Foran Mining Corporation ("Foran" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that the Company has engaged Roscoe Postle Associates Inc. ("RPA") to complete an updated mineral resource estimate (the "Updated Resource") on its 100% owned McIlvenna Bay Deposit ("McIlvenna Bay" or the "Deposit") in Saskatchewan. It is anticipated the Updated Resource will be completed in the first quarter of 2013.
Over 75% of the +86,000m of core drilled on the Deposit was racked and archived in 2012.
On November 2, 2011, Foran announced the first mineral resource estimate for the Copper Stockwork Zone ("CSZ") under National Instrument 43-101 (the "2011 Resource"). In addition to the CSZ, the 2011 Resource included mineral resources originally estimated for zinc+/-copper-rich massive to semi-massive sulphides by RPA's predecessor company, Scott Wilson Roscoe Postle Associates Inc. ("Scott Wilson RPA") in 2006.
The Updated Resource will be based on current long-term metal price projections and new and updated information for the Deposit, including:
- 11,971 metres of core from 33 diamond drill holes completed between August, 2011 and April, 2012 and not included in the 2011 Resource. This drilling primarily targeted the upper portions and edges of the deposit and brings the total drilling for the deposit since discovery in 1988 to 86,320 metres in 184 holes;
- New sampling of historic drill core, consisting of 581 samples collected from 612 metres of core in 65 holes drilled between 1988 and 2008 and assayed between July and September, 2012, including some previously unsampled, sulphide-bearing shoulder samples of CSZ mineralization and infill samples between previously sampled mineralized intercepts;
- Revised geology and wireframe modelling for the mineralized horizons to ensure a consistent interpretation for all zones in the deposit; and
- Resurveying of all collar locations, along with downhole deviation surveys of a significant number of pre-2011 drill holes with a Gyroscopic survey tool.
Patrick Soares, President and CEO of Foran commented: "We are fortunate to have access to almost all the historic drill core for the Deposit, as well as the drill sites to resurvey using modern instruments. Over the past several months, our technical team has worked diligently to preserve and review the historic drill core, enhance the quality of the McIlvenna Bay database and complete the sampling of mineralized zones prior to launching the Updated Resource. This resource will form the basis of a Preliminary Economic Assessment at McIlvenna Bay in the new year."
Quality Assurance and Quality Control
Core was logged by employees of the Company. During the logging process mineralized intersections were marked for sampling and given unique sample numbers. Sampled intervals were sawn in half using a diamond blade saw. One half of the sawn core was placed in a plastic bag with the sample tag and sealed, while the second half was returned to the core box for storage on site. Sample assays are performed by TSL Laboratories Ltd. ("TLS") in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. TLS is a CAN-P-1579, CAN-P-4E (ISO/IEC 17025:2005) accredited laboratory and independent of Foran. Analysis for Ag, Cu, and Zn is performed using atomic absorption spectrometry ("AA") after multi-acid digestion. Au analysis is completed by fire assay with AA finish. Any samples which return results greater than 3.0 g/t Au are re-run using gravimetric finish. A complete suite of QA/QC reference materials (standards, blanks and pulp and field duplicates) are included in each batch of samples processed by the laboratory. The results of the assaying of the QA/QC material included in each batch are tracked to ensure the integrity of the assay data.