AGREEMENT HIGHLIGHTS
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Complete an economic assessment for reopening the
Hammerdown Mine
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The Hammerdown Mine operated between 2000 and 2004 producing
157,000 ounces of gold from 315,000 tonnes of ore at an average
grade of 16.1 g/t. The average price of gold during the four
year operation was $275 US per ounce
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All ore was trucked 175 km to Rambler's Nugget Pond
Hydrometallurgical Facility with reported recoveries greater
than 95%
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The current focus will be targeting un-mined veins and remnant
pillars that were uneconomical during production at lower gold
prices
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Evaluate the mine potential of the Orion Deposit as a
potential feed source for Nugget Pond
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Orion has a NI43-101 compliant inferred resource of 710,285
tonnes grading 5.227 g/t gold; providing 119,374 gold ounces
in-situ
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Maritime is currently conducting a diamond drill exploration
program focused on extending known mineralization while upgrading
the resource category
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Exploration highlights from current drill program include 2.10
metres of 7.47 g/t gold and 1.20 metres of 16.58 g/t gold
The Alliance between Rambler, Maritime and Commander will see a sharing
of both operational and exploration expertise with the goal of advancing
the Green Bay Properties towards production. The first priority for
the Alliance will be to compile all existing information on the Hammerdown
mine followed by an economic assessment to determine how much of the
un-mined material can now be profitably mined, trucked and processed at
today's gold price. Some of the remaining high grade veins are in
close proximity to existing workings while others may be accessed via open
pit which could improve the economics of the project in the early
years.
A quick start-up to production will be the primary focus, given the
majority of the infrastructure is already in place, but during the
compilation some effort will be made to evaluate the expansion of the old
mine.
Peter Mercer, VP Corporate Development, Rambler
commented:
"The signing of this Alliance allows the marrying of Maritime's
success in exploration and Rambler's ability to develop projects from
exploration all the way through to production. In addition, through
the Company's work at the Ming Mine, it has developed particular expertise
in evaluating and developing brown-field sites which will be an asset when
determining the economic potential of re-opening the Hammerdown mine.
The Alliance also provides Rambler with the opportunity to bolster
our potential project pipeline and improve our ability to grow the Company
over the longer term."
Eric Norton, President and CEO of Maritime and Commander
commented:
"Working in a cooperative manner with Rambler, through the
Alliance, will help shareholders of all parties optimize the value of
their respective assets. The availability of a mill locally, with a
proven track record of high recoveries of gold from this ore, has the
potential to significantly accelerate the opportunity of early cash flow
to Maritime and Commander".
The Green Bay Property
The primary asset of the Green Bay Property is the Orion gold deposit
which was first discovered by Commander Resources in 1995. While
Orion itself is in the advanced exploration stage the land package has
already been host to one profitable mining operation, the Hammerdown gold
deposit, also discovered by Commander's predecessor company, Major General
Resources, partnership with Noranda in 1989. Over the four years in
operation Hammerdown produced nearly 315,000 tonnes of ore with an average
grade of 16.1 g/t gold. All material was trucked and processed at the
Nugget Pond Hydromet Facility where approximately 157,000 ounces were
recovered representing a gold recovery better than 95%. The average
gold price while Hammerdown was in operation was $275 US per ounce forcing
a cut off grade of 6.9 g/t gold. While much of the original
Hammerdown Main zones were mined out, the owners at that time elected not
to mine some of the neighbouring veins due to the low price of gold.
The Orion property is located within 2 kilometres of Hammerdown, 10
kilometres off the Trans-Canada Highway, and is readily accessible via
paved and dirt roads. Orion is jointly owned by Maritime Resources
and Commander Resources and is operated by Maritime
Resources. Maritime has the right to increase its ownership to 100%,
from 50%, by issuing an additional 5 million shares to Commander. The
property has over 15,000 metres of diamond drilling and a NI43-101
compliant inferred resource of 119,374 ounces of gold from 710,285 tonnes
at an average grade of 5.227 g/t (using a 3 g/t cut-off grade).
Currently Maritime is managing a diamond drill program on Orion to
evaluate the potential of extending the known mineralization up-plunge to
the southwest in addition to some infill drilling to improve the existing
resource. It is anticipated that the next program will focus drilling
on extending the Orion deposit to the north-east. During this time Rambler
will assist Maritime with their evaluation so that future exploration
programs will be geared toward the goal of accelerated production.
Larry Pilgrim, P.Geo. is the Qualified Person responsible for the
technical content of this release and has reviewed and approved it
accordingly. Mr. Pilgrim is an independent consultant contracted by
Rambler Metals and Mining plc.
All tonnes reported are dry metric tonnes.
Forward Looking Statement:
Some of the statements contained herein may be forward-looking
statement, which involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties.
Without limitation, statements regarding future plans and objectives of
the Company are forward looking statements that involve various degrees of
risk. It is important to note that the Company's actual results could
differ materially from those in such forward-looking
statements.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation
Service Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX
Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of
this release.