Advertisement
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwire) -- 02/06/13 -- First Point Minerals Corp. (TSX: FPX) ("First Point" or the "Company") is pleased to report an updated independent National Instrument 43-101 compliant mineral resource estimate for the Decar nickel-iron alloy project in central British Columbia. The updated resource estimate will be incorporated into the Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA") currently being completed for the Decar project, which is managed and operated by Cliffs Natural Resources Exploration Canada Inc., an affiliate of Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. (NYSE: CLF)(Paris: CLF) ("Cliffs").
Updated Baptiste Deposit Mineral Resource Estimate(i) (Caracle Creek International Consulting Inc., January 23, 2013):
Category Tonnes Davis Tube Recoverable Nickel Content --------------------------------------------- (% Ni) (Tonnes) (Pounds)Indicated 1,159,510,000 0.124 1,437,800 3,169,700,000Inferred 870,400,000 0.125 1,088,000 2,398,600,000(i) Note: Reported at a cut-off grade of 0.06% DTR nickel. Mineral resourcesare not mineral reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability.Tonnes have been rounded to the nearest 10,000. Grade has been rounded tothree significant digits .The mineral resources are constrained by a GEMCOMWhittle pit, based on the reported cut-off grade.
The resource definition drilling and expansion program undertaken on the Baptiste deposit in 2012 has yielded substantially more tonnes and higher average grades, resulting in 1.159 billion tonnes being classified as an indicated resource at an improved grade of 0.124% Davis Tube magnetically-recovered ("DTR") nickel. Inferred resources now total 870 million tonnes grading 0.125% DTR nickel. This updated resource estimation compares very favourably to the initial inferred resource estimate reported in First Point's April 16, 2012 news release, which is shown below.
Initial Mineral Resource Estimate(i) (Caracle Creek, April 16, 2012):
Category Tonnes Davis Tube Recoverable Nickel Content --------------------------------------------- (% Ni) (Tonnes) (Pounds)Inferred 1,197,000,000 0.113 1,352,610 2,981,900,000(i) Note: Reported at a cut-off grade of 0.06% DTR nickel. Mineral resourcesare not mineral reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability.Tonnes have been rounded to the nearest 10,000. Grade has been rounded tothree significant digits.
"We are very pleased with the significant year-on-year growth of nickel resources at Decar," said First Point President and CEO Jim Gilbert. "The impressive increases reported in both overall tonnage and contained metal inventories, together with a material improvement in magnetically recoverable nickel grades, will enable Cliffs to incorporate an upgraded and enlarged resource in the PEA, which is due to be completed in March 2013."
The updated National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101") compliant mineral resource estimate was prepared by Caracle Creek International Consulting Inc. ("Caracle Creek"), which also prepared the April 2012 initial resource estimate. Caracle Creek supervised and managed the 2012 and 2011 drilling programs at Decar on behalf of Cliffs. The updated resource estimate adds an additional 32 core holes (16,347 metres) completed during the summer of 2012 to the initial resource estimate, bringing the total number of core holes in the data base to 74, representing 28,917 metres of drilling.
