Pretivm Reports Third Quarter 2012 Results
posted on
Nov 09, 2012 07:39AM
Value Through Gold
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - Nov. 8, 2012) - Pretium Resources Inc. (TSX:PVG)(NYSE:PVG) ("Pretivm") is pleased to report the following highlights from the third quarter of 2012 and updates for its Brucejack Project in northern British Columbia.
Third Quarter 2012 Highlights and Significant Events
2012 Exploration
Drilling over the course of the 2012 Exploration Program successfully demonstrated the continuity and projection of high-grade gold mineralization in Brucejack's Valley of the Kings. A total of 41 intervals with uncut grades over 1,000 grams per tonne gold were intersected in 2012, as compared to 25 from the 2009, 2010 and 2011 programs combined. The Valley of the Kings now extends for over 800 meters along strike and remains open to the east and west along strike and at depth. With our success in defining and extending the strike length of the Valley of the Kings throughout the 2012 drill program, it continued to be the center of our exploration efforts. Other high-grade zones remain to be tested and will be the focus of future exploration programs.
Resource Estimate
On September 7, 2012, we announced an interim high-grade Mineral Resource estimate for the Brucejack Project (see Brucejack Project Mineral Resources Update Technical Report dated September 18, 2012 and filed on SEDAR on September 18, 2012). The Resource estimate, which incorporated drilling up to hole SU-466, was completed by Snowden Mining Industry Consultants ("Snowden") as part of the feasibility study now underway for the Brucejack Project.
High-grade gold resources in the Valley of the Kings (5.0 g/t gold-equivalent cut-off) now total:
The 2012 Mineral Resource estimate for the Brucejack Project, which will incorporate all assays from the 2012 Brucejack Exploration Program, is expected later in the fourth quarter of 2012 or in the first quarter of 2013.
Feasibility Study
Based on the results of a trade-off study completed during the quarter, we decided to advance the Brucejack Project feasibility study on the basis that the gold-silver flotation concentrate will be sold to third parties rather than refined to produce doré on site.
We have also decided to advance the feasibility study with an operating rate of 2,700 tonnes per day, with long-hole stoping and cemented paste backfill chosen for the mining method. Stopes will be mined using a combination of longitudinal and transverse mining, depending on zone width and orientation. Cemented paste tailings will be prepared in a paste plant located on surface near the mill and then pumped underground for distribution to the stopes.
The feasibility study for the Brucejack Project is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2013.
Underground
During the quarter we commenced an underground exploration program designed, amongst other things, to access the Valley of the Kings deposit underground and demonstrate continuity of the high-grade gold mineralization. The first phase of the underground program, now well underway, is to slash out the existing West Zone underground workings to five-by-five meters then excavate a decline from the West Zone to the Valley of the Kings, a distance of approximately 450 meters. We are currently planning the sampling and mining plans for the 10,000 tonne underground bulk sample, which we expect to excavate from the Valley of the Kings in the first half of 2013.
Other Developments
During the third quarter, we completed a private placement of 1,150,000 flow-through common shares at a price of $18.00 per share for aggregate gross proceeds of $20.7 million. The gross proceeds of the offering were used to accelerate exploration of the Valley of the Kings at the Brucejack Project with infill and expansion drilling.
Pretivm's working capital as at September 30, 2012 was $59,776,218.
Pretivm's unaudited consolidated financial statements and Management Discussion and Analysis for the three months ended September 30, 2012 will be available on SEDAR and Pretivm's website www.pretivm.com.
About Pretivm
Pretivm is creating value through gold at its high-grade gold Brucejack Project, located in northern British Columbia. Brucejack hosts a major undeveloped high-grade gold resource and mineralization remains open along strike and at depth. A feasibility study for a high-grade underground mine in Brucejack's Valley of the Kings is underway and expected in the second quarter of 2013.
(SEDAR filings: Pretium Resources Inc.)
The TSX has neither approved nor disapproved of the information contained herein.