New Millennium Announces New 7.63 Billion Tonnes Resources at Howells Lake - Howells River North Deposit
CALGARY, ALBERTA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/23/13 -- New Millennium Iron Corp. (TSX: NML) (OTCQX: NWLNF) today announced a resource estimate for its 80% (1) owned Howells River North and 100% owned Howells Lake properties in Newfoundland and Labrador. Data collected from its 2011 drilling campaign (101.0 m from 1 hole) and 2012 drilling campaign (1,114.5 m from 10 holes) in Howells River North and 2006 & 2011 drilling campaigns (252.0 m from 2 holes) and 2012 drilling campaign (6,561.7 m from 43 holes) in Howells Lake, demonstrate 7.63 billion tonnes of Indicated Mineral Resources and an additional 3.31 billion tonnes of Inferred Mineral Resources, based on a 18% Davis Tube Weight Recovery ("DTWR") as shown in Table 1 below.
Dean Journeaux, NML's President and CEO said, "These results are of significant importance for the long-term potential of the Millennium Iron Range. They provide even more compelling evidence that our LabMag and KeMag deposits are essentially continuous with the Howells Lake - Howells River North deposit connecting the two. With these additional NI 43-101 compliant resources, NML is now firmly established amongst the world's largest holders of iron ore resources (see Table 3). The work is continuing to finalize the feasibility study in collaboration with Tata Steel for the Taconite Project, comprising the LabMag and KeMag deposits. However, the remaining deposits are either 100% or 80% owned by NML and are available for development with Tata Steel and/or other partners."
The drilled part of the Howells Lake - Howells River North deposit is 7.5 km long and 3.5 km wide with an area of 26.25 km2, and is located between the LabMag and KeMag deposits. These deposits form part of the 210-km long Millennium Iron Range ("MIR"), one of Canada's largest iron ore occurrences.
Mineral Resource Estimate by SGS
NML engaged SGS Canada Inc. to model the iron ore deposits based on the available drill hole results, primarily from 2012 with 3 holes from previous years, and to complete a mineral resource estimate in compliance with NI 43-101. The geological model was used as the basis for a categorized block model resource estimate to complete a "Mineral Resource Estimation" for the property described in Appendix 1. NML will integrate these results into its own geological software system for future open pit design and mine planning.
Table 1: Summary of Howells Lake - Howells River North Properties
Mineral Resource Estimate
(Based on a cut-off 18% DTWR)
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Resource Tonnes in Total Concentrate Concentrate
Property Classification millions Fe% DTWR% Fe% SiO2%
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Howells
Lake Indicated 6,502 30.31 28.72 69.65 2.63
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Inferred 734 30.07 25.89 69.67 2.69
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Howells
River
North (1) Indicated 1,129 30.87 29.83 69.86 2.40
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Inferred 2,576 29.77 27.56 69.84 2.50
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Total Indicated 7,631 30.39 28.88 69.68 2.60
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Total Inferred 3,310 29.83 27.19 69.80 2.54
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(1) Naskapi LabMag Trust through LabMag Limited Partnership (LLP) owns the
20%.
Mineral Resources are concentrations or occurrences of minerals in such form and quantity and of such grade or quality such that they have reasonable prospects for economic extraction. While New Millennium has historically used a cut-off of 18% DTWR to meet this test, previous studies (2012 NI 43- 101 report on the Lac Ritchie deposit, 2009 NI 43-101 report on the KeMag deposit) have shown that the marginal cut-off for Davis Tube weight recovery to meet this test could be lower than 18%. SGS Canada Inc. built a pit shell for the Howells River North - Howells Lake properties based on the economic parameters described in the Lac Ritchie NI 43-101 technical report. According to those parameters, the resulting cut-off grade is 4.7% DTWR. This cut-off grade is significantly lower than the usual 18%, and SGS Canada Inc. considers it reasonable to use a cut-off grade of 15% DTWR for the delineation of Mineral Resources.
Table 2 indicates the effect of a lower DTWR cut-off. At a cut-off of 15% DTWR, the Mineral Resources of Howells Lake and Howells River North increase from 7.631 to 8.115 billion tonnes of Indicated Resources (at an average of 28.16% DTWR) and from 3.310 to 3.621 billion tonnes of Inferred Resources (at an average of 26.29% DTWR).
Table 2: Summary of Howells Lake - Howells River North Properties
Mineral Resource Estimate
(Based on a cut-off 15% DTWR)
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Resource Tonnes in Total Concentrate Concentrate
Property Classification millions Fe% DTWR% Fe% SiO2%
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Howells
Lake Indicated 6,972 30.10 27.91 69.61 2.67
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Inferred 838 29.97 24.75 69.67 2.68
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Howells
River
North (1) Indicated 1,143 30.82 29.67 69.85 2.40
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Inferred 2,783 29.55 26.75 69.82 2.51
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Total Indicated 8,115 30.20 28.16 69.64 2.63
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Total Inferred 3,621 29.65 26.29 69.78 2.55
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Mr. Maxime Dupere geo. is the independent Qualified Person responsible for the Mineral Resource Estimate and the preparation of the technical report in compliance with NI 43-101. Dean Journeaux, Eng., and Moulaye Melainine, Eng., are the Qualified Persons, as defined in National Instrument 43-101, who have reviewed and verified the scientific and technical mining disclosure contained in this news release.
A Technical Report in respect of these mineral resource estimates is required to be filed on SEDAR within 45 days. The effective date of this mineral resource estimate is April 30 2013.
Table 3: Summary of the New Millennium Iron Range Resources
Mineral Resource Estimate
(Based on a a cut-off of 18% DTWR)
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Property Resources Category, Million Tonnes
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Proven & Probable Measured & Indicated Inferred
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KeMag 2,141 307 1,014
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LabMag 3,545 1,045 1,151
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Lac Ritchie 3,330 1,437
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Howells Lake-Howells
River North 7,631 3,310
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Sheps Lake 1,967 289
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Perault Lake 1,612 507
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Total 5,686 15,892 7,708
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About New Millennium
The Corporation controls the emerging Millennium Iron Range, located in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador and in the Province of Quebec, which holds one of the world's largest undeveloped magnetic iron ore deposits. In the same area, the Corporation and Tata Steel Limited, one of the largest steel producers in the world, are advancing a DSO Project to near term production. Tata Steel Limited owns approximately 26.3% of New Millennium and is the Corporation's largest shareholder and strategic partner.
Tata Steel exercised its exclusive option to participate in the DSO Project and has a commitment to take the resulting production (see news release 10-16 dated September 14, 2010). The DSO Project is owned and operated by TSMC, which in turn is 80% owned by Tata Steel and 20% owned by NML. The DSO Project contains 64.1 million tonnes of Proven and Probable Mineral Reserves at an average grade of 58.8% Fe, 21.0 million tonnes of Measured and Indicated Mineral Resources at an average grade of 59.2% Fe, 10.3 million tonnes of Inferred Resources at an average grade of 58.3% Fe and about 25.0 - 30.0 million tonnes of historical resources that are not currently in compliance with NI 43-101 (see news release 09-03 dated February 11, 2009, news release 09-05 dated March 4, 2009, news release 09-16 dated December 9, 2009, news release 10-12 dated July 8, 2010 and news release 12-14, dated May 31, 2012). A qualified person has not done sufficient work to classify the historical estimate as current mineral resources or mineral reserves, the Corporation is not treating the historical estimate as current mineral resources or mineral reserves and the historical estimate should not be relied upon.
The Millennium Iron Range currently hosts two advanced projects: LabMag contains 3.5 billion tonnes of Proven and Probable reserves at a grade of 29.6% Fe plus 1.0 billion tonnes of Measured and Indicated resources at an average grade of 29.5% Fe and 1.2 billion tonnes of Inferred resources at an average grade of 29.3% Fe (see news release 06-13 dated July 5, 2006 and news release 07-11 dated July 17, 2007); KeMag contains 2.1 billion tonnes of Proven and Probable reserves at an average grade of 31.3% Fe, 0.3 billion tonnes of Measured and Indicated resources at an average grade of 31.3 % Fe and 1.0 billion tonnes of Inferred resources at an average grade of 31.2% Fe (see news release 09-01 dated January 16, 2009). Tata Steel also exercised its exclusive right to negotiate and settle a proposed transaction in respect of the LabMag Project and the KeMag Project (see news release 11-09 dated March 6, 2011).
The Millennium Iron Range now hosts other taconite deposits. The first is the Lac Ritchie property located at the north end of the Range. The initial 2011 drilling of 40 holes in this property revealed Indicated Resources of 3.330 billion tonnes at an average grade of 30.3% Fe, and Inferred Resources of 1.437 billion tonnes at an average grade of 30.9% Fe (see news release NR 12-11, dated April 02, 2012). Two other taconite deposits are located south of the LabMag deposit in the Millennium Iron Range. The initial 2012 drilling of 23 holes in the Sheps Lake property and of 50 holes in the Perault Lake property revealed Indicated Resources of 3.580 billion tonnes at an average grade of 31.22%, and Inferred Resources of 795 million tonnes at an average grade of 30.56% (see news release NR 13-04, dated February 11, 2013).
The Corporation's mission is to add shareholder value through the responsible and expeditious development of the Millennium Iron Range and other mineral projects to create a new large source of raw materials for the world's iron and steel industries.
For further information, please visit www.NMLiron.com, www.tatasteel.com, www.tatasteelcanada.com, and www.tatasteeleurope.com.
Dean Journeaux, Eng., and Thiagarajan Balakrishnan, P. Geo., are the Qualified Persons as defined in National Instrument 43-101 who have reviewed and verified the scientific and technical mining disclosure contained in this news release.
Forward-Looking Statements
This document may contain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation and the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this document and the Corporation does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements.
Forward-looking statements relate to future events or future performance and reflect management of the Corporation's expectations or beliefs regarding future events and include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to the estimation of mineral reserves and resources, the realization of mineral reserve estimates, the timing and amount of estimated future production, costs of production, capital expenditures, success of mining operations, environmental risks, unanticipated reclamation expenses, title disputes or claims and limitations on insurance coverage. In certain cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved" or the negative of these terms or comparable terminology. By their very nature forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Corporation to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements.
Such factors include, among others, risks related to actual results of current exploration activities; changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined; future prices of resources; possible variations in ore reserves, grade or recovery rates; accidents, labour disputes and other risks of the mining industry; delays in obtaining governmental approvals or financing or in the completion of development or construction activities; as well as those factors detailed from time to time in the Corporation's interim and annual financial statements and management's discussion and analysis of those statements, all of which are filed and available for review on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.
Although the Corporation has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward looking statements.
APPENDIX 1
Howells Lake and Howells River North Mineral Resource Estimate
The effective date of this mineral resource estimate is April 30, 2013.
The resources of the Howells Lake - Howells River North deposits are estimated using the same methodology used for the Lac Ritchie deposit approximately 135 km to the north. The estimation was done using block modeling methodology with Inverse Distance squared interpolation of the drill hole composites. Each stratigraphic unit ("Seam") was estimated independently. Within the Howells Lake and Howells River North Properties the structure is very simple, the iron formation is generally northwest-southwest striking and dipping 5 degrees to 10 degrees to northeast. Folds where present are monoclinic to gently inclined and rolling.
To carry out the resource estimation SGS has used all the diamond drill hole data available to construct a computerized resource block model. Drill cores were delivered by helicopter on a daily basis for logging, splitting and collecting samples for testing. The core logging procedure begins with the recording of the overburden depth and identification of the stratigraphic units based on the mineralogical assemblage. The overall thickness, magnetism, texture, color of the chert bands and structural features such as bedding thickness, banded and or massive nature of the units, fault zones are all determined and described. Rock Quality Designation ("RQD") logging, core recovery percentage and core loss intervals are also recorded.
Each stratigraphic unit is sampled separately with sample lengths varying from 1.0 m to a maximum of 8.0 m. All iron formation units are sampled. The cores are split using a hydraulic core splitter. The split half core samples are collected in canvas bags with a tag showing the sample number and the required analysis. The split half save of the core is placed on the original core trays and stored.
The samples were sent to the Midland Research Center (MRC) located at Nashwauk, Minnesota, USA. Each sample was tested for DTWR and assayed Fe in head, Fe in concentrate and SiO2 in concentrate. Check samples were randomly selected which was actually the second half of the original core sample. At MRC, those samples were subjected to same Davis Tube testing as the original half core of the same intervals. SGS verified the QA-QC data and found that the duplicated NML data reproduced compare reasonably well with the original data.
SGS visited the site in August, 2012 and collected drill hole samples corresponding to NML's original samples which were made of the remaining half core. Check samples were sent to the SGS Lakefield lab for preparation and Davis Tube testing with a protocol similar to that of the MRC lab.
The drilling at Howells Lake and Howells River North is on an approximate 1000 X 450 m grid (The spacing between holes on section lines varied from 600 m to 300 m). The rectangular block chosen is 25 m across the strike and 50 m along the strike and 15 m high. This block grid covers the entire drilled area. Each block within the grid is interpolated for the surrounding composites. The block model has been interpolated by Inverse Distance. All elements had been interpolated with a power of 2 applied to distance weighing. Each seam is interpolated independently from one another. The geological continuity of the mineralized units is evident from the results of the 56 drill holes present in the data base used by SGS, provided by NML. In all of them the stratigraphic sequence LC, GC, JUIF, URC, PGC, LRC and LRGC can be recognized by its geochemical and mineralogical signature with similar thickness data. Based on the geological and grade continuity between the 56 holes, the mineralization in the drilled area has been classified as Indicated Resources. As was done in Lac Ritchie deposit a fringe of Inferred material has been added all around the drill hole lay out to the north, east and south. Since it is reasonable to expect the iron formation extends beyond the limits of drilling, a fringe of 250m (across strike) and 500m (along strike) was added.
Contacts:
New Millennium Iron Corp.
Dean Journeaux
President & CEO
(514) 935-3204
New Millennium Iron Corp.
Andreas Curkovic
Investor Relations
(416) 577-9927
www.NMLiron.com
