Midway Reports Strong Progress at the Pan Gold Project, Nevada
Midway Gold Corp. ('Midway' or the 'Company') (MDW:TSX-V; MDW: NYSE-MKT)
today announced that engineering and permitting activities continue to
advance at a rapid pace at its 100%-owned Pan heap leach gold project
located in White Pine County, Nevada. Recent project development
activities include:
Completion of the scoping phase of the federal permitting process,
including public meetings. Base line studies are complete and JBR
Environmental, a third-party consulting firm, is currently preparing a
draft version of the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).
Selection of Jacobs Engineering Group for front-end engineering of
mine related infrastructure including project buildings, roads,
electrical and water supply. Jacobs is one of the world′s largest and
most diverse providers of engineering, technical, and construction
services. Forbes Magazine ranked Jacobs one of the top three
engineering and construction companies in 13 of the last 14 years.
Acquisition of adequate water rights for mineral processing and
completion of a production size water well and five monitor wells.
Completion of engineering for the heap leach pad and ponds by SRK
Consulting.
Completion of engineering design and permitting for a new access road
and selection of a contractor.
Selection of Summit Valley Technologies (SV), a division of FL Smidth,
to provide gold recovery equipment for the processing plant. SV is a
world-wide leader for supplying gold recovery equipment.
Ongoing large scale column tests to determine gold recovery amounts
from larger size material which could reduce crushing requirements and
lower capital costs.
Ongoing diamond drilling for crusher site characterization, reverse
circulation drilling to test deep exploration targets, and follow-up
condemnation drilling beneath proposed mine facilities.
Ken Brunk, Midway′s President and CEO, commented, 'We continue to
make excellent progress in the development of Pan which will be our
first producing gold mine.We have completed key milestones in
our permitting process and selected high-quality engineering firms with
significant experience in the construction of gold mines in Nevada.
Midway′s in-house engineers continue to optimize the mine plan and find
ways to reduce capital and operating costs. I am very pleased with the
progress being made on multiple fronts to advance Pan toward commercial
production.?
About the Pan Project
The Pan project is an oxidized, Carlin-style gold deposit mineable by
shallow open pit methods and treatable by heap leaching. The project has
a current Mineral Resource estimate of 1.13M oz of gold comprised of
579,000 oz gold in 37M tonnes of 0.49 gpt gold in the Measured category
and 551,000 oz gold in 43M tonnes of 0.40 gpt gold in the Indicated
category using a 0.14 gpt gold cutoff grade (NI 43-101 Technical
Report; Sept. 1, 2011).
The Pan Project represents a US$99 million capital investment in an
economically depressed part of Nevada (see Feasibility Study dated
December 19, 2011). Once in operation, the Pan mine is projected to
provide 145 workers with stable, high-paying jobs. In addition to direct
employment, Midway expects the mine will have a multiplier effect by
creating support jobs in the surrounding communities. A Feasibility
Study was completed in November that shows the NPV (5%) of the project
is robust at a range of gold prices, ranging from $123 million at
$1,200/oz gold to $344M at $1,900/oz gold. The IRR grows from 32% to 79%
using the same gold price range. Both are after-tax figures (see
press release dated November 15, 2011).
This release has been reviewed and approved for Midway by William S.
Neal (M.Sc., CPG), Vice President of Geological Services of Midway, a
'qualified person' as that term is defined in NI 43-101.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD
'Kenneth A. Brunk'
Kenneth A. Brunk, Chairman, President and CEO
About Midway Gold Corp.
Midway Gold Corp. is a precious metals company with a vision to explore,
design, build and operate gold mines in a manner accountable to all
stakeholders while assuring return on shareholder investments. For more
information about Midway, please visit our website at www.midwaygold.com
or contact R.J. Smith, Vice President of Administration, at (877)
475-3642 (toll-free).
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange, its Regulation Services Provider
(as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange)
nor the NYSE MKT accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of
this release.
This press release contains forward-looking statements about the
Company and its business. Forward looking statements are statements that
are not historical facts and include, but are not limited to, reserve
and resource estimates, estimated NPV of the project, anticipated IRR,
estimated strip ratio, anticipated mining methods at the project, the
estimated economics of the project, anticipated gold recoveries and
annual production, estimated capital costs, operating cash costs and
total production costs, planned development drilling and anticipated
expansion of the resource, and the outcome of the permitting process.
The forward-looking statements in this press release are subject to
various risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause the
Company's actual results or achievements to differ materially from those
expressed in or implied by forward looking statements. These risks,
uncertainties and other factors include, without limitation risks
related to fluctuations in gold prices; uncertainties related to raising
sufficient financing to fund the planned work in a timely manner and on
acceptable terms; changes in planned work resulting from weather,
logistical, technical or other factors; the possibility that results of
work will not fulfill expectations and realize the perceived potential
of the Company's properties; uncertainties involved in the
interpretation of drilling results and other tests and the estimation of
gold reserved and resources; the possibility that required permits may
not be obtained on a timely manner or at all; the possibility that
capital and operating costs may be higher than currently estimated and
may preclude commercial development or render operations uneconomic; the
possibility that the estimated recovery rates may not be achieved; risk
of accidents, equipment breakdowns and labor disputes or other
unanticipated difficulties or interruptions; the possibility of cost
overruns or unanticipated expenses in the work program; risks related to
projected project economics, recovery rates, and estimated NPV and
anticipated IRR and other factors identified in the Company's SEC
filings and its filings with Canadian securities regulatory authorities.
Forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, opinions and
expectations of the Company's management at the time they are made, and
other than as required by applicable securities laws, the Company does
not assume any obligation to update its forward-looking statements if
those beliefs, opinions or expectations, or other circumstances, should
change.
Cautionary note to U.S. investors concerning estimates of reserves
and resources: This press release and the technical reports referred to
in this press release use the terms 'resource', 'reserve', 'measured
resources', 'indicated resources' and 'inferred resources', which are
terms defined under Canadian National Instrument 43-101 and the Canadian
Institute of Mining and Metallurgy Classification system. Estimates of
mineral resources in this press release and in the technical report
referred to in this press release have been prepared in accordance with
NI 43-101 and such definitions differ from the definitions in U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission ('SEC') Industry Guide 7. Under SEC
Industry Guide 7 standards, a 'final' or 'bankable' feasibility study is
required to report reserves, the three-year historical average price is
used in any reserve or cash flow analysis to designate reserves and the
primary environmental analysis or report must be filed with the
appropriate governmental authority. Mineral resources are not mineral
reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability. We advise
investors that while those terms are recognized and required by Canadian
regulations, the SEC does not recognize them. U.S. investors are
cautioned not to assume that any part or all of mineral deposits in
these categories will ever be converted into reserves as defined in the
SEC's Guide 7. In addition, 'inferred resources' have a great amount of
uncertainty as to their existence, and great uncertainty as to their
economic and legal feasibility. It cannot be assumed that all or any
part of an inferred mineral resource will ever be upgraded to a higher
category. Under Canadian rules, estimates of inferred mineral resources
may not form the basis of feasibility or pre-feasibility studies, except
in rare cases. U.S. investors are cautioned not to assume that part or
all of an inferred resource exists, or is economically or legally
minable. The SEC normally only permits issuers to report mineralization
that does not constitute SEC Industry Guide 7 compliant 'reserves' as
in-place tonnage and grade without reference to unit measures. It cannot
be assumed that all or any part of mineral deposits in any of the above
categories will ever be upgraded to Guide 7 compliant reserves.
Accordingly, disclosure in this press release and in the technical
reports referred to in this press release may not be comparable to
information from U.S. companies subject to the reporting and disclosure
requirements of the SEC.
Midway Gold Corp.
R.J. Smith, (877) 475-3642 (toll-free)
Vice
President of Administration
