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Pretium Resources Inc. (Pretium)
is pleased to announce that it has filed a preliminary prospectus dated
October 28, 2010 with the securities regulatory authorities in each of the
provinces and territories of Canada except Quebec in connection with a
proposed initial public offering (IPO) of its common shares. The underwriting
syndicate for the offering is led by CIBC (lead bookrunner).
Pretium is a start-up company that intends to
acquire, explore and develop precious metals resource properties, initially
in the Americas and with a focus on gold. Pretium
has entered into an agreement to purchase the Snowfield Project and the Brucejack Project in British Columbia, Canada from Silver
Standard Resources Inc. (Silver Standard) for total consideration of $450
million, payable by a minimum of $215 million in cash and the balance by way
of Pretium common shares valued at the IPO offering
price. Silver Standard's shareholding in Pretium is
anticipated to comprise less than 50% of the fully diluted number of issued Pretium common shares calculated immediately following
the closing of the IPO. The net funds raised under the IPO will be used to
fund the cash portion of the Snowfield Project and the Brucejack
Project purchase, the prefeasibility engineering studies and continuing
exploration of the Snowfield and Brucejack
Projects, the acquisition and exploration of other gold and precious metal
projects and general corporate purposes. Closing of the IPO and purchase is
expected to occur in December, 2010.
A National Instrument 43-101 compliant preliminary economic assessment in
respect of the Snowfield Project and the Brucejack
Project was previously issued to Silver Standard. In contemplation of Pretium's acquisition of these Projects, that report,
entitled "Technical Report and Preliminary Assessment of the Snowfield Brucejack Project" (PEA),
has been re-issued to Pretium and is available
under its profile at www.sedar.com. The PEA is based on the results of Silver
Standard's 2009 drilling program for the Snowfield and Brucejack
Projects.
The Snowfield Project mineral resource estimate based on the PEA is summarised below. (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)
Tonnes Au Au ozs Ag Ag ozs Cu Mo Re
Class x
M g/t x M g/t x M % ppm g/t
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Measured .................43.7 0.83 3.85 1.57 7.27 0.08 100 0.62
Indicated ...............951.6 0.60 18.19 1.78 54.38 0.11 87 0.47
Measured + Indicated ...1095.3 0.63 22.04 1.75 61.65 0.11 89 0.49
Inferred ............... 847.2 0.40 10.99 1.53 41.62 0.07 82 0.33
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Notes:
1. Mineral resource estimate at a 0.30g/t AuEq cut-off.
2. Mineral resource sensitivities are
accumulated within an optimized pit shell.
3. Mineral resources which are not mineral
reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. The estimate of mineral
resources may be materially affected by environmental, permitting, legal,
title, taxation, socio-political, marketing, or other relevant issues.
4. The quantity and grade of reported
inferred resources in this estimation are conceptual in nature. There is no
guarantee that all or any part of the mineral resource will be converted into
mineral reserves.
5. Metal price assumptions are: Au
US$980.00/oz; Ag US$14.89/oz; Cu US$2.65/lb; Mo US$17.00/lb; Re US$145.00/oz.
The Brucejack Project mineral resource estimate
based on the PEA is summarised
below.(1)(2)(3)(4)(5)
Tonnes Au Au ozs Ag Ag ozs
Class
x M g/t x M g/t x M
--------------------------------------------------------------
Measured........................ 9.9 2.06 0.66 75.0 23.8
Indicated .................... 110.7
0.95 3.38 11.7 41.6
Measured + Indicated ......... 120.5 1.04 4.04 16.9 65.4
Inferred ..................... 198.0 0.76 4.87 11.2 71.5
--------------------------------------------------------------
Notes:
1. Combined mineral resource estimate at a
0.35g/t AuEq cut-off.
2. Mineral resource sensitivities are
accumulated within an optimized pit shell.
3. Mineral resources which are not mineral
reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. The estimate of mineral
resources may be materially affected by environmental, permitting, legal,
title, taxation, socio-political, marketing, or other relevant issues.
4. The quantity and grade of reported
inferred resources are conceptual in nature. There is no guarantee that all
or any part of the mineral resource will be converted into mineral reserve.
5. Metal price assumptions are: Au
US$800.00/oz; Ag US$12.00/oz;
Pretium plans to continue with an update of the
Snowfield Project's and the Brucejack Project's
resources based on the 2010 program drilling as well as initiating a
prefeasibility study to evaluate a potential development strategy for the
Projects.
"We are pleased to take this first step in building a leading gold
exploration and development company," stated Robert Quartermain,
Pretium's Chief Executive Officer. "The
combined Snowfield Project and Brucejack Project is
a large gold asset with excellent potential for resource expansion and provides a solid foundation on which to grow Pretium into a gold focused precious metals
company." Mr. Quartermain added, "We
believe that with our experienced management group and Board, together with
the Snowfield and Brucejack Projects, Pretium will be well positioned to grow shareholder value
through gold."
A copy of Pretium's preliminary prospectus will be
available under Pretium's SEDAR profile at
www.sedar.com.
The securities offered have not been, and will not be, registered under the
United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities
Act") or any U.S. state securities laws, and may not be offered or sold
in the United States or to United States persons absent registration or any
applicable exemption from the registration requirement of the U.S. Securities
Act and applicable U.S. state securities laws. This release shall not
constitute an offer to sell, or the solicitation of an offer to buy
securities in the United States, nor shall there be
any sale of these securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer,
solicitation or sale would be unlawful.
About Pretium Resources
Pretium is a start-up company that intends to
acquire, explore and develop gold and precious metals resource properties,
initially in the Americas. Under an agreement described in the preliminary
prospectus, Pretium has the right to acquire from
Silver Standard the Snowfield and Brucejack
pre-development gold resource projects in Northern British Columbia, Canada. Pretium's principal objective is to advance the Snowfield
and Brucejack Projects to feasibility to explore
for and acquire other precious metals resource properties. Pretium's overall strategy is to position itself as a
leading gold and precious metals exploration company.
For further information, please contact:
Pretium Resources Inc.
#2300 - 1066 West Hastings Street
Vancouver, British Columbia
V6E 3X2
Robert Quartermain, President
Tel: 604.601.8240
Investor Relations
Tel: 604.637.6823
Qualified Persons
F.H. Brown (M.Sc. Eng., CPG, Pr.Sci.Nat.)., of
P&E Mining Consultants Inc. who is independent of Pretium,
is the "qualified person" under National Instrument 43-101
responsible for the Snowfield and Brucejack
resource estimates contained herein and has reviewed and approved the
contents of this news release.
Forward Looking Statement
This Press Release contains "forward-looking information" within
the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking
information may include, but is not limited to, information with respect to
the acquisition of the Snowfield Project and the Brucejack
Project, anticipated production and developments in our operations in future
periods, our planned exploration and development activities, the estimation
of mineral resources, realization of mineral resource estimates, costs and
timing of development of the Snowfield and Brucejack
Projects, costs and timing of future exploration, results of future
exploration and drilling, timing and receipt of approvals, consents and
permits under applicable legislation, our executive compensation approach and
practice, the composition of our board of directors and committees, and
adequacy of financial resources. Wherever possible, words such as
"plans", "expects" or "does not expect",
"budget", "scheduled", "estimates",
"forecasts", "anticipate" or "does not
anticipate", "believe", "intend" and similar
expressions or statements that certain actions, events or results
"may", "could", "would", "might" or
"will" be taken, occur or be achieved, have been used to identify
forward-looking information.
Statements concerning mineral resource estimates may also be deemed to
constitute forward-looking information to the extent that they involve
estimates of the mineralization that will be encountered if the property is developed.
Any statements that express or involve discussions with respect to
predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives,
assumptions or future events or performance (often, but not always, using
words or phrases such as "expects", "anticipates",
"plans", "projects", "estimates",
"assumes", "intends", "strategy",
"goals", "objectives", "potential" or
variations thereof, or stating that certain actions, events or results
"may", "could", "would", "might" or
"will" be taken, occur or be achieved, or the negative of any of
these terms and similar expressions) are not statements of historical fact
and may be forward-looking information. Forward-looking information is
subject to a variety of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors
that could cause actual events or results to differ from those expressed or
implied by the forward-looking information, including, without limitation,
those risks identified in Pretium's preliminary
prospectus filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com Forward-looking statements are
based on the expectations and opinions of Pretium's
management on the date the statements are made. The assumptions used in the
preparation of such statements, although considered reasonable at the time of
preparation, may prove to be imprecise. Our forward-looking information is
based on the beliefs, expectations and opinions of management on the date the
statements are made, and we do not assume any obligation to update
forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future
events or otherwise, other than as required by applicable law. For the
reasons set forth above, prospective investors should not place undue
reliance on forward-looking information.
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