Mandalay Corporation announced newly in a press release its year-end 2018 Mineral Resources and Reserves estimation for its Costerfield gold-antimony mine in Victoria, Australia which includes the addition of the high-grade Youle lode.
Net of depletion from production during the first eleven months of 2018, Proven and Probable Mineral Reserves for contained gold ("Au") increased by 26% versus the year prior, while contained antimony ("Sb") decreased by 10% in the same period. In the Measured and Indicated Resource category, contained gold increased by approximately 34% and contained antimony increased by 13%. The Company's gold reserve grade increased by 46%.
Details of the Mineral Resources and Reserves estimate at Costerfield are included in the notes below each table. The estimate was prepared by SRK Consulting (Australasia) Pty Ltd. ("SRK"). The year-end 2018 estimate of Mineral Resources and Reserves for Chesterfield will be fully documented in a technical report prepared in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101") to be filed on www.sedar.com and the Mandalay website www.mandalayresources.com within 45 days of this press release. All dollar amounts in this press release are in U.S. dollars unless otherwise noted.
Dominic Duffy, President and CEO of Mandalay, commented, "We are pleased to have added to the Reserves and Resources at Costerfield. Our exploration efforts in 2018 more than replaced depletion from production last year, boosted the reserve grade and extended the mine life while building a pipeline of Mineral Resources that we will be working to convert to Mineral Reserves in 2019. Most importantly, our exploration in 2018 resulted in the inclusion of the high-grade Youle lode to Mineral Reserves. At Youle, we added 94,282 ounces of gold and 7,042 tonnes of antimony to our Mineral Reserves, at grades of 11.2 g/t Au and 2.7% Sb, respectively. We also added (inclusive of Mineral Reserves) 130,000 ounces of gold and 9,700 tonnes of antimony to our Measured and Indicated Mineral Resources at grades of 22.1 g/t Au and 5.2% Sb, respectively."
Mr Duffy continued, "The Youle deposit has significant potential for Mandalay in the coming years due to its high grades, as the Chesterfield operation's performance is largely grade-driven. We envision bringing Youle into production by year-end 2019. We began developing toward Youle from the Brunswick lode workings in the second quarter of 2018 and are on track to reach the lode toward the end of the second quarter of 2019. We expect to initiate on-vein development following dewatering of the vein, which is expected to take several months."
Mr Duffy concluded, "We are excited to be working toward production from Youle. The discovery of the high-grade Youle deposit has revitalized the Costerfield asset and has also greatly strengthened our knowledge of the district's geology and mineral endowment. The Company expects to add further Mineral Reserves over the course of 2019 as drilling continues to infill and extend to the newly established Youle Mineral Resources. We will also continue to follow up on a high-potential inventory of exploration targets peripheral to Youle. Looking ahead, we will be using this new technical report and the substantial geological understanding gained from 2018 exploration as the basis for our three-year guidance which the Company expects to release later this month."
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