(TheNewswire)
Highlights
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- OreVision ® 3D induced polarization survey completed over the Banshee Zone, RiverValley Palladium Deposit
- 14 high chargeability targetsidentified: 11 sub-surface and 3 surface
- 5 targets coincide with the knownmineralized trend at Banshee Zone
- 9 targets may representopportunities expanding the known mineralization or making newdiscoveries
October 26, 2021 – TheNewswire- Rockport, Ontario - New Age Metals Inc.(TSXV:NAM ) ; ( OTC:NMTLF ) ; ( FSE:P7J.F) (“NAM” or “Company”) NAM is pleased toannounce the results of a 2021 OreVision® 3D induced polarization(“IP”) survey over the Banshee Zone on its 100% owned River ValleyPalladium Property near Sudbury, Ontario. The purpose of the surveywas to generate priority exploration targets for drill testing.Banshee Zone’s location between the Dana Zones to the north and theLismer Zones to the east makes it an exploration priority, at RiverValley (Figure 1).
Figure 1. Geological setting of the Banshee Zone within the River ValleyIntrusion, near Sudbury, Ontario. Also shown is the distribution ofpit constrained Mineral Resources at $15/t NSR (Net Smelter Return)cut-off ( see NAM pressrelease dated October 5, 2021 ). Note that thePine Zone is not exposed at surface. M&I = Measured and Indicated,Ind: = Indicated, Inf = Inferred.
OreVision ® 3D Survey
This OreVision ® 3D surveywas performed by Abitibi Geophysics along 4 cut-lines (roughly 6line-km) over the Banshee Zone area (Figure 2). This survey wasconducted using the Pole-dipole configuration of "a" spacingequal to 37.5 m and "n" spacings of 1 to 30, with in-lineand across-line measurements (3D DC-IP design)and depth penetration of up to 485 m vertically below surface.
The inversions performedincorporated the previous survey data from the nearby 2017 geophysicalsurvey. That survey included four OreVison ® 3D survey lines, acquired using the sameconfiguration as this new dataset.
Figure 2. OreVision ® 3D 2021 survey cut-line grid (four thicker blue lines)overlain on generalized geological map of the Banshee Zone area. Thethinner blue lines to the northeast were surveyed (to the edge of theBanshee Zone) by OreVision IP in 2017.
Results
The OreVision ® 3D survey was completed over the BansheeZone in the early summer of 2021. Following QAQC protocols, dataprocessing and integration with the 2017 survey data, and inversionand interpretation, Abitibi Geophysics delivered 11 sub-surfacetargets and three surface targets to NAM for further evaluation(Figure 3). NAM prioritized the targets situated on chargeabilityhighs that continue to depths of up to 400 m below surface forfollow-up evaluation work and potential drill testing. The prioritizedtargets on the Banshee Zone trend (northwest) potentially coincidewith contact-type palladium mineralization (historical drill holeBL-02: 1.11 g/t Pd+Pt+Au/7.5 m) and may indicate potential for MineralResource expansion by drilling down-dip and across strike,particularly in the north part of the Zone. The prioritized targets oncross-cutting (north to northeast-trending) faults may indicate areasof mineralization transposed into the footwall during deformation,like the Pine Zone farther north (Figure 1). Such footwall structuraltargets (for example, near historical drill holes BL-19, -11 and -13and BL-21 in Figure 3) represent anunder-explored target type at the Banshee Zone and, more generally, onthe River Valley Property.
Figure 3. Surface (white stars) and sub-surface (red squares – with maslelevations in metres) OreVision® 3D targets overlain on calculated Metal Factor [ Metal Factor = (chargeability/?resistivity) x 1000] plan map at 250 m elevation (about 60 m below surface) forBanshee Zone (grey). OreVision ® 3D inversion products generated by Abitibi Geophysics. Thetargets ( whitecircles ) that correspond to or overlap with highMetal Factor map values are prioritized by NAM for follow-up work.Also shown are the historical drill holes.
Next Steps
The current drill program plan for Banshee Zone will berevisited and revised in view of the new targets generated by the OreVision® 3D IP survey.The surface targets (outcrops or subcrops) will be prospected orstripped when field conditions allow. Exploration drilling istentatively slated to resume in the Banshee Zone area in H12022.
Banshee Zone Background
The Banshee Zone was drilled between 2002 and 2004 and is currentlydefined in 22 diamond drill holes totalling 4,274 m. The Zone measures700 m long and up to 100 m wide, is drilled to an average depth of 134m vertically below surface (maximum depth = 261 m), strikes NNE, anddips vertically to steeply to the east (i.e., overturned). At a CDN$15NSR/t cut-off, the current (2021) Mineral Resource Estimate of theBanshee 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 3E in theIndicated classification and 3.51 Mt grading 0.29 g/t Pd, 0.16 g/t Pt,0.06% Cu, 0.01% Ni or CDN$29.28 NSR/t for 53 koz of 3E in the Inferredclassification. The Banshee Zoneremains open to expansion by drilling, particularly at depth.
The Banshee Zone is located between the core Dana Zones to the Northand the Lismer Zones to the east and south (Figure 1), whichcollectively are the focus of the ongoing Pre-Feasibility Study of theRiver Valley Project. Due to itscentral location, Banshee could therefore be of strategic importanceto any potential future mining-processing operation at theProject.
Pre-Feasibility Study Update
A Pre-Feasibility Study of the River Valley PalladiumProject was announced in a Company press release dated April 2021. At this point, fresh drill core samples from the Dana North, DanaSouth, Lismer North and Lismer Ridge Zones are being processed,prepared and assayed for mineral processing and metallurgical testworkat SGS Lakefield. The geomechanical and geotechnical drilling and pitexcavation programs are underway on the Dana and Lismer Zones, underthe direction of Knight-Piésold. Environmental baseline sampling andsurface water and hydrological studies will be carried out by StoryEnvironmental in Q4 2021.
Exploration Update
Exploration in 2021 is focused on identifyingopportunities for converting Inferred to Indicated Mineral Resourcesand for expanding the known Mineral Resources. An induced polarizationgeophysical survey (subject of this press release) and four drillholes totalling 1,300 m have been completed at Banshee Zone.Mineralization was intersected and assays are pending from thelaboratory. A new trench has been excavated and more mineralizationexposed to the east adjacent to the known mineralization at Dana SouthZone. Channel sampling is complete and samples will be submitted tothe assay lab shortly.
About River Valley
The River Valley Palladium Project is located 100 road-km east fromthe City of Sudbury.
The Project area is linked to Sudbury by a network of all-weatherhighways, roads and rail beds and is accessible year-round with hydrogrid and natural gas power nearby. River Valley enjoys the strongsupport of local communities, like the village of River Valley, 20 kmto the south.
A fully executed Memorandum of Understanding is in place with a localFirst Nation. Environmental baseline studies re-commenced in 2020.
The current Mineral Resource Estimate was announced in a press releasedated October 5, 2021.
At cut-offs of CDN$15NSR/t (pit constrained) and CDN$50NSR/t(out-of-pit), the Mineral Resource Estimate consists of: 89.9 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; and 94Mt grading 0.35 g/t Pd, 0.16 g/t Pt, 0.04 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 2019 PEA results for the River Valley Palladium Project wereannounced in a press release dated June 27, 2019, and are based on theupdated 2019 Mineral Resource Estimate for River Valley.
The 2019 PEA outlines a 20,000 t/day open pit mine and processingplant operation producing an average of 119,000 ounces of PdEq peryear over a mine life of 14 years. Using base case metal prices ofUS$1,200/oz Pd, $1,050/oz Pt and $3.25/lb Cu, the PEA showed a pre-taxNPV5% of US$261 million and a pre-tax IRR of 13%. At a +20% palladium price of $1,440/oz Pd,the pre-tax NPV5% increases to $501M and the pre-tax IRR to 19%. As ofOctober 26, 2021 the palladium price is ,962/oz.
The updated 2021 Mineral Resource Estimate will form a basis for theongoing Pre-Feasibility Study of the River Valley Palladium Project.
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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