Titan Mining Announces Mineral Resource Increase and Commences Study of 3,000-Tons-Per-Day Life-of-Mine Plan at Empire State Mines
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Titan Mining Announces Mineral Resource Increase and Commences Study of
3,000-Tons-Per-Day Life-of-Mine Plan at Empire State Mines
Vancouver, B.C., April 10, 2018 – Titan Mining Corporation (“Titan” or the “Company”) (TSX:TI)
today announced an updated mineral resource at Empire State Mines’ #4 mine in northern New
York State . The Company expects to file an updated preliminary economic analysis (“PEA”)
technical report under National Instrument 43 -101 within 45 days . Unless otherwise noted,
financial information is presented in U.S. dollars.
Highlights
The inferred mineral resources increase by 3.1 million tons, or 138%, to 5.4 million tons
at an undiluted grade of 12.50% zinc from the previous estimate of 2.3 million tons at an
undiluted grade of 13.37% zinc(1).
The mineral resource expansion is based on an initial review of existing data on remnants
at the Empire State Mines’ #4 mine only.
Potential exists for additional remnant resources at the Empire State Mines, with further
resource potential from zone extensions and regional exploration.
The updated PEA is based on the existing mine plan, and the main update from the 2017
PEA(1) is the inclusion of the economic impact of U.S. tax reform(2).
Commenced study on expansion to 3,000 tons per day life-of-mine in 2020, incorporating
additional resources into a new mine plan.
“The inferred mineral resources at the #4 mine have more than doubled since April 2017,” said
Scott Burkett , Vice President, Exploration , “showing the tremendous potential for resource
addition at the Empire State Mines, which underpins our growth strategy. We are in the process
of digitizing 100 years of exploration data and see further resource upside as additional data is
reviewed. Remnants in the #2 and #3 mines and other areas in the #4 mine have the potential to
add multiples of the current incremental mineral resource.”
Eric Strom, Vice President, Projects and Innovation, stated, “We are excited about this mineral
resource update, as it is key to our future. We have improved the potential for additional
production areas and are now considering which advanced technologies we will use to boost
productivity – both are important step s towards achieving our objectives of levering excess
capacity and producing at a rate of 3,000 tons per day by 2020 and 5,000 tons per day by 2022.”
(1) Refer to the technical report entitled “NI 43-101 Preliminary Economic Assessment Technical Report on the Empire State Mines,
Gouverneur, New York, USA”, dated September 19, 2017 (“2017 PEA”); the mineral resource estimate in the 2017 PEA is dated
April 6, 2017.
(2) H.R. 1 – Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017.
Note: The preliminary ec onomic assessment is preliminary in nature, includes inferred mineral resources that are considered too
speculative geologically to have the economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as mine ral
reserves, and there is no certainty that the preliminary economic assessment will be realized. The basis for the preliminary economic
assessment and any qualifications and assumptions are made by the Qualified Person as disclosed in this release.
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Updated Mineral Resources
The inferred mineral resources increased by approximately 3.1 million tons at an undiluted grade
of 11.88% zinc. The additional mineral resources are located in the Mud Pond, Sylvia Lake and
Fowler mineralized zones at the Empire State Mines’ #4 mine, and are based on an initial review
of known data on remnants. Remnants include historic mineralized material write-downs mainly
from 1985, and pillars left in place to provide structural support during previous mining operations.
Tables 1 and 2 summarize the mineral resources at the Empire State Mines’ #4 mine as at
January 31, 2018, and April 6, 2017, respectively.
Table 1 ‒ Mineral Resources at Empire State Mines’ #4 Mine as at January 31, 2018
Mineralized
Zones
Measured Indicated Measured and
Indicated Inferred
‘000
Tons
Grade
(% Zinc)
‘000
Tons
Grade
(% Zinc)
‘000
Tons
Grade
(% Zinc)
‘000
Tons
Grade
(% Zinc)
Mud Pond 337.0 10.40 285.2 10.87 622.2 10.61 1,390.5 10.68
New Fold 68.0 12.75 249.6 11.72 317.6 11.94 539.4 13.97
Mahler 400.5 15.89 700.9 15.27 1,101.4 15.50 516.6 15.59
Other
Mineralization 44.9 10.73 83.5 10.16 128.4 10.36 2,969.6 12.55
Total 850.4 13.19 1,319.2 13.33 2,169.6 13.27 5,416.1 12.50
Table 2 ‒ Mineral Resources at Empire State Mines’ #4 Mine as at April 6, 2017
Mineralized
Zones
Measured Indicated Measured and
Indicated Inferred
‘000
Tons
Grade
(% Zinc)
‘000
Tons
Grade
(% Zinc)
‘000
Tons
Grade
(% Zinc)
‘000
Tons
Grade
(% Zinc)
Mud Pond 336.7 10.40 273.9 10.89 610.6 10.62 392.9 10.70
New Fold 68.0 12.75 249.6 11.72 317.6 11.94 539.4 13.97
Mahler 400.5 15.89 700.9 15.27 1,101.4 15.50 516.6 15.59
Other
Mineralization 44.9 10.73 83.5 10.16 128.4 10.36 827.1 12.85
Total 850.1 13.19 1,307.9 13.35 2,158.0 13.29 2,276.0 13.37
Notes:
1. 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.
2. The underground mining economics used operating costs of $70.00/ton, and a zinc price of $1.00/pound at 96% recovery.
3. Mineral resources are reported in situ using a cut-off grade of 6% zinc to determine reasonable prospects for eventual
economic extraction.
4. Tonnage is reported to the nearest 100 tons, and grades are rounded to the nearest two decimal places.
5. Rounding as required by reporting guidelines may result in apparent summation differences between tons and grade.
6. Mineral resource estimates were completed by Allan Reeves, P.Geo., President of Tuun Consulting Inc.
The additional 3.1 million tons of inferred mineral resources are based primarily on historic drilling.
Historic production from the Mud Pond, Sylvia Lake and Fowler zones at the #4 mine, as shown
in Table 3, was based on the same drill data, and totalled more than 8 million tons at a diluted
grade of 8.13%, demonstrating strong continuity in the mineralized zones.
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Table 3 ‒ Historic Production from Selected Zones at Empire State Mines’ #4 Mine
Mineralized Zones ‘000 Tons Grade (% Zinc)
Mud Pond 2,077.8 6.27
Sylvia Lake 413.7 5.88
Fowler 5,569.2 8.99
Total 8,060.8 8.13
Note: Grade of historic production includes mine dilution.
In addition to the remnants at the Empire State Mines, there is potential resource upside from in-
mine zone extensions and regional exploration.
First Concentrate Shipped
Following the restart of hoisting at the Empire State Mines in late January, production ramped up
to an average mining rate of 470 tons per day in March. Further progress has been made in April,
with a month-to-date mining rate of over 700 tons per day. The first shipment of zinc concentrate
took place in March under the previously -announced offtake agreement with Glencore (refer to
Titan’s news release dated February 26, 2018). Commercial production remains on track for the
second quarter of 201 8, and more detail will be provided with the first quarter 2018 financial
results.
Updated Preliminary Economic Assessment
An updated technical report for the Empire State Mines is expected to be filed within the next 45
days. The updated PEA reflects the economic impact of H.R. 1 – Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017
and a slight increase in operating cost estimates due to higher labour and maintenance cost
assumptions, in line with the modest inflation trends seen in the industry in recent months . Total
gross project capital cost estimates remain relatively unchanged.
In the fourth quarter of 2018, the Company plans to incorporate the additional mineral resources
into a new life-of-mine plan for the Empire State Mines’ #4 mine. A study has commenced on the
expansion of production to 3,000 tons per day life-of-mine from 2020, and an extension of the
estimated mine life beyond the initial eight years shown in Figure 1. It is anticipated that mining
of the additional mineral resources will require the construction of a paste backfill plant. The capital
expenditure required to expand the production rate is expected to be low relative to a greenfield
project given the existing underutilized capacity, and extensive development providing access to
the remnant areas.
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Figure 1 ‒ Growth Strategy: Levering Excess Capacity
Qualified Persons
The mineral resource estimate has been prepared under the guidelines of National Instrument
43-101 (“NI 43 -101”) for reporting of mineral resources. Keith Boyle, P.Eng., Chief Operating
Officer of Titan Mining Corp. and Qualified Person (“QP”) under NI 43 -101, reviewed and
approved the technical content of this news release. The updated PEA was conducted under the
overall review of Michael Makarenko, P.Eng., of JDS Energy and Mining Inc. of Vancouver, British
Columbia, who serves as Principal Author of the updated PEA.
The following independent QPs have assumed authorship of the technical report:
Michael Makarenko P.Eng., JDS Energy and Mining Inc.
Matt Moss P.Eng., JDS Energy and Mining Inc.
Indi Gopinathan, P.Eng., JDS Energy and Mining Inc.
Allan Reeves P.Geo., Tuun Consulting Inc.
Robert Raponi P.Eng., TR Raponi Consulting Ltd.
Cautionary Note on Mineral Resources
Mineral resources were estimated in conformity with CIM’s “Estimation of Mineral Resource and
Mineral Reserve Best Practice Guidelines”. Mineral resources are not mineral reserves and have
no demonstrated economic viability. The PEA does not support an estimate of mineral reserves,
as a pre-feasibility study or feasibility study is required for reporting of mineral reserve estimates.
The PEA is based on mine plan tonnage (mine plan tons and/or mill feed). Inferred mineral
resources are considered too speculative geologically to have economic considerations applied
to them that would enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves, and th ere is no certainty
that all or any part of the mineral resources or mine plan tons would be converted into mineral
reserves.
About Titan Mining Corporation
Titan is a Canadian-based zinc exploration and development company which has as its principal
asset the Empire State Mines in the State of New York. For more information on the Company,
please visit our website at www.titanminingcorp.com.
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Contact
For further information, please contact:
Jerrold Annett – Senior Vice President, Corporate Development
Telephone: 416-366-5678 Ext. 207 | Email: [email protected]
Jacqueline Allison – Vice President, Investor Relations and Strategic Analysis
Telephone: 416-366-5678 Ext. 205 | Email: [email protected]
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information
This press release contains certain forward -looking statements. Words such as “expects”,
“anticipates” and “intends” or similar expressions are intended to identify forward -looking
statements. Forward -looking information is necessarily based on a number of opinions,
assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by the Company as of the date of
this press release, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other
factors that may cause the actual results, use of proce eds or timing of events to be materially
different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information, including, but not
limited to, the factors described in greater detail in the “Risks and Uncertainties” section and other
sections of the Company’s Management’s Discussion and Analysis for the year ended December
31, 201 7, available at www.sedar.com. No securities regulatory authority has expressed an
opinion about the securities described herein and it is an offence to claim otherwise. Titan
undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as
a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required by law.