized wireframes. The overall
strip ratio for the Golden Highway area and the Garrison area open pits was 4.8:1 and 5.2:1 respectively,
inclusive of overburden.
The calculated cut -off of 0.30 g/t Au was selected in reporting the open pit mineral resources in the
2022 resource estimates using the 5m x 5m x 5m SMU block size model.
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Table 8: Tower Gold, Parameters Used for Underground Mineral Resource Estimate
Parameters Unit Value
Gold Price US$/oz 1,750
Exchange Rate US$/C$ 0.78
Mill Recovery % 92.00
Sell Cost C$/oz 2.40
Payable % 99.95
Royalties % 0.00/1.50
Mining Cost C$/t mined 75.00
G&A Cost C$/t milled 1.00
Processing Cost C$/t milled 10.60
Cut-Off Grade Au g/t 2.60
*Golden Highway area has no royalties and Garrison area royalties average 1.50%
The calculated cut-off of 2.60 g/t Au was selected in reporting the underground mineral resource in the
2022 resource estimates. Underground mineral resources below the resource open pit are constrained
by wireframe solids that encapsulate contiguous 2.5m x 2.5m x 2.5m underground blocks that are above
the 2.60 g/t Au cut-off with a volume greater than 1,400 m3.
Figure 1: Tower Gold Project: Mineral Resource Location Map
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Figure 2: Tower Gold project: Mineral Resources- Isometric View to NW
Figure 3: Golden Highway Area: Mineral Resources- Plan View