(TheNewswire)
Highlights:
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Metallurgical program to date hasproduced very encouraging results.
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A clean phosphate concentrate,grading 26% P2O5 at 76% recovery reliably produced.
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Valuable rare earth elementsco-concentrated with phosphate.
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Ample room remains for additionalimprovements of grade and recovery of phosphate, rare earth elements(“REE”) and niobium with further testing.
Toronto / TheNewswire / March 13, 2024 –Nuinsco Resources Limited (“ Nuinsco ” or the “ Company ”) (CSE:NWI, FRA: NJX) today provided an update on metallurgical results fromstudies conducted on the Company’s Prairie Lake critical mineralsand phosphate project located near Terrace Bay, Ontario(“ Prairie Lake ” or the “Project” ) which indicate excellentprogress towards developing a process to economically produce multiplemineral concentrates.
Mr. Grant Feasby, metallurgist at P&E MiningConsulting and consultant to the Company commented: “preliminarymetallurgical test work to date, at expert test facilities operated byCOREM in Quebec and SGS-Lakefield in Ontario, has demonstrated thatthe mineral apatite can be concentrated to reliably produce aphosphate grade of at least 26% P2O5 at 76% recovery. REEs areco-concentrated with the phosphate, currently up to a concentrategrade of 1% total rare earth oxide (“ TREO ”), of whichapproximately 26% are the elements neodymium and praseodymium, whichare so valuable to permanent magnet production. Additional testdevelopment is expected to improve concentrate grades and recoveriesas well as to demonstrate the separation of the REEs from fertilizer-and battery-grade phosphate. A niobium concentration strategy isalso being developed. Potentially a large-scale Prairie Lake operationcould be a major Canadian producer of three mineral products –phosphate, REEs and niobium – all identified as Critical Minerals byCanada, Ontario and Quebec.”
“The accumulating metallurgical results continue todeliver excellent news on the potential economic viability of thePrairie Lake Project,” said Paul Jones, Nuinsco’s CEO. “Anigneous source phosphate concentrate of commercially acceptable gradecan reliably be produced from Project feed and great opportunityexists to increase the grade and recovery going forward, as will beconfirmed by additional testing. With the consideration of a REEco-concentrate the concentrate potential is further enhanced. Also,when the added valued of a possible niobium concentrate is considered,the Project demonstrates great potential. We are delighted withresults to date and anticipate great news to come. Given thecurrent size of the mineral resource estimate (“ MRE ”) at theProject, the implications of a viable concentrate to the secure supplyof critical minerals in North America and beyond areenormous.”
The Prairie Lake Project contains a large , well-located resource of critical minerals in NorthAmerica. It contains significant grades of phosphate mineralization(in apatite) REEs and niobium (in pyrochlore). The current size ofthe Project MRE is very large – in the order of 900 million tonnes(see table below). The Project has amongst the world’s highest knownlight rare earth element content in apatite and contains a host ofother REE bearing minerals; it also contains a significant endowmentof niobium-bearing pyrochlore, and phosphate mineralization. TheProject is a potential source of elements needed for use intransportation, power distribution, green industries and a host ofother technologies and applications, including agriculture. Thecurrent MRE is already a very large endowment of vitally importantcritical minerals that are in constantly expanding demand as theworld’s economies transition towards low-carbon emissions.
Securing a reliable critical minerals supply chain is astrategic concern identified by numerous governments in the recentpast and addressed with incentives and programs to encouragedevelopment of the critical minerals sector. The Project is locatednear the north shore of Lake Superior, putting it in close or easilyaccessible reach of:
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The towns of Marathon, Terrace Bay and other affectedcommunities - all a source of a local, skilled workforce.
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All weather forest access road crossing the project anddeposit.
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Paved Highways 17 and 11 to the south andnorth.
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Canadian Pacific Kansas City Railway and CanadianNational Railway networks.
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High capacity (230kV) electrical power transmissionline.
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50km from the Marathon deep water port project.Deep-water ports are also located at Thunder Bay and Sault Ste. Marie,able to handle ocean going ships.
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The Marathon airport.
Laura Giroux, P.Geo, Chief Geologist, acts as Nuinsco'sQualified Person under National Instrument 43-101. Ms. Giroux hasreviewed and approved the technical contents of this news release.
About Nuinsco ResourcesLimited
Nuinsco Resources has over 50years of exploration success and is a growth-oriented,multi-commodity mineral exploration and development company focusedon prospective opportunities in Canada and internationally.Currently the Company has the large multi-commodity (phosphate,rare earth element, niobium, tantalum) Prairie Lake project nearMarathon-Terrace Bay, the Zig Zag Lake property (lithium, tantalum)near Armstrong optioned to First Class Metals PLC and retains a NSRroyalty on the Sunbeam gold property near Atikokan. In addition,Nuinsco has an agreement for gold exploitation at the El Sid projectin the Eastern Desert of Egypt.
Prairie Lake Project Pit ConstrainedMineral Resource Estimate (1-6)
Rare Earth Oxides | Niobium | Phosphate | |||||||||||
Class | Cut-Off | Tonnes | Nd 2 O 3 | Pr 6 O 11 | Sc 2 O 3 | CeO 2 | La 2 O 3 | Sm 2 O 3 | Ta 2 O 5 | Y 2 O 3 | TREO | Nb 2 O 5 | P 2 O 5 |
NSR C$/t | M | g/t | g/t | g/t | g/t | g/t | g/t | g/t | g/t | kg/t | % | % | |
Indicated | 30 | 15.6 | 344 | 96 | 15 | 754 | 300 | 58 | 28 | 100 | 1.67 | 0.16 | 3.71 |
Inferred | 30 | 871.8 | 409 | 82 | 18 | 905 | 388 | 79 | 17 | 127 | 2.01 | 0.10 | 3.39 |
*TREO = Total Rare Earth Oxides: neodymium, Nd 2 O 3 ; praseodymium, Pr 6 O 11 ; scandium, Sc 2 O 3 ; Cerium, CeO 2 ;lanthanum, La 2 O 3 ; samarium,Sm 2 O 3 ; yttrium, Y 2 O 3.
A full description of methodology used to estimate thePrairie Lake project Mineral Resource Estimate is contained in the NI43-101 compliant Technical Report, effective date 31 May 2022 preparedby P&E Mining Consultants Inc. that is filed on SEDAR.
1. Mineral Resources that are not MineralReserves do not have demonstrated economic viability.
The estimate of Mineral Resources may be materiallyaffected by environmental, permitting, legal, title, taxation,socio-political, marketing, or other relevant issues.
3. The Inferred Mineral Resource in thisestimate has a lower level of confidence than that applied to anIndicated Mineral Resource and must not be converted to a MineralReserve. It is reasonably expected that the majority of the InferredMineral Resource could potentially be upgraded to an Indicated MineralResource with continued exploration.
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The Mineral Resources were estimated in accordance withthe Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM), CIMStandards on Mineral Resources and Reserves, Definitions (2014) andBest Practices Guidelines (2019) prepared by the CIM StandingCommittee on Reserve Definitions and adopted by the CIMCouncil.
5. US$ Metal prices used were $80/KgNd 2 O 3 , $80/Kg Pr 6 O 11 , $1,500/Kg Sc 2 O 3 , $50/KgNb 2 O 5 , $250/t P 2 O 5 , $1.35/Kg CeO 2 ,$1.35/Kg La 2 O 3 , $3.50/Kg Sm 2 O 3 , Nil$/t Ta 2 O 5 and $13.00/kgY 2 O 3 , 0.78 FX all with combined processrecoveries and payables of 50%, except P 2 O 5 at 75%.
6. The constraining pit optimizationparameters were C$2.50/t mining cost for all material, C$25/t processcost, C$5/t G&A cost and 45-degree pit slopes with a C$30/t NSRcut-off.
Forward-LookingStatements
This news release contains certain"forward-looking statements." All statements, other thanstatements of historic fact, that address activities, events ordevelopments that Nuinsco believes, expects or anticipates will or mayoccur in the future are forward-looking statements. Forward-lookingstatements are often, but not always, identified by the use of wordssuch as "seek," "anticipate," "believe,""plan," "estimate, “expect," and"intend" and statements that an event or result"may," "will," "can,""should," "could," or "might" occur orbe achieved and other similar expressions. These forward-lookingstatements reflect the current expectations or beliefs of Nuinscobased on information currently available to Nuinsco. Forward-lookingstatements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that maycause the actual results of Nuinsco to differ materially from thosediscussed in the forward-looking statements, and even if such actualresults are realized or substantially realized, there can be noassurance that they will have the expected consequences to, or effectson Nuinsco. Factors that could cause actual results or events todiffer materially from current expectations include, among otherthings, failure to successfully complete financings, capital and othercosts varying significantly from estimates, production rates varyingfrom estimates, changes in world copper and/or gold markets, changesin equity markets, uncertainties relating to the availability andcosts of financing needed in the future, equipment failure, unexpectedgeological conditions, imprecision in resource estimates, success offuture development initiatives, competition, operating performance offacilities, environmental and safety risks, delays in obtaining orfailure to obtain tenure to properties and/or necessary permits andapprovals, and other development and operating risks. Anyforward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it ismade and, except as may be required by applicable securities laws,Nuinsco disclaims any intent or obligation to update anyforward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information,future events or results or otherwise. Although Nuinsco believes thatthe assumptions inherent in the forward-looking statements are reasonable,forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performanceand accordingly undue reliance should not be put on such statementsdue to the inherent uncertainty therein.
Paul Jones, CEO | Sean Stokes, Executive VP | Cathy Hume, Consultant | |
613-867-5902 | 416-712-7481 | 416-868-1079 877-838-1079 | |
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