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VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwire) -- 01/10/13 -- NGEx Resources Inc. (TSX: NGQ) ("NGEx" or the "Company") is pleased to announce a substantial increase in the Mineral Resource Estimate and positive results from initial metallurgical test work for the Josemaria copper-gold porphyry deposit located in San Juan province, Argentina (please see attached map - http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/ngq110-F1.pdf). The updated Josemaria resource is comprised of sulphide copper-gold mineralization which underlies a thin (average 60 metres) oxide zone as follows:
Sulphide Copper-Gold Mineralization (0.30% copper equivalent(i) cutoff)
-- 656 million tonnes at a grade of 0.36% copper and 0.26 g/t gold for a copper equivalent grade of 0.54% (5.2 billion pounds of copper and 5.6 million ounces of gold) in the Indicated Resource category; and,-- 326 million tonnes at a grade of 0.33% copper and 0.19 g/t gold for a copper equivalent grade of 0.46% (2.4 billion pounds of copper and 2.0 million ounces of gold) in the Inferred Resource category.
Oxide Zone (0.30% copper equivalent(i) cutoff)
-- 44 million tonnes at a grade of 0.22% copper and 0.33 g/t gold for a copper equivalent grade of 0.45% (0.22 billion pounds of copper and 0.47 million ounces of gold) in the Indicated Resource category; and,-- 6 million tonnes at a grade of 0.10% copper and 0.35 g/t gold for a copper equivalent grade of 0.34% (10 million pounds of copper and 70 thousand ounces of gold) in the Inferred Resource category.
The updated resource estimate incorporates the results from 47 diamond drill holes drilled since the previous estimate in 2007, including 39 holes drilled during the 2011/2012 season. These holes are a combination of infill and step-out holes and were successful in expanding the footprint of the deposit and improving the internal continuity of the resource model. The resource cut-off grade for the new estimate is based on a copper equivalent, rather than copper-only as in the previous model. It should be noted that there is no overlap between the sulphide resource and the oxide resource.
This resource remains open to expansion both towards the north and south. The expansion potential to the north is particularly interesting, as it extends beyond previously disclosed holes JMDH 49 and 50 which are the highest grade holes drilled into the deposit to date, returning intersections of 172m at 1.33% copper and 0.36 g/t gold, and 182m at 1.06% copper and 0.31 g/t gold respectively.
Metallurgical test work on the sulphide copper-gold mineralization was completed by SGS Lakefield Research in Vancouver. The test work indicates that the Josemaria sulphide mineralization is amenable to standard flotation concentration. One locked-cycle test was completed and achieved copper recoveries of 85.1% and gold recoveries of 69.4%, with test concentrate grades of 25.1% copper and 16.8 g/t gold. The concentrate samples produced by this work were clean, with all deleterious elements below penalty levels. Assays for silver in the concentrate are pending. No test work has been done on the oxide mineralization to date.
