MONTRÉAL, QUÉBEC--(Marketwired - July 19, 2013) - Maya Gold & Silver Inc. ("Maya" or the "Corporation") (News - Market indicators) announces that it has received conditional approval of the TSX Venture for the acquisition of the Boumadine polymetallic deposit in Morocco ("Boumadine").
As previously announced in a news release dated March 4th, 2013, the Corporation and L'Office National des Hydrocarbures et des Mines ("ONHYM"), had signed on October 9, 2012 a Joint Venture Agreement in respect of Boumadine ("Agreement"). Maya was awarded Boumadine following an invitation to tender launched internationally. The Agreement was approved on February 8, 2013, by the Ministère de l'Énergie et des Mines du Maroc ("Moroccan Mining Authorities").
The transfer of the property will occur once a separate company is incorporated in Morocco for this purpose, which will be 85% owned by the Corporation and 15% owned by ONHYM.
Under the Agreement, the Corporation will invest an overall amount of CAD 16 million, including cash payments to be made over three years and exploration and development expenditures within 60 months of the approval of the Agreement by the Moroccan Mining Authorities (as per budget presented below).
An initial payment of CAD 705,600 (MAD 6,000,000) has been made on May 11, 2013.
ONHYM is entitled to a 3% royalty on sales from the Boumadine.
Development stages
As part of its tender to acquire Boumadine, MAYA has established a work schedule consisting of three development stages as described below.
- Q1 2013 to Q2 2014 - Valorization of tailings for extraction of gold, silver and subsequently, S2O3 to produce sulfuric acid and recover the energy from the oxidation reaction.
In early 2013, hydrometallurgical tests were conducted on two samples collected from the bottom (BMF) and top (BMS) of the main dry-stacked tailing located on the mine site of the former Boumadine mine. The BMF samples contained 1.85 g/t Au, 133 g/t Ag and 16 % sulfur, whereas sample BMS comprises 2.71 g/t Au, 180 g/t Ag and 25.6 % sulfur. Maya Gold and Silver will pursue further metallurgical testing notably by submitting the tailing samples through a combined oxidation roaster bed and cyanidation process. The production of sulfuric acid after sulfides roasting and heat recuperation (electric power) was also tested. An estimated 0.53 to 0.84 t of sulfuric acid per tonne of ore can be generated yielding 132.5 to 210.0 kW/h of electricity.
- Q1 2013 to Q2 2016 - Exploitation of tailings and validation of historical mineral resources.
- Q2 2013 to Q4 2018 - Exploration and development of Boumadine at depth.
Exploration and development budget:
| Year 1: CAD 1.0M |
| Year 2: CAD 2.5M |
| Year 3: CAD 3.0M |
| Year 4: CAD 3.0M |
| Year 5: CAD 3.2M |
The Corporation wishes to remind that based on previous works at Boumadine, ONHYM has estimated, in 1992, historical resources* of 3,837,970 t.
- Measured resources: 1,043,010 t at 0.77% Pb, 3.65% Zn, 186 g/t Ag and 3.66 g/t Au
- Indicated resources : 869,960 t at 0.65% Pb, 3.12% Zn, 171 g/t Ag and 1.56 g/t Au
- Possible reserves : 1,926,000 t
Boumadine has great potential for resources expansion within the 32 square kilometers property.
* These estimates were executed prior to the introduction of National Instrument 43-101. A qualified person has not done sufficient work to classify the historical estimate as current mineral resources or mineral reserves; and the Corporation is not treating the historical estimate as current mineral resources or mineral reserves.
Maya has retained the services of Michel Boily (PhD, P.Geo), an independent qualified person (QP) to produce a NI 43-101 property of merit report on the Boumadine Polymetalic Mine (Zn, Pb, Ag, Au). The Corporation expects to receive the report by the end of August of the year.
The technical content of this news release has been reviewed by Michel Boily, PhD. P.Geo from Geon Ltd, and François Goulet, Msc., P.Geo from Goulex Inc., both independent Qualified Persons under NI-43-101 standards.
ABOUT MAYA
Maya Gold & Silver Inc. is a Canadian listed mining corporation focused on the exploration and development of gold and silver deposits in Morocco. The Corporation's shares trade on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "MYA".
For further information on Maya visit www.mayagoldsilver.com
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Forward-looking statements
This release may contain forward-looking statements including management's assessments of future plans and operations, and expectations of future production. These statements are based on current expectations that involve a number of risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated. These risks include, but are not limited to, the risks associated with the mining and exploration industry (e.g. operational risks in development, exploration and production; delays or changes in plans with respect to exploration or development projects or capital expenditures; the uncertainty of reserve estimates; the uncertainty of estimates and projections relating to production and the uncertainty of the availability of capital). The assumptions used in the preparation of such statements, although considered reasonable at the time of preparation, may prove to be imprecise and, as such, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements.
