Batero Gold Corp. (Batero, or the Company) (TSX VENTURE:BAT) has filed the
complete National Instrument 43-101 technical report pertaining to the updated
mineral resource estimate and preliminary economic assessment (PEA) for the
Batero-Quinchia gold deposit on its 100-per-cent-owned gold project located in
Risaralda, Colombia. The technical report is available on SEDAR and Batero
Gold's website. For detailed results please see the Batero Gold Corp. news
release dated November 4, 2013.
PEA Highlights
The PEA evaluates the economics of an open pit contract mining and heap leach
processing scenario that takes advantage of the relatively high gold recoveries
and fast leach kinetics of the surface oxide mineralization within the
Batero-Quinchia deposit. Higher grade, near surface mixed and primary
mineralization within the oxide pit footprint are also mined.
Highlights from the PEA, with a base case gold price of US$1,400/oz are as
follows (all figures are in U.S. dollars unless otherwise stated):
-- Mine life of seven years at 3.5 million tonnes per annum production
steady state (10,000 tonnes per day).
-- Life-of-Mine (LoM) gold production of 390,000 ounces of gold and 817,000
ounces of silver recovered.
-- Annual average production of 56,000 ounces of gold and 117,000 ounces of
silver recovered.
-- Total open pit production which has been factored for mining extraction
and mining dilution:
-- 9.4 Mt of Measured Mineral Resources at 0.81 g/t Au and 1.8 g/t Ag
for 244,000 ounces of contained gold and 545,000 ounces of contained
silver,
-- 11.0 Mt of Indicated Mineral Resources at 0.77 g/t Au and 2.0 g/t Ag
for 273,000 ounces of contained gold and 720,000 ounces of contained
silver,
-- 3.3 Mt of Inferred Mineral Resources at 0.59 g/t Au and 1.6 g/t Ag
for 64,000 ounces of contained gold and 171,000 ounces of contained
silver.
-- Approximately 86% of open pit production tonnage is classified as
Measured or Indicated Mineral Resources.
-- Mining strip ratio of 0.3:1 (waste: production).
-- LoM average gold and silver heap leach recoveries of 67% and 57%
respectively.
-- Initial capital cost of $97.3 million, which includes $16.2 million in
contingency costs.
-- Pre-tax payback of 23 months.
-- Net pre-tax cash flow of $105.0 million.
-- Pre-tax Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 27%.
-- Pre-tax Net Present Value (NPV) at a 5% discount rate of $69.1 million.
-- Total cash operating cost (net of silver credits) of $842 per ounce
gold.
-- After-tax payback of 30 months.
-- Net after-tax cash flow of $76.9 million.
-- After-tax IRR of 21%.
-- After-tax NPV at a 5% discount rate of $47.3 million.
-- The mineralized production from the PEA is defined from less than 45 %
of the measured mineral resource and less than 15 % of the indicated
mineral resource.
-- A 10% change in head grade, recovery, or gold price results in an
approximate +/-$40 million change in the pre-tax NPV at a 5% discount
rate.
The PEA was prepared by RPA in accordance with the standards set out in NI
43-101. The PEA is considered preliminary in nature. It includes inferred
mineral resources that are considered too speculative to have the economic
considerations applied that would enable classification as mineral reserves.
There is no certainty that the conclusions within the PEA will be realized.
Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated
economic viability.
Project Opportunities
Trade-off studies that include additional exploration of the Antenna and Cumbre
Sur oxide targets are being considered. These areas were defined through 1H 2013
exploration results and are located within 200 meters of the proposed La Cumbre
open pit. The Antenna and Cumbre Sur exploration targets are outside the current
mineral resource area.
Continue with a more extensive metallurgical testing program using a variety of
samples. Relevant to the PEA, the test program should investigate the impact of
heap leaching and vat leaching mineralization at various crush sizes as well as
the effect of leach time, solution application rate, stacking height, cyanide
concentration, and rest cycles on the overall metallurgical behavior of the
mineralization.
Core loss through triple tube drilling in 2012 was observed as reduced in
comparison to 2011 drilling. Grade improvement was observed with reduced core
loss. Further review of core loss from 2011 drilling for grade differential to
2012 drilling is recommended.
Exploration Targets and Epithermal Mineralization
Targets generated by Batero in 2013 via data compilation, new mapping, and
sampling include two areas with potential for gold mineralization within an
oxide zone, both adjacent to the La Cumbre deposit (Antenna and Cumbre Sur), six
targets for vein or fault controlled mineralization with samples results ranging
from 1.0 g/t Au to 36.6 g/t Au (Kobey, Matecana, Triunfo, La Perla, Llanadas,
Esmeralda), and a single target for a gold-copper porphyry style deposit
(Esmeralda SW) such as La Cumbre, El Centro, and Dos Quebradas (Table 1).
TABLE 1 EXPLORATION TARGETS
Batero Gold Corp. - Batero-Quinchia Project
Soil Anomaly Geophysical Anomaly
Target Name Mineralization Style Components type
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Antenna Oxide Au Au
Cumbre Sur Oxide Au Au, Cu
Kobey High grade vein Au, Ag, As, Sb, Hg Linear structure
Au, Cu, Ag, As, Sb, Linear & intrusion
Matecana High grade vein Pb, Zn structures
Au, Cu, Ag, As, Sb,
Triunfo High grade vein Hg, Pb, Zn Linear structure
La perla High grade vein Au, Cu, Zn Linear structure
Llanadas High grade vein Au, Cu, Ag, Hg Linear structure
Cu, Ag, As, Sb, Hg,
Esmeralda High grade vein Pb, Zn Linear structure
Esmeralda SW Porphyry Au, Cu, Ag, Sb, Mo Intrusion structure
Epithermal mineralization discovered within and adjacent to the La Cumbre
deposit, as well as structurally controlled mineralization throughout the El
Centro and Dos Quebradas deposit areas require further investigation. Higher
grade intersections including two metres grading 43.4 g/t Au in hole LC003, 31.3
m grading 2.85 g/t Au in hole QAP034, 10 m grading 1.4 g/t Au in hole SB007, and
53.6 m grading 1.31 g/t Au in hole LC001, occur in the porphyry mineralization.
In addition, there are high grade results from samples collected from several
rehabilitated tunnel exposures. Results to highlight from the La Cumbre Mines
tunnels include selective 2m grab samples from fault-vein structures that are
summarized in Table 2. Standardized 2m tunnel back samples from the La Cumbre
Mines tunnels taken across fault-vein structures are listed in Table 3. Lateral
channel samples from the La Cumbre Mines tunnels taken outside of fault and vein
structures within wallrock are listed in Table 4.
TABLE 2 LA CUMBRE MINES VEIN GRAB SAMPLE HIGHLIGHTS
Batero Gold Corp. - Batero-Quinchia Project
Location Length (m) g/t Au g/t Ag
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tunnel TULC6 Grab 16.65 5.3
Tunnel TULC6 Grab 7.26 4.5
Tunnel TULCPP Grab 7.76 51.5
Tunnel TULCPP Grab 6.92 34.9
Tunnel TULC2 Grab 5.45 69.8
Tunnel TULCPP Grab 5.40 47.8
Tunnel TULCPP Grab 4.12 25.0
Tunnel TULCPP Grab 2.69 3.9
Tunnel TULCPP Grab 2.97 2.9
TABLE 3 LA CUMBRE MINES TWO METRE VEIN SAMPLE HIGHLIGHTS
Batero Gold Corp. - Batero-Quinchia Project
Location Length (m) g/t Au g/t Ag
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tunnel TULC8 2 13.2 11.7
Tunnel TULC3 2 3.53 8.3
Tunnel TULC8 2 3.13 20.6
TABLE 4 LA CUMBRE MINES WALLROCK SAMPLE HIGHLIGHTS
Batero Gold Corp. - Batero-Quinchia Project
Location Length (m) g/t Au g/t Ag
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tunnel TULC2 4 3.62 4.4
Tunnel TULCPP 8 1.23 1.3
Tunnel TULCPP 4 1.19 1.2
Tunnel TULCPP 6 1.10 2.3
Tunnel TULC2 10 0.69 2.9
Tunnel TULC2 81 1.19 15.0
Mandeval Mines tunnels highlights of selective grab samples from mineralized
fault-vein structures are summarized in Table 5.
TABLE 5 MANDEVAL MINES VEIN GRAB SAMPLE HIGHLIGHTS
Batero Gold Corp. - Batero-Quinchia Project
Location Length (m) g/t Au g/t Ag
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tunnel 7 Grab 64.50 26.4
Tunnel 7 Grab 11.65 19.8
Principal Tunnel Grab 9.57 228.0
Principal Tunnel Grab 6.92 34.9
Principal Tunnel Grab 5.68 35.7
Principal Tunnel Grab 4.66 47.1
Principal Tunnel Grab 8.99 56.5
Authors and Qualified Persons Statement
The PEA results contained in this news release were prepared by or under the
supervision of Mr. Luke Evans, M. Sc., P.Eng., of RPA, Mr. Glen Ehasoo, P.Eng.,
of RPA, and Dr. Kathleen Ann Altman, Ph.D., P.E., of RPA, who are independent
"Qualified Persons" under NI 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral
Projects.
Darryl Lindsay, Ph.D., P.Geo. Interim Chief Executive Officer at Batero Gold is
the qualified person as defined by NI 43-101 and is responsible for the
technical information provided in this release and all future news releases.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF BATERO GOLD CORP.
Darryl Lindsay, Interim CEO, Batero Gold Corporation
ABOUT BATERO GOLD
Batero Gold Corp. is a precious and base metals exploration and development
Company. The Company is focused on two primary objectives. The first of these
objectives is the advancement of the La Cumbre oxide deposit. La Cumbre is
located within the Company's 100% owned Batero-Quinchia Gold Project, which sits
within Colombia's emerging and prolific Mid Cauca gold and copper belt. Batero
is moving the La Cumbre oxide deposit towards the goal of making a production
decision, once the appropriate level of study has been completed, and intends to
first target the near and at surface higher grade oxidized gold mineralization
at the deposit. Batero's second objective is to pursue opportunities to acquire
prospective high-grade, production focused mineral properties in Colombia and
Latin America. In pursuing both these objectives, Batero plans to leverage its
secure treasury position, strong regional relationships, experienced management
team, and long-term financial partners. Shares of the Vancouver-based company
trade on the Toronto Venture Exchange under the symbol BAT.
FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS Certain of the statements and information in this
press release constitute "forward-looking statements" or "forward-looking
information". Any statements or information that express or involve discussions
with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections,
objectives, assumptions or future events or performance (often, but not always,
using words or phrases such as "expects", "anticipates", "believes", "plans",
"estimates", "intends", "targets", "goals", "forecasts", "objectives",
"potential" or variations thereof or stating that certain actions, events or
results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be
achieved, or the negative of any of these terms and similar expressions) are not
statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking statements or
information.
Forward-looking statements or information relate to the Company's anticipated
content and cost of exploration programs, anticipated timing and results of
exploration programs, planned exploration and development programs, the
potential for a production decision to be made, the potential commencement of
any development of a mine at the Batero-Quinchia project following a production
decision, and the potential for any mining or production at the Batero-Qunichia
project. These statements relate to analysis and other information that are
based on expectations of future performance as set out in the PEA, including
gold and silver production and planned work programs. In addition, forward
looking statements relate to, among other things: developing the most efficient
and cost-effective leach processing circuit for the Cumbre gold deposit, the
timing and scope of expected diamond drilling; resource estimate grades on the
Batero-Quinchia project; scope of mineralization within the Batero-Quinchia
project; timing of receipt of permits and regulatory approvals; the sufficiency
of the Company's capital to finance the Company's operations; geological
interpretations and potential mineral recovery processes.
Forward-looking statements or information are subject to a variety of known and
unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or
results to differ from those reflected in the forward-looking statements or
information, including, without limitation, risks relating to: uncertainty as to
actual capital costs, operating costs, production and economic returns, and
uncertainty that development activities will result in a profitable mining
operation at the Batero-Quinchia project, fluctuations in the spot and forward
price of gold or certain other commodities; changes in national and local
government legislation, taxation, controls, regulations and political or
economic developments in Canada, Colombia or other countries in which the
Company may carry on business in the future; the uncertainties involved in
interpreting geological data; business opportunities that may be presented to,
or pursued by, the Company; operating or technical difficulties in connection
with mining activities; the speculative nature of gold exploration and
development, including the risks of obtaining necessary licenses and permits;
risks related to mineral resource estimates being based on interpretations and
assumptions which may result in less mineral production under actual conditions
than is currently estimated and to diminishing quantities or grades of mineral
resources as the Batero-Quinchia project is mined; and contests over title to
properties, particularly title to undeveloped properties. In addition, there are
risks and hazards associated with the business of gold exploration, development
and mining, including environmental hazards, industrial accidents, unusual or
unexpected formations, pressures, cave-ins, flooding and gold bullion losses
(and the risk of inadequate insurance, or the inability to obtain insurance, to
cover these risks).
Should one or more of these risks and uncertainties materialize, or should
underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from
those described in the forward-looking statements or information. The Company's
forward looking statements and information are based on beliefs, expectations,
and opinions of management on the date the statements are made. For the reasons
set forth above, investors should not place undue reliance on forward looking
statements or information.
The information in this news release addressed the PEA, and is not intended to
be an exhaustive review of all matters or developments that may affect the
Company. It should be read in conjunction with all other disclosure documents of
the Company. No securities commission or other regulatory authority has reviewed
the accuracy or adequacy of the information presented in this news release.
Neither 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.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
Batero Gold Corp.
604.568.6378
info@baterogold.com
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