Castle Resources Reports New Granduc Resource Estimate With a Significant Increase in Tonnage and Copper Grade
- Measured & Indicated Resource of 11.32 million tonnes grading 1.47% Cu, 0.17 g/t Au and 12.4 g/t Ag- Inferred Resource of 44.63 million tonnes grading 1.43% Cu, 0.19 g/t Au & 10.7 g/t Ag
TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwire) -- 12/12/12 -- Castle Resources Inc. (TSX VENTURE: CRI) ("Castle" or the "Company") is pleased to provide investors with an updated NI 43-101 compliant resource estimate for the Granduc Copper Project near Stewart, British Columbia.
Updated Granduc Resource:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tonnes Copper Gold Silver Cu Au Ag
Category (Mt) (M lb) (K oz) (M oz) (%) (g/t) (g/t)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Measured 5.16 179.6 28.2 2.27 1.58 0.17 13.7
Indicated 6.16 188.2 33.2 2.25 1.39 0.17 11.4
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
M&I 11.32 367.7 61.4 4.52 1.47 0.17 12.4
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Inferred 44.63 1,404.70 267 15.4 1.43 0.19 10.7
Note: based on a CuEq Cut-off of 0.8%
Mr. Mike Sylvestre, President & CEO stated: "This new Granduc resource clearly shows the size and scope of the Granduc Copper Project. Over the span of two years, Castle has grown the Granduc from an historical non-compliant estimate to a large, high-grade copper resource that demonstrates the potential for immense upside going forward."
"We are not only pleased with the increase in tonnage in all resource categories but importantly with the increase in copper grade," continued Mr. Sylvestre. "In addition, we are on track with our Preliminary Economic Assessment which we are set to release in Q1 of 2013."
Tetra Tech has estimated a new NI 43-101 mineral resource for the Granduc copper deposit. The resource estimate was completed by Robert S. Morrison, Ph.D., MAusIMM (CP), P.Geo., an independent qualified person as this term is defined in NI 43-101. The effective date of this resource estimate is December 12, 2012.
The Granduc copper deposit is comprised of both a Main Zone and a North Zone. The Main Zone consists of Measured, Indicated, and Inferred Resources, and the North Zone consists of an Inferred Resource. The resource estimate was prepared using Datamine™ Studio 3 (v. 3.21.7164.0) software. The estimate was conducted utilizing wireframes to domain high- and low-grade sections of the deposit. Ordinary Kriging (OK) was used to interpolate grade for copper, gold, and silver. Density was also estimated using Inverse Distance Squared (ID2) estimation. For reporting purposes, a copper equivalent (CuEq) grade was calculated using the following parameters:
-- copper price = US$3.60/lb
-- gold price = US$1,260/oz with a gold recovery of 0.88%
-- silver price = US$28/oz with a silver recovery of 0.68%
Historically mined sections of the deposit were removed from the current resource using a wireframe generated from historical documentation of the limits of mining. Wireframes were also generated from digital contours provided by Castle Resources Inc. (Castle Resources) to constrain the deposit to topography and glacial ice-depth.
The Granduc Mineral Resources were classified according to the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM) Definition Standards for Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves. For classification, consideration was given to drillhole and assay density, statistics, and results of variography including related search volumes, confidence in the source data, confidence in OK interpolation, confidence in the geological modeling, and mining history. Wireframe boundaries were generated in order to assign the Measured and Indicated portions of the deposit.
Table 1 to Table 6 show the mineral resources of the Granduc copper deposit's Main and North Zones.
Table 1 Measured Resource for the Granduc Copper Deposit Main Zone
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
CuEq
Resource Cut-off Density Tonnes Cu Au Ag Cu Au Ag
Category (%) (t/m3) (Mt) (M lb) (K oz) (M oz) (%) (g/t) (g/t)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Measured 0.4 2.94 5.21 180.2 28.5 2.28 1.57 0.17 13.6
-------------------------------------------------------------------
0.5 2.94 5.21 180.1 28.4 2.28 1.57 0.17 13.6
-------------------------------------------------------------------
0.6 2.94 5.20 180.1 28.4 2.28 1.57 0.17 13.6
-------------------------------------------------------------------
0.7 2.94 5.19 179.9 28.3 2.27 1.57 0.17 13.6
-------------------------------------------------------------------
0.8 2.94 5.16 179.6 28.2 2.27 1.58 0.17 13.7
-------------------------------------------------------------------
0.9 2.94 5.13 179.1 28.0 2.26 1.58 0.17 13.7
-------------------------------------------------------------------
1 2.94 5.07 178.1 27.8 2.24 1.59 0.17 13.7
-------------------------------------------------------------------
1.1 2.94 4.97 176.2 27.3 2.20 1.61 0.17 13.7
-------------------------------------------------------------------
1.2 2.94 4.81 172.7 26.4 2.13 1.63 0.17 13.8
-------------------------------------------------------------------
1.3 2.93 4.54 166.2 25.0 2.02 1.66 0.17 13.9
-------------------------------------------------------------------
1.4 2.93 4.13 155.8 22.9 1.85 1.71 0.17 13.9
-------------------------------------------------------------------
1.5 2.93 3.65 142.3 20.4 1.64 1.77 0.17 14.0
-------------------------------------------------------------------
1.6 2.93 3.15 127.4 17.7 1.42 1.84 0.17 14.0
-------------------------------------------------------------------
1.7 2.93 2.60 109.8 14.8 1.18 1.92 0.18 14.1
-------------------------------------------------------------------
1.8 2.93 2.10 92.7 12.0 0.95 2.00 0.18 14.1
-------------------------------------------------------------------
1.9 2.93 1.66 76.6 9.5 0.75 2.10 0.18 14.0
-------------------------------------------------------------------
2.0 2.92 1.34 64.3 7.8 0.60 2.18 0.18 14.0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Table 2 Indicated Resource for the Granduc Copper Deposit Main Zone
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
CuEq
Resource Cut-off Density Tonnes Cu Au Ag Cu Au Ag
Category (%) (t/m3) (Mt) (M lb) (K oz) (M oz) (%) (g/t) (g/t)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Indicated 0.4 2.95 6.23 189.1 33.6 2.27 1.38 0.17 11.3
-------------------------------------------------------------------
0.5 2.95 6.23 189.1 33.6 2.27 1.38 0.17 11.4
-------------------------------------------------------------------
0.6 2.95 6.22 189.0 33.6 2.27 1.38 0.17 11.4
-------------------------------------------------------------------
0.7 2.95 6.20 188.8 33.5 2.27 1.38 0.17 11.4
-------------------------------------------------------------------
0.8 2.95 6.16 188.2 33.2 2.25 1.39 0.17 11.4
-------------------------------------------------------------------
0.9 2.95 6.08 187.0 32.8 2.22 1.40 0.17 11.4
-------------------------------------------------------------------
1.0 2.95 5.96 185.0 32.2 2.18 1.41 0.17 11.4
-------------------------------------------------------------------
1.1 2.95 5.78 181.4 31.2 2.12 1.42 0.17 11.4
-------------------------------------------------------------------
1.2 2.95 5.43 174.0 29.4 1.99 1.45 0.17 11.4
-------------------------------------------------------------------
1.3 2.95 4.80 158.9 26.0 1.78 1.50 0.17 11.5
-------------------------------------------------------------------
1.4 2.94 3.94 136.2 21.4 1.49 1.57 0.17 11.8
-------------------------------------------------------------------
1.5 2.94 3.04 111.1 16.6 1.17 1.66 0.17 11.9
-------------------------------------------------------------------
1.6 2.94 2.28 87.9 12.5 0.87 1.75 0.17 11.9
-------------------------------------------------------------------
1.7 2.93 1.71 69.6 9.4 0.64 1.85 0.17 11.7
-------------------------------------------------------------------
1.8 2.92 1.23 53.0 6.8 0.45 1.96 0.17 11.5
-------------------------------------------------------------------
1.9 2.91 0.88 40.2 4.9 0.32 2.07 0.17 11.3
-------------------------------------------------------------------
2.0 2.90 0.67 32.1 3.7 0.24 2.17 0.17 11.2
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Table 3 Inferred Resource for the Granduc Copper Deposit Main Zone
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
CuEq
Resource Cut-off Density Tonnes Cu Au Ag Cu Au Ag
Category (%) (t/m3) (Mt) (M lb) (K oz) (M oz) (%) (g/t) (g/t)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Inferred 0.1 2.87 281.86 2,073.1 170.3 13.07 0.33 0.02 1.4
-------------------------------------------------------------------
0.2 2.91 129.66 1,585.4 170.3 13.08 0.55 0.04 3.1
-------------------------------------------------------------------
0.3 2.96 64.60 1,239.1 170.3 13.08 0.87 0.08 6.3
-------------------------------------------------------------------
0.4 3.01 42.68 1,074.0 170.3 13.07 1.14 0.12 9.5
-------------------------------------------------------------------
0.5 3.03 35.06 999.8 170.3 13.07 1.29 0.15 11.6
-------------------------------------------------------------------
0.6 3.04 32.39 967.9 170.3 13.07 1.36 0.16 12.6
-------------------------------------------------------------------
0.7 3.05 31.20 951.1 170.1 13.06 1.38 0.17 13.0
-------------------------------------------------------------------
0.8 3.05 30.52 940.3 169.7 13.03 1.40 0.17 13.3
-------------------------------------------------------------------
0.9 3.05 30.05 932.1 168.7 12.97 1.41 0.17 13.4
-------------------------------------------------------------------
1.0 3.05 29.46 921.5 166.3 12.83 1.42 0.18 13.5
-------------------------------------------------------------------
1.1 3.05 28.58 904.1 162.0 12.52 1.43 0.18 13.6
-------------------------------------------------------------------
1.2 3.05 26.82 866.4 152.7 11.80 1.47 0.18 13.7
-------------------------------------------------------------------
1.3 3.04 23.90 797.7 137.0 10.60 1.51 0.18 13.8
-------------------------------------------------------------------
1.4 3.03 20.38 707.6 117.9 9.14 1.57 0.18 14.0
-------------------------------------------------------------------
1.5 3.02 17.20 619.2 100.5 7.82 1.63 0.18 14.1
-------------------------------------------------------------------
1.6 3.02 14.00 523.5 82.6 6.41 1.70 0.18 14.3
-------------------------------------------------------------------
1.7 3.02 10.56 413.5 62.8 4.91 1.78 0.18 14.5
-------------------------------------------------------------------
1.8 3.02 7.39 305.5 44.2 3.47 1.87 0.19 14.6
-------------------------------------------------------------------
1.9 3.01 5.24 227.5 31.5 2.48 1.97 0.19 14.7
-------------------------------------------------------------------
2.0 3.01 3.66 167.0 22.0 1.76 2.07 0.19 14.9
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Table 4 Inferred Resource for the Granduc Copper Deposit North Zone
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
CuEq
Resource Cut-off Density Tonnes Cu Au Ag Cu Au Ag
Category (%) (t/m3) (Mt) (M lb) (K oz) (M oz) (%) (g/t) (g/t)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Inferred 0.1 2.89 152.89 872.7 197.4 7.29 0.26 0.04 1.5
-------------------------------------------------------------------
0.2 2.94 34.97 567.5 118.1 3.14 0.74 0.11 2.8
-------------------------------------------------------------------
0.3 3.01 16.68 484.1 100.5 2.47 1.32 0.19 4.6
-------------------------------------------------------------------
0.4 3.03 14.68 470.7 98.1 2.39 1.45 0.21 5.1
-------------------------------------------------------------------
0.5 3.03 14.38 468.1 97.7 2.38 1.48 0.21 5.1
-------------------------------------------------------------------
0.6 3.03 14.27 466.7 97.5 2.37 1.48 0.21 5.2
-------------------------------------------------------------------
0.7 3.03 14.20 465.7 97.4 2.37 1.49 0.21 5.2
-------------------------------------------------------------------
0.8 3.03 14.11 464.4 97.3 2.36 1.49 0.21 5.2
-------------------------------------------------------------------
0.9 3.03 14.08 464.0 97.2 2.36 1.49 0.21 5.2
-------------------------------------------------------------------
1.0 3.03 14.00 462.5 96.8 2.34 1.50 0.22 5.2
-------------------------------------------------------------------
1.1 3.04 13.35 449.1 93.7 2.21 1.53 0.22 5.2
-------------------------------------------------------------------
1.2 3.04 12.37 426.5 89.0 2.08 1.56 0.22 5.2
-------------------------------------------------------------------
1.3 3.05 11.21 397.5 83.3 1.90 1.61 0.23 5.3
-------------------------------------------------------------------
1.4 3.05 10.18 369.8 77.5 1.73 1.65 0.24 5.3
-------------------------------------------------------------------
1.5 3.05 8.86 331.8 69.4 1.51 1.70 0.24 5.3
-------------------------------------------------------------------
1.6 3.06 7.28 283.0 58.2 1.23 1.76 0.25 5.3
-------------------------------------------------------------------
1.7 3.07 5.64 229.4 45.5 0.95 1.85 0.25 5.2
-------------------------------------------------------------------
1.8 3.08 4.09 176.2 32.2 0.67 1.95 0.24 5.1
-------------------------------------------------------------------
1.9 3.11 2.99 136.0 22.0 0.48 2.06 0.23 5.0
-------------------------------------------------------------------
2.0 3.11 2.33 110.1 17.1 0.37 2.14 0.23 4.9
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Table 5 Measured and Indicated Resource for the Granduc Copper Deposit
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
CuEq
Resource Cut-off Density Tonnes Cu Au Ag Cu Au Ag
Category (%) (t/m3) (Mt) (M lb) (K oz) (M oz) (%) (g/t) (g/t)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Measured +
Indicated 0.4 2.94 11.44 369.2 62.0 4.55 1.46 0.17 12.4
------------------------------------------------------------------
0.5 2.94 11.43 369.2 62.0 4.55 1.46 0.17 12.4
------------------------------------------------------------------
0.6 2.94 11.42 369.1 62.0 4.55 1.47 0.17 12.4
------------------------------------------------------------------
0.7 2.94 11.39 368.7 61.8 4.54 1.47 0.17 12.4
------------------------------------------------------------------
0.8 2.94 11.32 367.7 61.4 4.52 1.47 0.17 12.4
------------------------------------------------------------------
0.9 2.94 11.21 366.1 60.9 4.48 1.48 0.17 12.4
------------------------------------------------------------------
1.0 2.94 11.04 363.1 60.0 4.42 1.49 0.17 12.5
------------------------------------------------------------------
1.1 2.94 10.75 357.6 58.5 4.32 1.51 0.17 12.5
------------------------------------------------------------------
1.2 2.94 10.24 346.6 55.8 4.12 1.54 0.17 12.5
------------------------------------------------------------------
1.3 2.94 9.34 325.1 51.0 3.80 1.58 0.17 12.7
------------------------------------------------------------------
1.4 2.94 8.07 292.0 44.4 3.34 1.64 0.17 12.9
------------------------------------------------------------------
1.5 2.94 6.69 253.5 37.0 2.81 1.72 0.17 13.1
------------------------------------------------------------------
1.6 2.93 5.43 215.4 30.2 2.29 1.80 0.17 13.1
------------------------------------------------------------------
1.7 2.93 4.31 179.4 24.2 1.82 1.89 0.17 13.1
------------------------------------------------------------------
1.8 2.92 3.33 145.7 18.8 1.40 1.99 0.18 13.1
------------------------------------------------------------------
1.9 2.92 2.54 116.8 14.4 1.07 2.09 0.18 13.1
------------------------------------------------------------------
2.0 2.92 2.01 96.4 11.5 0.84 2.18 0.18 13.1
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Table 6 Inferred Resource for the Granduc Copper Deposit
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
CuEq
Resource Cut-off Density Tonnes Cu Au Ag Cu Au Ag
Category (%) (t/m3) (Mt) (M lb) (K oz) (M oz) (%) (g/t) (g/t)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Inferred 0.1 2.88 434.74 2,945.9 367.7 20.37 0.31 0.03 1.5
-------------------------------------------------------------------
0.2 2.92 164.62 2,152.9 288.4 16.22 0.59 0.05 3.1
-------------------------------------------------------------------
0.3 2.97 81.28 1,723.1 270.8 15.54 0.96 0.10 5.9
-------------------------------------------------------------------
0.4 3.01 57.36 1,544.7 268.4 15.47 1.22 0.15 8.4
-------------------------------------------------------------------
0.5 3.03 49.45 1,467.9 267.9 15.45 1.35 0.17 9.7
-------------------------------------------------------------------
0.6 3.04 46.66 1,434.6 267.8 15.44 1.39 0.18 10.3
-------------------------------------------------------------------
0.7 3.04 45.39 1,416.8 267.6 15.43 1.42 0.18 10.6
-------------------------------------------------------------------
0.8 3.04 44.63 1,404.7 267.0 15.40 1.43 0.19 10.7
-------------------------------------------------------------------
0.9 3.04 44.13 1,396.1 265.9 15.33 1.44 0.19 10.8
-------------------------------------------------------------------
1.0 3.05 43.46 1,383.9 263.1 15.17 1.44 0.19 10.9
-------------------------------------------------------------------
1.1 3.05 41.93 1,353.2 255.7 14.73 1.46 0.19 10.9
-------------------------------------------------------------------
1.2 3.05 39.19 1,292.9 241.8 13.88 1.50 0.19 11.0
-------------------------------------------------------------------
1.3 3.04 35.11 1,195.2 220.3 12.50 1.54 0.20 11.1
-------------------------------------------------------------------
1.4 3.04 30.56 1,077.4 195.4 10.87 1.60 0.20 11.1
-------------------------------------------------------------------
1.5 3.03 26.07 951.0 170.0 9.32 1.65 0.20 11.1
-------------------------------------------------------------------
1.6 3.03 21.28 806.6 140.8 7.64 1.72 0.21 11.2
-------------------------------------------------------------------
1.7 3.04 16.20 642.9 108.3 5.85 1.80 0.21 11.2
-------------------------------------------------------------------
1.8 3.04 11.48 481.7 76.4 4.14 1.90 0.21 11.2
-------------------------------------------------------------------
1.9 3.05 8.23 363.5 53.5 2.96 2.00 0.20 11.2
-------------------------------------------------------------------
2.0 3.05 5.99 277.1 39.2 2.13 2.10 0.20 11.0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Brad Leonard, P. Geo., Castle's Exploration Manager, is the Qualified Person responsible for the scientific and technical work (as defined under National Instrument 43-101) discussed in this press release, and has reviewed this press release.
About Castle Resources
Castle is a Toronto-based junior mineral development company focused on the exploration and redevelopment of the 100% owned past producing Granduc Copper Mine. Castle currently has 173 million shares outstanding shares. For more information please visit the Castle Resources' website at www.castleresources.com.
Disclaimer
Certain statements contained in this news release may contain forward-looking information within the meaning of Canadian securities laws. Such forward-looking information is identified by words such as "estimates", "intends", "expects", "believes", "may", "will" and include, without limitation, statements regarding the company's plan of business operations (including plans for progressing assets), estimates regarding mineral resources, projections regarding mineralization and projected expenditures. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate; actual results and future events could differ materially from such statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include, among others, metal prices, risks inherent in the mining industry, financing risks, labour risks, uncertainty of mineral resource estimates, equipment and supply risks, title disputes, regulatory risks and environmental concerns. Most of these factors are outside the control of the company. Investors are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking information. Except as otherwise required by applicable securities statutes or regulation, the company expressly disclaims any intent or obligation to update publicly forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or solicitation of an offer to sell any of the securities in the United States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act") or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to a U.S. Person unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available.
To view the map associated with this release, please visit the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/841169_map.pdf.
Neither the 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.
Contacts:
Castle Resources Inc.
Mike Sylvestre
President & CEO
416-366-4100
mike@castleresources.com
Castle Resources Inc.
Lenny Foreht
VP Corporate Development
416-644-9003
lforeht@castleresources.com
www.castleresources.com
