A NI 43-101 updated technical report on the Vargbäcken property was prepared in 2007 and then filed on SEDAR on July 30, 2008.
The independent Qualified Person for the Resource, Neil Inwood of Coffey Mining (previously RSG Global consultants) from Perth, Western Australia, estimated the resource using a 0.6g/t gold cut-off grade and calculated an updated mineral resource as follows:
* Indicated Resources: 1.37 million tonnes for 1.44g/t gold (63,200 contained ounces)
* Inferred Resources: 0.65 million tonnes for 1.70g/t gold (35,800 contained ounces)
Vargbäcken is covered by a 25 year mining license granted initially in October 2003. Gold at Vargbäcken is visible, free and coarse grained, and occurs in multiple structures within a 30-40 meter wide gold mineralized halo.
The updated technical report comments that the drilling programs demonstrate continuity to the mineralization for over 350m along strike and 120m of depth. Although the deep drilling program has effectively delimited the vertical extent of the mineralization in this part of the deposit, there remains potential along strike to the northeast.
The footprint of the resource was up to 430 meters long by 200 meters deep by 90 meters wide, however scout drilling, geophysics and rock chip sampling have extended the mineralized zone over 1 kilometre to the north and south of Vargbäcken. The resource was calculated using Multiple Indicator Kriging based upon a block model with a parent cell size of 10m in the X direction, 20m in the Y direction and 5m in the Z direction and structural controls and a selective mining unit of 10m (Y) by 5m (E) by 2.5m (Z). The model utilized 35 diamond drill holes and 39 reverse circulation drill holes for a total of 12,386 meters.
Indicated and Inferred Resources have been defined using definitive criteria determined during the validation of the grade estimates, with detailed consideration of the NI 43-101 categorization guidelines. An Indicated Resource has been assigned for blocks located in regions with strong geological understanding and drilling at 25m spacing or less. Inferred Resources are assigned for regions outside the Indicated Resource that had reasonable geological understanding and 2 or more drill holes within 50m spacing.
The 2007 mineral resource update study concludes, at a 0.6g/t cut off, that Vargbäcken contains more Indicated material and less Inferred material than the previous 2006 estimate. This represents a 12% increase in Indicated ounces and a 26% decrease in Inferred ounces compared to the 2006 resource. The difference in resources between the 2007 and 2006 estimates is mainly due to increased confidence in the modeling of Zone 20 and volume changes to the overall mineralized envelopes as a result of the 9 additional drillholes (4 RC drillholes and 5 diamond drillholes) drilled by Mawson Resources Limited ('Mawson') in mid- to late-2006.
The addition of 9 RC and diamond drillholes from Mawson's 2006 drilling campaign to the Vargbäcken deposit have resulted in further refinement to the mineralisation and lithology model in this area. Additional deeper drilling near Zones 20 and 21 will aid in the understanding of geometries of the mineralised diorite units at depth, but may not necessarily be the priority targets for future exploration efforts.
Mineral Resource Estimate
The information in this release which relates to the Mineral Resource is based upon a resource estimate completed by Mr. Neil Inwood (MSc, FAusIMM), a Principal Resource Geologist with Coffey Mining, an independent geological and mining consulting company. The preferred estimates for the Vargbäcken prospect have been categorized in accordance with the criteria laid in the Canadian National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101") and the JORC Code. Mr. Inwood is a Fellow of the AusIMM and has sufficient experience relevant to the style of mineralisation and types of deposit under consideration and to the activity which is being undertaken to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2004 Edition of the "Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves" and a Qualified Person as defined by Canadian National Instrument 43-101. Mr. Inwood consents to the inclusion in this presentation of the matters based on his information in the form and context in which it appears.
John Nebocat, P.Eng, is a Qualified Person as defined in NI 43-101 and takes responsibility for the exploration data and geological data contained in this news release. Eur Ing Mathieu Gosselin, ÅF Mining, is an independent consultant and SveMin, FinMin and Norsk Bergindustri registered as Qualified Person in compliance with the Canadian NI 43-101 reporting and disclosure, and takes responsibility for all other technical disclosure in this news release.
For more information please contact:
Bengt Ljung, CEO - Botnia Exploration
Phone: +46 8 636 25 15
E-mail:
bengt.ljung@botniaexploration.com
Botnia Exploration Holding AB är ett prospekteringsbolag med fokus på ädel- och basmetaller i Sverige och Norden. Utveckling sker främst av objekt i tidiga faser. Bolaget har efter förvärvet av kanadensiska Hansa Resources Limiteds svenska fyndigheter, ett 30-tal projekt varav flera med inriktning på guld. Bolaget är listat på AktieTorget (BOTX). För ytterligare information besök bolagets hemsida
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