(TheNewswire)
November 10, 2021 – TheNewswire - Rockport,Ontario - New Age Metals Inc. (TSXV:NAM ) ; ( OTC:NMTLF ) ; ( FSE:P7J.F) (“NAM” or “Company”) is pleased todeliver an update on the Pre-Feasibility Study and explorationactivities at the River Valley Palladium Project near Sudbury,Ontario.
Since the previous update was announced in a Company press releasedated August 17, the Mineral Resource Estimate of River Valley hasbeen updated and progress has been made advancing the mineralprocessing and metallurgical, geomechanical and geotechnical, andenvironmental and community relations work components of thePre-Feasibility Study. Concurrently, NAM completed an initial phase ofdrilling at the Banshee Zone and excavated a new exploration trenchnear the Dana South Zone (Figure 1), to further explore the palladiumpotential in this area.
Figure 1. Geology map of the northern area of the River Valley Palladium depositnear Sudbury, Ontario. Palladium mineralized zones projected tosurface. Mineral Resource Estimates using CDN$15/t Net Smelter Royalty(“NSR”) cut-off (see Company press release dated October 5, 2021).The Huronian, Grenville and Nipissing geological units excluded forillustration clarity.
Pre-Feasibility Study
Updated Mineral ResourceEstimate
The updated Mineral Resource Estimate by P&E Mining ConsultantsInc (Brampton) (“P&E) was announced in a Company press releasedated October 5, 2021 and will underpin the ongoing Pre-FeasibilityStudy. At cut-offs of CDN$15/t NSR (pit constrained) and CDN$50/t NSR(out-of-pit), the Mineral Resource Estimate consists of: 89.6 Mtgrading 0.54 g/t Pd, 0.21 g/t Pt, 0.04 g/t Au and 0.06% Cu, orCDN$47.58 NSR/t in the Measured and Indicated classifications; and94.3 Mt grading 0.35 g/t Pd, 0.16 g/t Pt, 0.03 g/t Au and 0.06% Cu, orCDN$31.69 NSR/t in the Inferred classification. Contained metalcontents are 2.3 Moz Pd+Pt+Au in the Measured and Indicatedclassifications and 1.6 Moz Pd+Pt+Au in the Inferred classification.
The updated 2021 Mineral Resource Estimate is based on all historicaland 2020 diamond drilling, revised mineralized domain modelling,inverse distance grade interpretation methodology, and higher overallmetal prices, particularly for palladium. At the CDN$15/t NSR cut-off,the pit constrained Measured & Indicated Mineral Resources totalof 89 Mt grading 0.79 g/t Pd+Pt+Au (2.3 Moz) reported hereinsignificantly exceeds the potentially mineable resources total of 78Mt grading 0.79 g/t Pd+Pt+Au (2.0 Moz) reported in the 2019Preliminary Economic Assessment (“PEA”) of River Valley.
Overall, the Pre-Feasibility Study asled by P&E will consider optimized mine production and mineralprocessing rates, based on this potentially more valuable UpdatedMineral Resource Estimate than that which underpinned the 2019PEA.
Mineral Processing and MetallurgicalSampling Drill Program
Four additional mineral processing and metallurgical sampling holestotalling approximately 802 m, have been drilled in 2021; one each onthe Dana North, Dana South, Lismer North and Lismer Ridge Zones(Figure 2). Each of the holes was drilled downwards to intersect asmuch mineralization as possible for mineral processing andmetallurgical testwork by SGS Canada Inc. (Lakefield). HQ-size corewas retrieved, logged and sampled metre-by-metre by NAM. Eight-hundred1-m long ½ core samples plus blind QC samples were delivered to SGSfor processing, assaying and variability testwork.
At this date, SGS have advised thatall of the assay results should be available in the next fewweeks. The samples will then be composited for grade (low,average, high), mineralized zone and rock type variability testing, inorder to optimize metal recoveries. This work will build on previous studies by SGS in 2012 and include,for the first time, systematic rhodium recovery determinations .The testwork program at SGS is being managed on behalf of NAM byD.E.N.M Engineering Ltd. (Burlington).
Figure 2. Collar location and traces of the four holes drilled in 2021 formineral processing and metallurgical testwork samples. The fifth(unlabelled) drill hole was planned for contingency, but not drilled
Geomechanical Drill Program
The Geomechanical drill program consisted of work on up to 10 drillholes (Figure 3). Five of six planned holes totalling 1,412 m weredrilled between August and October to provide fresh, oriented HQ3-sizecore material for rock property and structural geology studies byKnight Piésold Ltd (“KP”). (North Bay). Two of the holes wasdrilled at Dana North Zone, one hole at Dana South Zone, one hole atLismer North Zone, and one hole at Lismer Ridge Zone, as planned byKnight Piésold and drilled by Jacob & Samuel Drilling Ltd.(Sudbury). In addition, six historical holes at the Dana North, LismerNorth and Lismer Ridge Zones were surveyed by a televiewer instrumentfor rock type and structural geology information. The televiewersurveying program was completed in October 2021. Next steps involveprocessing and interpreting the data, and returning to the site forgeochemical sampling.
Figure 3. Knight Piésold proposed drill hole locations for geomechanicalstudies on the River Valley Palladium Project. Holes KP21-01 toKP21-05 were drilled between August and October 2021 (KP21-06 was notdrilled).
The holes labelled DN or LR are the historical holes selected forteleviewer surveys. Partial surveys were completed in LR-72 and LR-117and alternative holes were selected to collect additional data atdepth. LR-150 was inaccessible at the time of survey and analternative hole was surveyed instead. Note that holes KP21-01 andKP21-05 will be logged and sampled as exploration drill holes.
In addition to the geomechanicalstudies, the holes drilled at the Lismer Ridge (KP21-01) and DanaSouth (KP21-05) Zones will also be logged, sampled and assayed asexploration holes . Core samples will be sent to SGSLaboratories (Sudbury) for assaying and the results released whenavailable.
Geotechnical Program
As part of the ongoing Pre-Feasibility Study, the Knight-Piésoldgeotechnical component of this Pre-Feasibility Study includesexcavations and drilling of overburden in the areas of the open pitmines, process plant, waste dumps and tailings facilities, largely asoutlined in the 2019 PEA (Figure 4). At this current date, theexcavation test pits have largely been completed and the surficialdrilling program is now in progress. In addition, geochemical andphysical studies of tailings materials produced during metallurgicaltestwork will be completed at SGS under the direction of Knight-Piésold, as part of this Pre-Feasibility Study.
Figure 4. Knight Piésold proposed geotechnical site investigation plan for theRiver Valley Palladium Project.
The plan consists of test pits to be excavated during the fall 2021program and holes to be drilled during the fall 2021 and winter 2022programs.
Environmental Baseline Studies andCommunity Relations Engagement
Story Environmentalcontinue d baseline environmental studies of the Property and workedtowards establishing meaningful relationships with Indigenous Communities .
A Stage 2 Archeological Assessment was completed byHorizon Archaeology Inc., and the draft report was shared withIndigenous Communities in September 2021. This assessment work wascompleted within the proposed area of development, in order toidentify any areas of archaeological significance. Based upon the information gathered, it wasdetermined that the shorelineareas around southwestern Pine Lake and Platadium Pond, both near theDana South Zone, should be considered cleared of furtherarchaeological concerns.
Aquatics, surface water and hydrology baseline studieshave continued on the Property. The field studies included: 1) waterquality sampling at nine surface water sampling sites; 2) water flowmeasurement and water level recording on the outlet of Pine Lake; and
3) spawning habitat assessment in Pine Lake. Fish communityassessments were completed in Platadium Pond, Pine Lake, Unnamed Lake2, Banshee Lake, Unnamed Stream 2, Unnamed Stream 4, and UnnamedStream 8 (Figure 5). The surface water sampling, hydrology, and thearchaeological assessment field work involved Indigenous Communitymembers.
In addition, atmospheric data is being consolidated for the area and areport is being prepared, and the installation of groundwatermonitoring wells is currently underway, as part of the geotechnicalprogram being undertaken by Knight Piésold. Story Environmentalwill commence a groundwater monitoring program when the installationof these monitoring wells is complete.
Figure 5. Fall2021 fish and fish habitat assessment locations on the River ValleyProperty.
Ongoing Palladium Exploration(Banshee and Dana South Zones)
During the Pre-Feasibility Study, palladium exploration continued onthe River Valley Property, specifically at the Banshee and Dana SouthZones. The Banshee Zone is located between the key Dana Zones to theNorth and the Lismer Zones to the northeast and east (Figure 6), whichcollectively are the focus of the ongoing Pre-Feasibility Study. Due to its central location, Banshee couldtherefore be of strategic importance to any potential futuremining-processing operation at the Project.
Figure 6. Location and hole traces for planned 2021 exploration drill holes atBanshee Zone. The plan consists of drilling 13 holes totalling 4,175 malong 10 cross-sections of the Zone’s 700 m strike-length. Thedeepest hole will penetrate to 300 m vertically below surface.
The Banshee Zone was drilled between 2002 and 2004 and is currentlydefined in 22 diamond drill holes totalling 4,274 m. The Zonecurrently measures 700 m long and up to 100 m wide, is drilled to anaverage depth of 134 m vertically below surface (maximum depth = 261m), strikes NNE, and dips vertically to steeply to the east (i.e.,overturned). At a CDN$15 NSR/t cut-off, the current (2021) MineralResource Estimate of the Banshee Zone is 2.44 Mt grading 0.29 g/t Pd,0.17 g/t Pt,
0.03 g/t Au, 0.06% Cu, 0.01% Ni, or CDN$30.11 NSR/t for 39 koz of 3Ein the Indicated classification and 3.51 Mt grading 0.29 g/t Pd, 0.16g/t Pt, 0.06% Cu, 0.01% Ni or CDN$29.28 NSR/t for 54 koz of 3E in theInferred classification (see Company press release dated October 5,2021). The Banshee Zone remains opento expansion by drilling, particularly at depth.
The 2021 exploration plan for the Banshee Zone consists of 13 holestotalling 4,175 m (Figure 6), designed primarily to extend thepalladium mineralization down-dip. The exploration drilling commencedat the south end of Banshee in late July. To date, four of the drillholes totalling 1,277 m have been completed on two cross sections andcontact-type Cu-Fe sulphide mineralization was encountered that istypical of the River Valley Palladium Deposit. Core sample assays arepending from the laboratory in Sudbury and will be released whenavailable. In the meantime, the drilling at Banshee has beentemporarily suspended for the remainder of 2021, in order to focusresources on advancing the Pre-Feasibility Study.
At Dana South Zone, a trench was excavated in July 2021 on mineralizedoutcrops between the east boundary of the Dana South mineralizeddomain and the west shoreline of Pine Lake
(Figure 7). Previously, samples fromscattered mineralized outcrops in this area returned assay values ashigh as 8.29 g/t Pd+Pt+Au and 0.24% Cu . The excavation of thetrench was successful in exposing mineralized River Valley Intrusionrocks. The mineralization has been systematically sampled alongsaw-cut channels and the samples submitted to an assay laboratory inSudbury. Assay results will be released when available.
Figure 7. Location of the mineralized outcrop grab samples from the area betweenthe Dana South mineralized domain to the west and the Pine Lakeshoreline to the east. A new exploration trench was excavated on thisarea in July 2021.
About NAM
New Age Metals is a junior mineral exploration and development companyfocused on the discovery, exploration and development of green metalprojects in North America. The Company has two divisions; a PlatinumGroup Metals division and a Lithium/Rare Element division.
The PGM Division includes the 100% owned, multi-million-ounce,district scale River Valley Project, one of North America’s largestundeveloped Platinum Group Metals Projects, situated
100 km from Sudbury, Ontario. TheCompany completed a positive Preliminary Economic Assessment on theProject in 2019 and, is fully financed to complete a Pre-FeasibilityStudy in 2022. In addition to River Valley, the Company owns100% of the Genesis PGM-Cu-Ni Project in Alaska, and plans to completea surface mapping and sampling program there in 2022.
The Lithium Division is one of the largest mineral claim holders inthe Winnipeg River Pegmatite Field, where the Company is exploring forhard rock lithium and various rare elements such as tantalum andrubidium. Exploration in 2021 has included drone geophysics on at least five of theCompany’s seven projects and a maiden drill program on theCompany’s Lithium Two Project. On September 28, the Companyannounced a partnership with Mineral Resource Limited (MRL, ASX: MIN),the world’s fifth largest lithium producer to explore and developthe Company’s lithium project portfolio.
Our philosophy is to be a project generator with the objective ofoptioning our projects with major and junior mining companies throughto production. The Company is actively seeking an option/ jointventure partner for its road-accessible Genesis PGM-Cu-Ni project inAlaska.
Investors are invited to visit theNew Age Metals website at www.newagemetals.com where they can reviewthe company and its corporate activities. Any questions or commentscan be directed to info@newagemetals.com or Harry Barr at Hbarr@newagemetals.com or Cody Hunt at Codyh@newagemetals.com or call 613 659 2773.
If you have not done so already, we encourage you tosign up on our website ( www.newagemetals.com ) to receive our updated news.
Qualified Persons
The contents contained herein that relate toExploration Results and Mineral Resources for the River Valley Projectis based on information compiled, reviewed or prepared by Dr. BillStone, P.Geo., a consulting geoscientist for New Age Metals. Dr.Stone is the Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101and has reviewed and approved the technical content of this newsrelease.
On behalf of the Board of Directors
“ Harry Barr”
Harry G. Barr
Chairman and CEO
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its RegulationServices Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXVenture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracyof this release. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements:This release contains forward-looking statements that involve risksand uncertainties. These statements may differ materially fromactual future events or results and are based on current expectationsor beliefs. For this purpose, statements of historical fact may bedeemed to be forward-looking statements. In addition,forward-looking statements include statements in which the Companyuses words such as “continue”, “efforts”, “expect”,“believe”, “anticipate”, “confident”, “intend”,“strategy”, “plan”, “will”, “estimate”, “project”,“goal”, “target”, “prospects”, “optimistic” or similarexpressions. These statements by their nature involve risks anduncertainties, and actual results may differ materially depending on avariety of important factors, including, among others, the Company’sability and continuation of efforts to timely and completely makeavailable adequate current public information, additional or differentregulatory and legal requirements and restrictions that may beimposed, and other factors as may be discussed in the documents filedby the Company on SEDAR (www.sedar.com), including the most recentreports that identify important risk factors that could cause actualresults to differ from those contained in the forward-lookingstatements. The Company does not undertake any obligation to reviewor confirm analysts’ expectations or estimates or to releasepublicly any revisions to any forward-looking statements to reflectevents or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect theoccurrence of unanticipated events. Investors should not place unduereliance on forward-looking statements.
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