TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - June 10, 2014) - Eurotin Inc. ("Eurotin" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE:TIN), is pleased to provide the following resource update on its Oropesa tin ("Sn") project, located in SW Spain.
Highlights
- At a 0.3% cut-off, the updated Mineral Resource contains 7.44 million tonnes at 0.52% Sn (38,430 tonnes of contained tin) and 2.14 million tonnes at 0.53% Sn (22,261 tonnes of contained tin) in the Indicated and Inferred classification categories, respectively.
- At a 0.1% Sn cut off, the updated Mineral Resource contains 54,690 and 16,078 tonnes of contained tin in the Indicated and Inferred classification categories, respectively, compared to 28,764 and 22,871 tonnes of contained tin in the Indicated and Inferred classification categories, respectively, in the October 2012 Mineral Resource. This represents an aggregate increase of 37% in contained tin.
- At a 0.1% cut-off, the average grade has increased to 0.37% Sn from 0.32% Sn and 0.26% Sn in each of the Indicated and Inferred classification categories, respectively.
- Resource confirms the positive open pit potential of the Oropesa tin deposit.
The updated Oropesa Mineral Resource Estimate was completed by SRK Consulting (UK) Ltd ("SRK") and has been restricted to all classified material within 200 metres from the topographic surface and above a marginal cut-off grade of 0.1% Sn. This represents the material which has a reasonable prospect for eventual economic extraction by open pit mining methods. The Mineral Resource statement has been prepared by SRK in accordance with Canadian Securities Administrators' National Instrument 43-101 "Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects" ("NI 43-101").
The table below shows the resulting Mineral Resource Statement for Oropesa at a marginal cut-off grade of 0.1% Sn. The statement is based on calculations to derive sub-totals, totals and weighted averages. Such calculations inherently involve a degree of rounding and consequently introduce a margin of error. Where these occur, SRK does not consider them to be material. The Mineral Resource Estimation methodology and accompanying Mineral Resource Statement is included in Appendix 1.
| MATERIAL TYPE | CATEGORY | TONNES (Mt) | Sn% | CONTAINED TIN (t) |
| OXIDE | INDICATED | 3.3 | 0.35 | 11,447 |
| INFERRED | 1.1 | 0.35 | 3,948 | |
| FRESH | INDICATED | 11.6 | 0.37 | 43,243 |
| INFERRED | 3.2 | 0.38 | 12,130 |
| Notes: |
| (1) Mineral Resources which are not Mineral Reserves have no demonstrated economic viability. |
| (2) The effective date of the Mineral Resource is June 5, 2014. |
| (3) The Mineral Resource Estimate for the Oropesa project was constrained within grade based solids and above an elevation of 200m below the topographic surface. |
| (4) The incremental cut-off grade is based on a Sn price of US$23,000/t and a process recovery of 76%. For incremental material, mining costs were ignored and a combined processing and G&A cost of US$12/t were assumed. |
The geological model, statistical and geostatistical analysis, selection of resource estimation parameters, construction of the block model and estimation of grade was undertaken by Mr. Oliver Jones, FGS, under the guidance of Mr. Howard Baker, FAusIMM(CP), both employees of SRK. By virtue of his education, work experience that is relevant to the style of mineralization and deposit type under consideration and to the activity undertaken, and membership to a recognized professional organization, Mr. Baker is considered a Qualified Person pursuant to National Instrument 43-101 and is wholly independent from Eurotin. Mr. Baker has verified the technical data contained in this news release and has reviewed and approved the contents of this news release with respect to the Mineral Resource Estimation.
A comparison between the updated Mineral Resource Estimate and the previous Mineral Resource Estimate, reported in October 2012, at incremental cut off grades is illustrated in the tables below.
| Indicated Resource - 2014 | Indicated Resource - 2012 | ||||||
| Sn Cut Off Grade | Tonnes (Mt) | Tin Grade (%) | Contained Sn (t) | Tonnes (Mt) | Tin Grade (%) | Contained Tin (t) | |
| 0.00% | 14.96 | 0.37 | 54,733 | 9.62 | 0.30 | 28,856 | |
| 0.10% | 14.87 | 0.37 | 54,690 | 9.00 | 0.32 | 28,764 | |
| 0.20% | 12.30 | 0.41 | 50,436 | 6.39 | 0.38 | 24,288 | |
| 0.30% | 7.44 | 0.52 | 38,430 | 3.25 | 0.51 | 16,559 | |
| 0.40% | 4.90 | 0.61 | 29,683 | 1.84 | 0.64 | 11,763 | |
| Inferred Resource - 2014 | Inferred Resource - 2012 | ||||||
| Sn Cut Off Grade | Tonnes (Mt) | Tin Grade (%) | Contained Sn (t) | Tonnes (Mt) | Tin Grade (%) | Contained Tin (t) | |
| 0.00% | 4.36 | 0.37 | 16,089 | 9.40 | 0.25 | 23,512 | |
| 0.10% | 4.34 | 0.37 | 16,078 | 8.80 | 0.26 | 22,871 | |
| 0.20% | 3.59 | 0.41 | 14,839 | 5.35 | 0.34 | 18,185 | |
| 0.30% | 2.14 | 0.53 | 11,261 | 2.54 | 0.43 | 10,921 | |
| 0.40% | 1.30 | 0.64 | 8,374 | 1.13 | 0.54 | 6,126 | |
At a 0.1% Sn cut off, the updated Mineral Resource contains 70,768 tonnes of contained tin in the combined Indicated and Inferred classification categories, compared to 51,635 tonnes of contained tin in the combined Indicated and Inferred classification categories in the October 2012 Mineral Resource. This represents an increase of 37% in contained tin. The principal reasons for the significant increase of contained tin, plus the increase in the amount of material in the Indicated Resource category in the new resource, are:
- The inclusion of results from an additional 36 holes drilled in 2012 and 2013; and
- A re-interpretation of the lithological and structural controls on the tin mineralisation that has resulted in a more selective and tighter control on the mineralisation domains created. This has resulted in a reduction in the amount of diluting material from within the mineralisation domains and has improved the overall continuity of the interpretation.
Comments
- The updated Mineral Resource Estimate is currently being used in the production of a Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA") for the Oropesa project.
- The resource figures are reported only for a potential open pit with a maximum depth of 200 metres and exclude all drill intercepts of mineralisation below that depth.
- The Oropesa resource has been estimated from within a zone of tin mineralisation with the following approximate parameters: i) a length of 1,500 metres, ii) a width of 250 metres, and iii) a vertical depth of 270 metres. Mineralisation remains open to the west, east and at depth.
- The combined resource figures demonstrate some 30,000 tonnes of contained tin within the first 100 metres from surface and 40,000 tonnes of contained tin between 100 metres and 200 metres from surface.
- SRK has modelled a high grade, vertically dipping domain averaging 0.6% Sn in the western part of the project. Due to the low waste : ore stripping ratio and the presence of near surface mineralisation within this domain, the opportunity for a starter pit operation will be tested as part of the on-going PEA.
- Further information on the updated resource figures is given in Appendix 1 at the end of this release.
Conclusion
David Danziger, interim President & CEO, comments: "This new resource is a major step forward in our goal of developing Oropesa into a significant tin producer. We anticipate finding additional surface resources for a potential open pit operation, however due to the type of tin mineralisation at Oropesa, we also recognise that the project's greatest potential probably lies at depths greater than 200 metres."
SRK's Oropesa Mineral Resource Technical Report will be filed on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) within 45 days.
Forward-Looking Statements
Results presented in this press release are exploratory in nature. Historical data, if mentioned, should not be relied upon, as they are not admissible under NI 43-101 rules and the Company has not conducted sufficient testing to verify this type of information. In addition, this press release includes certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Canadian securities laws that are based on expectations, estimates and projections as of the date of this press release. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove accurate, and actual results and developments are likely to differ, in some case materially, from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements contained in this press release. Readers of this press release are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements.
Forward-looking statements contained in this press release are based on a number of assumptions that may prove to be incorrect, including, but not limited to: timely implementation of anticipated drilling and exploration programs; the successful completion of new development projects, planned expansions or other projects within the timelines anticipated and at anticipated production levels; the accuracy of reserve and resource estimates, grades, mine life and cash cost estimates; whether mineral resources can be developed; title to mineral properties; financing requirements, general market conditions, and the uncertainty of access to additional capital; changes in the world-wide price of mineral commodities; general economic conditions; and changes in laws, rules and regulations applicable to the Company. In addition to being subject to a number of assumptions, forward-looking statements in this press release involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results and developments to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. The Company has no intention or obligation to update the forward-looking statements contained in this press 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.
Appendix 1
Geology and Mineralisation
The Oropesa property lies within the "West European Tin Belt", which is approximately 200 km wide and trends in a northerly direction cutting across western Spain, northeastern Portugal, western France and terminating in Cornwall and Devon in the southwest of the United Kingdom.
The Oropesa property is situated at the west-northwestern end of the Penarroya-Belmez-Espiel basin. The basin is a 50 km long and 1 km wide graben which formed during the Mid to Late Carboniferous, it is bounded by a normal fault to the north and a thrust fault to the south.
The dominant lithologies that comprise the Oropesa property are a series of NE dipping greywackes, conglomerates and shales that terminate against the NW-SE trending Escondida Fault. To the north of the fault lies an unmineralised coarse conglomerate unit.
Mineralisation at Oropesa has been interpreted to occur as a multistage system, with the main vein structures following major lithological contacts and structures. Some six to seven mineralising events have been recognised, starting with an early cassiterite bearing phase followed by a lower temperature mixed base metal sulphide phase.
Along the southern boundary of the project area a granitic intrusion of unknown age has been identified. It is currently not known whether this granite is related to or the source of the Sn mineralisation.
Geological Model
Geological modelling was conducted using Leapfrog Mining Software. Lithological logging files were received from the client and used to create a lithological model of the main greywacke, conglomerate and shale units as well as a number of faults and a shallow layer of overburden. A base of oxidation surface was also generated.
Given the strong lithological control on mineralisation, the geological model was then used to inform the creation of mineralised wireframe domains. Based on preliminary mining and metallurgical input, SRK has used an approximate Sn cut off of 0.1% to define the limits of potentially economic mineralisation using manually digitised wireframe solids.
During the course of constructing the mineralisation wireframes, two broad mineralisation styles were identified at Oropesa. The first style is characterised by steeply dipping zones of relatively high grade Sn mineralisation. The zones are considered to be litho-structurally controlled and likely related to E-W sinistral faulting. The second mineralisation type relates to a broad group of shallow NE dipping zones which follow the lithological contacts between greywacke, shale and conglomerate units.
A total of 23 mineralisation domains were created, these were then subdivided into two mineralisation styles and further split by oxidation state.
Mineral Resource Estimate
A 2 m composite file was used in a geostatistical study (variography and Quantitative Kriging Neighbourhood Analysis - "QKNA") that enabled Ordinary Kriging ("OK") to be used as the main interpolation method. The interpolation used an elliptical search following the predominant dip and dip direction of the mineralized domains and utilising the dynamic anisotropy function in CAE Datamine Studio 3 to guide the ellipse in areas of gentle undulations to the mineralized domains. The results of the variography and the QKNA were utilised to determine the most appropriate search parameters.
The interpolated block model was validated through visual checks and a comparison of the mean input composite and output model grades. SRK is confident that the interpolated block grades are a reasonable reflection of the available sample data.
The Oropesa grade estimate was classified as a combination of Indicated and Inferred. This classification was completed based on the quality of the input data, the geological understanding and the robustness of the grade interpolation.
To determine the final Mineral Resource Statement, and so as to comply with the NI 43-101 guidelines, the resulting blocks have been subjected to a Whittle pit optimization exercise to determine the proportion of the material defined that has a reasonable prospect of economic extraction. This exercise is not intended to generate a Mineral Reserve and is purely used to assist in determining the possible down dip extent of the Mineral Resource. The optimization was undertaken to assist in determining the potential depth extent that an open pit operation could support and in the determination of a suitable cut-off grade for resource reporting. SRK notes that some of the assumptions used in the optimization are high level estimates based on the data available at the time, and in particular to the quantity of representative metallurgical testwork results that have been undertaken on the project to date.
The optimization study showed that an open pit operation could be supported to a potential depth extent of the 200 m below the current topographic surface and that a lower cut-off grade of 0.1% Sn is appropriate.
The Mineral Resource Statement generated by SRK has been restricted to all classified material within 200 m from the topographic surface and above a marginal cut-off grade of 0.1% Sn. This represents the material which SRK considers has reasonable prospect for eventual economic extraction potential. Table shows the resulting Mineral Resource Statement for Oropesa.
The statement has been classified by a Qualified Person, Howard Baker (FAusIMM(CP)) in accordance with the Guidelines of NI 43-101 and accompanying documents 43-101.F1 and 43-101.CP. It has an effective date of 5 June 2014. Mineral Resources that are not Mineral Reserves have no demonstrated economic viability. SRK and Eurotin are not aware of any factors (environmental, permitting, legal, title, taxation, socio-economic, marketing, political, or other relevant factors) that have materially affected the Mineral Resource Estimate. The Oropesa project is a greenfield site and therefore is not affected by any mining, metallurgical or infrastructure factors.
The quantity and grade of reported Inferred Mineral Resources in this estimation are uncertain in nature and there has been insufficient exploration to define these Inferred Mineral Resources as an Indicated or Measured Mineral Resource; and it is uncertain if further exploration will result in upgrading them to an Indicated or Measured Mineral Resource category.
Table 1: Mineral Resource Statement for the Oropesa Sn project - reported to a depth of 200 m and above a 0.1% Sn cut-off grade
| MATERIAL | CLASSIFICATION CATEGORY | TONNES (Mt) | Sn% | Contained Sn (Tonnes) |
| Oxide (0.1COG) | MEASURED | - | - | - |
| INDICATED | 3.3 | 0.35 | 11,447 | |
| MEAS + IND | 3.3 | 0.35 | 11,447 | |
| INFERRED | 1.1 | 0.35 | 3,948 | |
| Fresh (0.1 COG) | MEASURED | - | - | - |
| INDICATED | 11.6 | 0.37 | 43,243 | |
| MEAS + IND | 11.6 | 0.37 | 43,243 | |
| INFERRED | 3.2 | 0.38 | 12,130 |
| Notes: |
| (1) Mineral Resources which are not Mineral Reserves have no demonstrated economic viability. |
| (2) The effective date of the Mineral Resource is 5 June 2014. |
| (3) The Mineral Resource Estimate for the Oropesa project was constrained within grade based solids and above an elevation of 200m below the topographic surface. |
| (4) The incremental cut-off grade is based on a Sn price of US$23,000/t and a process recovery of 76%. For incremental material, mining costs were ignored and a combined processing and G&A cost of US$12/t were assumed. |
In total, SRK has derived an Oxide Indicated Mineral Resource of 3.3 Mt grading 0.35% Sn and a Fresh Indicated Mineral Resource of 11.6 Mt grading 0.37% Sn. Additionally, SRK has derived an Oxide Inferred Mineral Resource of 1.1 Mt grading 0.35% Sn and a Fresh Inferred Mineral Resource of 3.2 Mt grading 0.38% Sn.
Contact Information:
David Danziger
CEO and President
(416) 641-4940
www.eurotin.ca