LIBERTY LAKE, WASHINGTON--(Marketwire - June 10, 2010) - Hunt Mining Corp. (the "Corporation") (TSX VENTURE:HMX), is pleased to announce that it has received an initial National Instrument 43-101 mineral resource estimate of 373,054 gold equivalent indicated ounces and 65,870 gold equivalent inferred ounces for its flagship La Josefina property in Santa Cruz province, Argentina. This resource remains open to expansion and does not incorporate high grade intercepts reported from more than 4,000 meters of core drilling completed prior to the Corporation's involvement on the project. The resource model has been constructed of more than 600,000 blocks, each measuring 5 meters cubed. As such, the stated resource would be considered a bulk minable, open-pit scenario. The National Instrument 43-101 resource estimate report will be available on SEDAR and the Corporation's web site at www.huntmining.com within three (3) days.
Preceding the calculation of the NI 43-101 resource estimate, the Corporation's independent consulting group, UAKO Consultora Geologica ("UAKO"), undertook a detailed review and analysis of all data obtained from the 2006 - 2009 diamond drilling exploration program conducted on the La Josefina property. For completion of this task, UAKO had access to the results obtained for 21,727 core samples collected by the Corporation and submitted for assay to three independent laboratories: ALS Chemex, Alex Stewart Assayers and Acme Labs. UAKO concluded that core sampling was thorough and adhered to industry standards. Sample preparation and analytical procedures also conformed to industry standards. The assay Quality Assurance/Quality Control ("QA/QC") procedures performed by Corporation personnel was industry standard and included collection of core duplicate samples, insertion of certified reference samples (standards) and blanks. Additionally, coarse reject and pulp duplicates assays were conducted internally by each laboratory.
The resource estimate was based on results taken from 311 drill holes, totaling 44,398 meters (145,663 feet) of HQ core drilling, completed between 2006 and 2009. 18,645 drill samples were used from more than 20 steeply dipping veins exposed on surface and the majority analyzed for gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc and multi-element inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry ("ICP"). Seven of these zones – Sinter, Amanda, Cecilia, Sur, Belén, Latitas and Ailín - provided sufficient drill density for the creation of an indicated and inferred mineral resource.
Matthew Hughes, the Corporation's President and CEO, commented "These initial resource numbers validate our confidence that with continued exploration and development at La Josefina we will greatly expand the ultimate resource base as we move the project forward towards production. Our independent geologists & engineers have recommended a preliminary economic assessment study, an infill drilling program, as well as, a comprehensive new exploration program to expand known areas of mineralization and to examine many existing geophysical and geochemical targets which have yet to be tested. In addition, we plan to twin a number of historic drill holes, which should immediately increase the existing resources. Our pre-existing in-house resource estimates relied on historic drill results which are not included in the latest calculations as there was no independent verification of QC/QA procedures."
Omitted results included:
"In total, the Corporation now controls mineral rights covering more than 2,750 square kilometers in Santa Cruz province, making it the second largest of any publically traded company. We now stand ready and energized, to resume our ongoing strategy of aggressive exploration and development at La Josefina and throughout of our vast property portfolio in Santa Cruz".
As presented in tables 2 and 3 below, the current mineral resources are reported within a defined volume at various gold equivalent cutoff grades. Due to the zonation of mineralogy observed across multiple veins included in the resource calculation, a gold equivalent cutoff was selected to better represent the relative metal distribution of the veins which span the extensive polymetallic system found within the 52,000 hectare La Josefina property. For this calculation, 60 month rolling monthly average price data was collected from Kitco Precious Metals for gold and silver and Kitco Base Metals for copper, lead and zinc. A gold equivalent grade has been calculated from the combined gold, silver, copper, lead and zinc.
The grade distribution for each variable of gold, silver, copper, lead and zinc were examined with the use of lognormal cumulative probability plots. In each case multiple overlapping lognormal populations were observed. In most cases the highest population was considered erratic high grade and therefore a top cut was set to reduce the population.
The Corporation intends to initiate additional drilling on the La Josefina property in 2010. The 2010 drilling program will focus on resource expansion drilling, the twinning of mineralized holes drilled prior to the Corporation's exploration programs and testing of new and existing geophysical and geochemical targets. The Corporation also plans to drill several other projects in 2010, including its 100% owned El Gateado and Bajo Pobre projects.
Historic exploration at La Josefina, conducted by the provincial mining authority, Fomento Minero de Santa Cruz Sociedad del Estado ("FOMICRUZ"), led to a special designation for the property in the early 1990s as a provincial "Mineral Reserve". The same designation was given to Cerro Vanguardia, which is now the largest gold mine in the region operated as a joint venture company between AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. ("Anglo Ashanti") and FOMICRUZ. The Cerro Vanguardia gold mine is located approximately 100 km southeast of La Josefina.
Metallurgical testing is underway for several shallow gold shoots identified during the Corporation's 37,000 meter drilling campaign completed in 2009 on the La Josefina property. Initial testing includes bottle roll tests, small column percolation leach tests and gravity circuit recovery tests. The results are expected to provide a preliminary evaluation of precious metal recovery found on, or near surface in oxidized environments. The results will also be incorporated into an ongoing preliminary economic assessment.
The Corporation continues to explore and sample surface showings at La Josefina which recently led to a new silver-gold discovery yielding grades greater than 6,000 grams per ton silver and 13 grams per ton gold. Currently the Corporation has over 20 field personnel working at its 50 person capacity field camp, and has purchased the surface rights covering over 80% of the current precious metal showings at La Josefina.
The following tables display indicated and inferred mineral resource estimates for La Josefina property based upon various gold equivalent cutoffs.
*Rounding as required by reporting guidelines may result in apparent differences between tonnes, grade and contained metal content.
*Tonnage and grade measurements are in metric units. Gold ounces are reported as troy ounces. MLbs represent millions pounds.
*Canadian Institute of Mining ("CIM") and Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy ("The AusIMM") definitions were followed for Mineral Resource estimation and classification. As defined, Mineral Resources do not have demonstrated economic viability and Indicated Resources have a higher degree of confidence than do Inferred Resources. The Mineral Resources fall within a volume or shell defined using long term metal price estimates of US $1,000/oz for gold, US $15/oz for silver, US $3/lb for Copper, $1.20/lb for zinc, $1.00/lb for lead.
*Gold equivalent calculation uses a 60 month rolling price average. United States dollar denominated gold and silver prices were provided by from Kitco Gold Precious Metals. United States dollar denominated copper, zinc and lead average prices were calculated based on 60 month rolling averages from Kitco Base Metals. At this time no metallurgy has been completed on this property so 100% recoveries are assumed.
*The Gold Equivalent (AuEq3) calculation is as follows:
AuEq3 = (Au g/t) + (Ag g/t / 66.67) + (Cu % / 4,861.63) + (Pb % /14,584.89) + (Zn % / 12,154.07)
Qualified Person Statement
Mr. C. Gustavo Fernandez is a Professional Geoscientist in the Province of Ontario and has sufficient experience which is relevant to the style of mineralization and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity which he is undertaking to qualify as a Qualified Person as defined in the Canadian National Instrument 43-101 (standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects). Mr. Fernandez consents to the inclusion in the report of the matters based on his information in the form and context in which it appears.
About La Josefina
The La Josefina gold-silver project, the Corporation's advanced-stage flagship property, is a 528 square kilometer mineral reserve located within Patagonia's highly prospective Deseado Massif mineral district. It lays approximately 100 km northwest of the Cerro Vanguardia (Anglo Ashanti) gold-silver mine
About Hunt Mining Corp.
Hunt Mining Corp. has been an active and aggressive explorer in Santa Cruz since 2006. Since that time, the Corporation's wholly owned subsidiary, Cerro Cazador S.A. ("CCSA"), has completed a large amount of exploration activity including more than 37,000 meters of HQ core drilling, 416 line kilometers of Induced Polarization geophysical surveys and more than 10,000 surface channel, chip, and trench samples. Historical results and additional information can be viewed at www.huntmining.com.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This announcement contains certain forward-looking statements, relating to, but not limited to Hunt Mining's expectations, intentions, plans and beliefs. Forward-looking information can often be identified by forward-looking words such as 'anticipate', 'believe', 'expect', 'goal', 'plan', 'intend', 'estimate', 'may' and 'will' or similar words suggesting future outcomes, or other expectations, beliefs, plans, objectives, assumptions, intentions or statements about future outcomes, or statements about future events or performance. Forward-looking information may include reserve and resource estimates, estimates of future production, unit costs, costs of capital projects, and timing of commencement of operations and is based on current expectations that involve a number of business risks and uncertainties. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from any forward-looking statement include, but are not limited to, failure to establish estimated resources and reserves, the grade and recovery of ore which is mined varying from estimates, capital and operating costs varying significantly from estimates, delays in obtaining or failures to obtain required governmental, environmental or other project approvals, inflation, changes in exchange rates, fluctuations in commodity prices, delays in the development of projects and other factors. Forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those expressed or implied.
Neither the TSX Venture nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
For more information, please contact
Hunt Mining Corp.
Dean Stuart
Investor Relations
(403) 517 2270
dean@huntmining.com
or
Hunt Mining Corp.
Matthew J. Hughes
President and CEO
(509) 892-5287
mhughes@huntmining.comPreceding the calculation of the NI 43-101 resource estimate, the Corporation's independent consulting group, UAKO Consultora Geologica ("UAKO"), undertook a detailed review and analysis of all data obtained from the 2006 - 2009 diamond drilling exploration program conducted on the La Josefina property. For completion of this task, UAKO had access to the results obtained for 21,727 core samples collected by the Corporation and submitted for assay to three independent laboratories: ALS Chemex, Alex Stewart Assayers and Acme Labs. UAKO concluded that core sampling was thorough and adhered to industry standards. Sample preparation and analytical procedures also conformed to industry standards. The assay Quality Assurance/Quality Control ("QA/QC") procedures performed by Corporation personnel was industry standard and included collection of core duplicate samples, insertion of certified reference samples (standards) and blanks. Additionally, coarse reject and pulp duplicates assays were conducted internally by each laboratory.
The resource estimate was based on results taken from 311 drill holes, totaling 44,398 meters (145,663 feet) of HQ core drilling, completed between 2006 and 2009. 18,645 drill samples were used from more than 20 steeply dipping veins exposed on surface and the majority analyzed for gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc and multi-element inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry ("ICP"). Seven of these zones – Sinter, Amanda, Cecilia, Sur, Belén, Latitas and Ailín - provided sufficient drill density for the creation of an indicated and inferred mineral resource.
Matthew Hughes, the Corporation's President and CEO, commented "These initial resource numbers validate our confidence that with continued exploration and development at La Josefina we will greatly expand the ultimate resource base as we move the project forward towards production. Our independent geologists & engineers have recommended a preliminary economic assessment study, an infill drilling program, as well as, a comprehensive new exploration program to expand known areas of mineralization and to examine many existing geophysical and geochemical targets which have yet to be tested. In addition, we plan to twin a number of historic drill holes, which should immediately increase the existing resources. Our pre-existing in-house resource estimates relied on historic drill results which are not included in the latest calculations as there was no independent verification of QC/QA procedures."
Omitted results included:
"In total, the Corporation now controls mineral rights covering more than 2,750 square kilometers in Santa Cruz province, making it the second largest of any publically traded company. We now stand ready and energized, to resume our ongoing strategy of aggressive exploration and development at La Josefina and throughout of our vast property portfolio in Santa Cruz".
As presented in tables 2 and 3 below, the current mineral resources are reported within a defined volume at various gold equivalent cutoff grades. Due to the zonation of mineralogy observed across multiple veins included in the resource calculation, a gold equivalent cutoff was selected to better represent the relative metal distribution of the veins which span the extensive polymetallic system found within the 52,000 hectare La Josefina property. For this calculation, 60 month rolling monthly average price data was collected from Kitco Precious Metals for gold and silver and Kitco Base Metals for copper, lead and zinc. A gold equivalent grade has been calculated from the combined gold, silver, copper, lead and zinc.
The grade distribution for each variable of gold, silver, copper, lead and zinc were examined with the use of lognormal cumulative probability plots. In each case multiple overlapping lognormal populations were observed. In most cases the highest population was considered erratic high grade and therefore a top cut was set to reduce the population.
The Corporation intends to initiate additional drilling on the La Josefina property in 2010. The 2010 drilling program will focus on resource expansion drilling, the twinning of mineralized holes drilled prior to the Corporation's exploration programs and testing of new and existing geophysical and geochemical targets. The Corporation also plans to drill several other projects in 2010, including its 100% owned El Gateado and Bajo Pobre projects.
Historic exploration at La Josefina, conducted by the provincial mining authority, Fomento Minero de Santa Cruz Sociedad del Estado ("FOMICRUZ"), led to a special designation for the property in the early 1990s as a provincial "Mineral Reserve". The same designation was given to Cerro Vanguardia, which is now the largest gold mine in the region operated as a joint venture company between AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. ("Anglo Ashanti") and FOMICRUZ. The Cerro Vanguardia gold mine is located approximately 100 km southeast of La Josefina.
Metallurgical testing is underway for several shallow gold shoots identified during the Corporation's 37,000 meter drilling campaign completed in 2009 on the La Josefina property. Initial testing includes bottle roll tests, small column percolation leach tests and gravity circuit recovery tests. The results are expected to provide a preliminary evaluation of precious metal recovery found on, or near surface in oxidized environments. The results will also be incorporated into an ongoing preliminary economic assessment.
The Corporation continues to explore and sample surface showings at La Josefina which recently led to a new silver-gold discovery yielding grades greater than 6,000 grams per ton silver and 13 grams per ton gold. Currently the Corporation has over 20 field personnel working at its 50 person capacity field camp, and has purchased the surface rights covering over 80% of the current precious metal showings at La Josefina.
The following tables display indicated and inferred mineral resource estimates for La Josefina property based upon various gold equivalent cutoffs.
*Rounding as required by reporting guidelines may result in apparent differences between tonnes, grade and contained metal content.
*Tonnage and grade measurements are in metric units. Gold ounces are reported as troy ounces. MLbs represent millions pounds.
*Canadian Institute of Mining ("CIM") and Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy ("The AusIMM") definitions were followed for Mineral Resource estimation and classification. As defined, Mineral Resources do not have demonstrated economic viability and Indicated Resources have a higher degree of confidence than do Inferred Resources. The Mineral Resources fall within a volume or shell defined using long term metal price estimates of US $1,000/oz for gold, US $15/oz for silver, US $3/lb for Copper, $1.20/lb for zinc, $1.00/lb for lead.
*Gold equivalent calculation uses a 60 month rolling price average. United States dollar denominated gold and silver prices were provided by from Kitco Gold Precious Metals. United States dollar denominated copper, zinc and lead average prices were calculated based on 60 month rolling averages from Kitco Base Metals. At this time no metallurgy has been completed on this property so 100% recoveries are assumed.
*The Gold Equivalent (AuEq3) calculation is as follows:
AuEq3 = (Au g/t) + (Ag g/t / 66.67) + (Cu % / 4,861.63) + (Pb % /14,584.89) + (Zn % / 12,154.07)
Qualified Person Statement
Mr. C. Gustavo Fernandez is a Professional Geoscientist in the Province of Ontario and has sufficient experience which is relevant to the style of mineralization and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity which he is undertaking to qualify as a Qualified Person as defined in the Canadian National Instrument 43-101 (standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects). Mr. Fernandez consents to the inclusion in the report of the matters based on his information in the form and context in which it appears.
About La Josefina
The La Josefina gold-silver project, the Corporation's advanced-stage flagship property, is a 528 square kilometer mineral reserve located within Patagonia's highly prospective Deseado Massif mineral district. It lays approximately 100 km northwest of the Cerro Vanguardia (Anglo Ashanti) gold-silver mine
About Hunt Mining Corp.
Hunt Mining Corp. has been an active and aggressive explorer in Santa Cruz since 2006. Since that time, the Corporation's wholly owned subsidiary, Cerro Cazador S.A. ("CCSA"), has completed a large amount of exploration activity including more than 37,000 meters of HQ core drilling, 416 line kilometers of Induced Polarization geophysical surveys and more than 10,000 surface channel, chip, and trench samples. Historical results and additional information can be viewed at www.huntmining.com.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This announcement contains certain forward-looking statements, relating to, but not limited to Hunt Mining's expectations, intentions, plans and beliefs. Forward-looking information can often be identified by forward-looking words such as 'anticipate', 'believe', 'expect', 'goal', 'plan', 'intend', 'estimate', 'may' and 'will' or similar words suggesting future outcomes, or other expectations, beliefs, plans, objectives, assumptions, intentions or statements about future outcomes, or statements about future events or performance. Forward-looking information may include reserve and resource estimates, estimates of future production, unit costs, costs of capital projects, and timing of commencement of operations and is based on current expectations that involve a number of business risks and uncertainties. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from any forward-looking statement include, but are not limited to, failure to establish estimated resources and reserves, the grade and recovery of ore which is mined varying from estimates, capital and operating costs varying significantly from estimates, delays in obtaining or failures to obtain required governmental, environmental or other project approvals, inflation, changes in exchange rates, fluctuations in commodity prices, delays in the development of projects and other factors. Forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those expressed or implied.
Neither the TSX Venture nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
For more information, please contact
Hunt Mining Corp.
Dean Stuart
Investor Relations
(403) 517 2270
dean@huntmining.com
or
Hunt Mining Corp.
Matthew J. Hughes
President and CEO
(509) 892-5287
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