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Victorio

The Victorio Molybdenum-Tungsten Project is an advanced-stage exploration property 100% owned by Galway Resources that has been inactive since the early 1980's due to depressed metal pricing. The property has favorable infrastructure such as access by paved road to within a few miles of the site, a nearby railway and a gas pipeline. Victorio is located approximately 20 miles west of Deming, New Mexico, in Luna County.

On April 23, 2008, results of the independent Scoping Study were announced by Galway Resources and filed with SEDAR. The report was done by SRK Consulting and focused on two possible types of low cost underground mining methods, using an average life of mine price of $15/lb molybdenum and $8/lb tungsten. Results of the scoping study (NI 43-101 Technical Report) can be viewed by clicking on the link to the right.

The highlights of the new resource estimate include:

  • Block Caving Scenario: This scenario is a larger project that considers producing an average of just over 9 million pounds of both molybdenum and tungsten each year for 17 years. The preliminary economics suggest an NPV (discount rate of 6%) of over US$275 million, a pre-tax (unlevered) IRR of over 15%, and a required investment in the order of US$440 million.
  • Selective Mining Scenario: This is a smaller scale project that offers higher returns with a pre- tax (unlevered) IRR of 26%, and an NPV of US$95 million. Under this scenario only a portion of the target resource is extracted, with an average of 6.2 million pounds of molybdenum produced each year and 5 million pounds of tungsten for 10 years. The capital required for this scenario is in the order of US$240 million. The mining methods are a combination of long hole stoping with paste backfill and room-and-pillar mining.

VICTORIO SCOPING STUDY SUMMARY

Selective
Scenario

Block Caving Scenario

Net Present Value 6%

US$95 million

US$270 million

Internal Rate of Return (IRR)

26%

15%

Payback

3.2 years

6.3 years

Cash Cost Per Pound Moly *

US$6.03 per/lb

US$8.67 per lb

Annual Ore Production

2.6 million tons

8.2 million tons

Daily Production Rate

8,500 tons

25,000 tons

Mine Life

10 years

17 years

Mineable Resources

28.5 million tons

139 million tons

Average Grade-Molybdenum

.13%

.07%

Average Grade-Tungsten (WO3)

.12%

.07%

Moly Production Per Year

6.2 million lbs

9.4 million lbs

Tungsten Production Per Year

5.0 million lbs

9.0 million lbs

Total Capital Cost

$242 million

$442 million


In 2008, Galway completed a 12-hole, 25,000 foot, phase 2 infill drilling program. The purpose of the infill drilling program is to upgrade the resources with the next step being a pre-feasibility study following the positive results of the Scoping Study. The first phase of drilling included 6 holes totaling 13,000 feet. This project was acquired in June 2006, and was worked on extensively by Gulf Minerals in the early eighties as they drilled 165,000 feet.

The current resource estimate by Dr. H. Peter Knudsen reported on August 19th, 2008 was derived from 217,000 feet of drilling using a $15.00 per pound molybdenum long term price which is in line with industry consensus. Management believes the new resource has improved the scale and viability of the project.

Highlights of new resource estimates include:

  • Resources upgraded to Measured Category: The new resource estimates now have roughly 25% in the measured Category (versus 0% in the prior estimate), and an additional 25% of the resources fall in the Indicated Category.
  • Block Caving potential appears more robust: The contained metal for molybdenum and tungsten increased by over 22% at the $25 per ton cutoff.
  • Deposit remains open in 3 directions: The deposit remains open at different cutoffs to significantly increase tonnages with additional drilling.
  • Prevailing $34 molybdenum price and $13 per pound tungsten price are much higher than the estimated resources calculated using a $15 molybdenum and $8 tungsten price.

New Victorio Resource Estimate using $15/lb molybdenum and $8/lb Tungsten

Category

Cutoff/
Ton

Tons


Mo %

Tungsten %

Contained Metal (pounds)

Molybdenum

Tungsten

Measured

$25

37,737,913

0.10

0.08

71,702,035

61,890,177

Indicated

$25

39,499,463

0.08

0.09

64,779,119

72,679,012

M+I

$25

77,237,376

0.09

0.09

136,481,154

134,569,189

Inferred

$25

77,222,232

0.07

0.09

114,288,903

143,633,352

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Measured

$35

20,275,366

0.12

0.11

47,444,356

42,983,776

Indicated

$35

19,125,184

0.10

0.12

39,397,879

45,517,938

M+I

$35

39,400,550

0.11

0.11

86,842,235

88,501,714

Inferred

$35

34,728,550

0.10

0.11

66,678,816

78,486,523


Note: For molybdenum equivalent calculation $15 per pound molybdenum price and $8 per pound tungsten price was used assuming also that metallurgical recoveries and net smelter returns are 100%.

Galway Resources has recently retained John Tumazos, of Very Independent Research, to investigate strategic alternatives to advance this project. John Tumazos indicated, "We estimate at $15 per pound molybdenum and $8 per pound tungsten that the Victorio Project offers robust returns. Using the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's (the "S.E.C.") suggested 3-year rolling average molybdenum price and then conservatively discounting the price by a further 25%, leaves us with a molybdenum price of US$22.50 under the block caving scenario yielding an NPV in excess of US$700 million. Additionally, there is plenty of expansion potential for a deposit containing metals with a strong outlook on the pricing side, plus add in the great infrastructure and one realizes that all the ingredients are prevalent for an interesting project." This makes the Victorio property very attractive to potential investors.

You can view Mr. Tumazos' report by clicking on the link below:

John Tumazos' Offering Memorandum/Valuation Opinion/Third Party Review

Geological Modeling Discussion The new geologic resource was calculated in compliance with NI 43-101 guidelines by Dr. H. Peter Knudsen, PhD. Dean of the School of Mines and Engineering, Montana Tech of the University of Montana. Dr. Knudsen is a "Qualified Person" as defined by NI 43-101, and is the Qualified Person responsible for the new resource estimations.

The database used by Dr. Knudsen was updated to include Galway's recently drilled holes, and totals 109 holes, 217,024 feet of drilling. The same estimation procedure that SRK used for their geologic resource estimate, inverse distance to the third power, was used for these calculations. The SRK resource estimates were reported in Galway's press release dated October 25, 2007.

Galway project personnel constructed new N-S and E-W sections and a new limiting polygon was developed from the sections, plan maps and 3-D images of the drill hole data. Dr. Knudsen calculated new 3-D shapes for each rock type, and a new geologic model, using parameters similar to SRK. As in previous studies a block size of 30' by 30' by 15' was used. The model was made using SURPAC Vision.

The resources are classified into Measured, Indicated and Inferred according to CIM guidelines. Standard geostatistical calculations show that a drilling grid of 200 ft. will give estimates that have a +/- 25% relative error bound. Thus, a portion of the resource could be upgraded into the Measured category.

Metallurgical Recovery

The property underwent one round of preliminary bench-scale metallurgical testing at Hazen Research, Inc. prior to 1983 that indicated a clean, high grade molybdenum (molybdenite) concentrate could be produced at an 85% recovery and a low grade tungsten (scheelite) concentrate could be produced at a 75% recovery. The tungsten concentrate would require upgrading by hydrometallurgical processes to produce high grade ammonium paratungstate (APT). More recent test work completed in 2007/2008 by Galway at Hazen confirmed those results. A new phase of test work began in August, 2008 with emphasis on improving the tungsten concentrate grade and generating metallurgical results and parameters that can be used in preparing the pre-feasibility study.

Victorio Mountain Deal Terms Galway Resources Ltd. has entered into an option agreement to purchase a 100% interest in the Victorio, by paying US$2.13 million over 5 years and issuing 400,000 shares over the same time period. First year payments include US$65,000 cash and 50,000 shares in Galway. Any future production from the deposit is subject to a 2% NSR (Net Smelter Royalty).


New Video for
the Victorio Project


NI 43-101 Technical Report on Resources
September 29, 2008


NI 43-101 Technical Report, Executive Summary
May 2008


NI 43-101 Technical Report
May 2008


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This page was created on Thu Sep 9, 2010 at 5:46:42 PM Pacific Time.