|
The Victorio molybdenum-tungsten Project is an advanced-stage exploration property (with favorable infrastructure such as ready access, nearby railway & gas pipeline) that has been inactive since the early 1980's due to depressed metal pricing. The property is located approximately 20 miles west of Deming, New Mexico in Luna County.
The new resource estimate reported on October 25th, 2007 (derived from 175,000 feet of drilling) uses 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. 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. We are currently conducting our second in-fill drilling campaign at Victorio which will compromise 20 holes for a total of 40,000 feet of drilling. The company continues to advance the project on the engineering, metallurgical, geotechnical, and geological front.
As part of the ongoing Scoping Study, we are evaluating suitability of the different lower cost underground bulk mining methods and the implication on the project's economics. Essentially, we have begun the economic optimization process for the project. The second in-fill drilling program is currently taking place at Victorio, which is utilizing angle, directional, and oriented core drilling. In addition to gaining better geological information on the deposit, the core will also be used for further metallurgical and geotechnical studies.
The highlights of the new resource estimate include:
- Potential for significantly larger mineable resource: The size range now lies between 60 million and 100 million tons, each scenario is enhanced by a 21 million ton high grade core. The deposit remains open in certain directions to add additional tonnage.
- Larger Resulting Tonnages: Previous resources were calculated using a $40 cut off, based on a US$12/lb molybdenum price. Using the same cutoff but a US$15/lb molybdenum price the tonnage for the new resource estimate has increased by over 33% increase and a 48% increase in tonnage for Inferred Category.
- Quality of resource (using a $40/ton cutoff) remains intact with 67% being in the Indicated Category, and the continuity of the mineralization remains intact.
-
The current molybdenum price remains strong at $32 per pound.
Victorio: New Resource Estimate ($15/lb moly, 8$/lb tungsten) |
Contained Metal in Pounds |
| Category |
Cutoff (US$/Ton) |
Tons (Millions) |
% Mo Equivalent |
| Indicated |
25 |
67 |
0.15 |
203,000,000 |
| Inferred |
25 |
42 |
0.14 |
114,000,000 |
| Indicated |
35 |
40 |
0.19 |
153,000,000 |
| Inferred |
35 |
22 |
0.17 |
75,000,000 |
| Indicated |
40 |
32 |
0.21 |
130,000,000 |
| Inferred |
40 |
16 |
0.19 |
60,000,000 |
| Indicated |
55 |
15 |
0.26 |
79,000,000 |
| Inferred |
55 |
6 |
0.24 |
30,000,000 |
New Resource Estimate Boosts Tonnage
Below we have provided a table that shows the new resource estimate using a cut-off value of $40 per ton and also of $50 per ton. The percent increase in tonnages and contained metal value reflect the impact of using a higher longer term molybdenum price. The current numbers below are calculated using a long-term molybdenum price of $15 per pound versus the prior number of $12 per pound. The long-term price of $8 per pound for tungsten remains intact for resource estimation, the current price is $12.50/lb.
New Resource Estimate Comparison with Prior Estimates ($15/lb moly, 8$/lb tungsten) |
Contained Metal in Pounds |
| Category |
$ Cutoff value/ton |
Tons (Millions) |
Tons Increase % |
Mo Equiv % |
Mo Equiv |
Increase % |
| Indicated |
40 |
32 |
33 |
0.21 |
130,000,000 |
22 |
| Inferred |
40 |
16 |
48 |
0.19 |
60,000,000 |
33 |
| Indicated |
50 |
19 |
39 |
0.24 |
92,000,000 |
26 |
| Inferred |
50 |
8 |
57 |
0.22 |
37,000,000 |
42 |
The table below reflects the full sensitivity analysis of expanding the range of our analysis of the impact on changing cut-off grades and the resulting tonnages and grades. Moreover, the figures unlike the prior two tables has the respective grades and contained metal value for tungsten for the varying cut-offs.
| Victorio 2007 Resource Model Run with $15 Mo and $8 WO3 |
| Geologic Resource |
Contained Metal in Pounds |
| Category |
$ Cutoff |
Tons (M) |
Mo % |
WO3 % |
Molybdenum |
Tungsten (WO3) |
| Indicated |
25 |
67 |
0.099 |
0.101 |
132,000,000 |
134,000,000 |
| Inferred |
25 |
42 |
0.088 |
0.091 |
74,000,000 |
76,000,000 |
| Indicated |
30 |
52 |
0.110 |
0.111 |
115,000,000 |
116,000,000 |
| Inferred |
30 |
31 |
0.101 |
0.098 |
62,000,000 |
60,000,000 |
| Indicated |
35 |
41 |
0.123 |
0.120 |
100,000,000 |
98,000,000 |
| Inferred |
35 |
22 |
0.115 |
0.105 |
51,000,000 |
46,000,000 |
| Indicated |
40 |
32 |
0.136 |
0.130 |
86,000,000 |
82,000,000 |
| Inferred |
40 |
16 |
0.129 |
0.110 |
42,000,000 |
35,000,000 |
| Indicated |
45 |
24 |
0.150 |
0.138 |
73,000,000 |
67,000,000 |
| Inferred |
45 |
12 |
0.143 |
0.117 |
33,000,000 |
27,000,000 |
| Indicated |
50 |
19 |
0.164 |
0.145 |
63,000,000 |
55,000,000 |
| Inferred |
50 |
8 |
0.158 |
0.124 |
26,000,000 |
21,000,000 |
| Indicated |
55 |
15 |
0.178 |
0.152 |
54,000,000 |
46,000,000 |
| Inferred |
55 |
6 |
0.171 |
0.131 |
22,000,000 |
17,000,000 |
Geological Modeling Discussion
The new resource estimates incorporated the results from the Company's first 10,000 foot (6 core holes) drilling campaign which was completed in the Spring of 2007. The prior estimate that was announced earlier this year (January 29, 2007) was derived using just the data from the 165,000 feet of drilling conducted by Gulf Minerals in the early eighties.
For all the resources estimates, the resource model was constructed utilizing Vulcan software, and using an inverse distance weighting to the third power grade estimation technique. The model required a minimum of 3 and maximum of 8 composites from at least two drill holes to assign grade to each 30' by 30' by 15' block for the Indicated resource classification. The molybdenum and tungsten grade estimations were limited by individual hard boundary grade shells using only composite data from within the grade shells, by rock type.
SRK has completed independent resource estimations according to CIM resource categories in compliance with NI 43-101 guidelines for the Victorio project. The resource modeling parameters used are minor modifications to the parameters used in the January 2007 initial resource estimate, which is provided in Galway's NI 43-101 technical report dated February 28, 2007. Bart Stryhas and Allan V. Moran of SRK Consulting (U.S.), are "Qualified Persons" as defined by NI 43-101, are the Qualified Persons responsible for the resource estimations contained in this news release, and have reviewed the content of this press release.
Metallurgical Recovery
The property underwent one round of preliminary bench-scale metallurgical testing prior to 1983 that identified molybdenum mineralization (molybdenite) at 85% estimated process recovery, and tungsten mineralization (scheelite) at 75% estimated process recovery. Further iterations of the initial testing were reasonably predicted to provide a favorable increase in scheelite recoveries by fine tuning of the proposed metallurgical process. Additionally in the last 25 years there have been significant advances in mineral processing technologies, which can be applied to this deposit.
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, Executive Summary May 2008
 NI 43-101 Technical Report May 2008
|