Wallbridge Mining Updates Broken Hammer Bulk Sample Progress
TORONTO, March 4 /CNW/ - Wallbridge Mining Company Limited (TSX: WM) (FWB: WC7) (the "Company") today announced that excavation and delivery the 30,000-tonne bulk sample from the Broken Hammer Zone to Xstrata's Strathcona Mill is progressing well. To date approximately 48,000 tonnes of material have been excavated, of which over 25,000 tonnes have been crushed on site, and 9,200 tonnes delivered to the Strathcona mill.
Once all the material has been delivered to the mill, the material will be scheduled for batch processing to confirm metallurgical recoveries. Currently, processing is tentatively expected to take place by the end of June 2011.
"We are extremely pleased with the progress to date", stated Alar Soever, President and CEO of Wallbridge, "When the material has been processed, we will have the necessary inputs to advance the project through feasibility and, if results warrant, into production."
Wallbridge discovered the Broken Hammer Zone as a result of an ongoing grass roots exploration program on the North Range of the Sudbury Basin. In November 2005, Roscoe Postle Associates Inc. estimated the NI 43-101 compliant, inferred mineral resource to be 251,000 tonnes at a grade of 3.80 g/t total precious metals (1.56 g/t palladium, 1.62 g/t platinum and 0.61 g/t gold), 1.00% copper and 0.10% nickel. This resource estimate was prepared using a cut-off value of CAN$40/t, and the then prevailing, long-term metal price projections of US$800/oz for platinum, US$180/oz for palladium, US$400/oz for gold, US$ 1.40/lb for copper, and US$5.00 for nickel. A new resource estimate and feasibility study will be prepared using current metal prices, once results of the bulk sampling program are available.
Wallbridge currently holds a 98.5% interest in the Broken Hammer property while Xstrata Nickel
retains a 1.5% carried interest with some buy back provisions.
The Qualified Person responsible for the technical content of this press release is Mark Croteau P.Geo., Manager of Operations for Wallbridge Mining Company Limited.
About the Company
Wallbridge Mining Company Limited's primary focus is the exploration for platinum group element ("PGE"), nickel and copper deposits in the Sudbury area of Ontario. The Sudbury area hosts the world's largest concentration of nickel deposits and is currently the most active mining camp in North America. Major joint venture partners in Sudbury include Vale, Xstrata Nickel, Lonmin Plc and Impala Platinum Holdings Limited. Wallbridge also has a major shareholding in Duluth Metals Limited, which has defined a large copper-nickel-PGE resource in the rapidly emerging Duluth Complex base metal camp in Minnesota and recently announced a joint venture with Antofagasta plc, which will see the project financed through feasibility. Wallbridge also holds a portfolio of porphyry copper-gold-molybdenum properties in southwestern British Columbia, which is currently being spun-out into a new company, Miocene Metals Limited, which was formed to finance the exploration of these properties.
This document may contain forward-looking statements relating to Wallbridge's operations or to the environment in which it operates. Such statements are based on operations, estimates, forecasts and projections. They are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict and may be beyond Wallbridge's control. A number of important factors could cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially from those expressed in forward-looking statements, including those set forth in other public filings. In addition, such statements relate to the date on which they are made. Consequently, undue reliance should not be placed on such forward-looking statements. Wallbridge disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, save and except as may be required by applicable securities laws.
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