Monument Update for Trial Mining at Peranggih Gold Prospect

 

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Sept. 17, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Monument Mining Limited (TSX-V: MMY and FSE: D7Q1) (“Monument” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce that a trial mining program will commence in October, 2019 at Peranggih Gold Prospect (“Peranggih”). The bulk sample material will be fed into the existing Selinsing oxide gold processing plant to confirm the average grade of the close-spaced drilled area, to quantify the presence of coarse gold and to test the metallurgical performance at plant scale.

Preparation work for trial mining commenced on August 15, 2019, primarily to establish access roads from Peranggih mining site to Selinsing production site. This work included obtaining permits to use 1.5 km of public road and 10km of private roads from stakeholders, completing access road construction and site clearance.

Access Road Preparation

The Peranggih access road will pass through an existing upgraded track in the Felcra (Federal Land Consolidated and Rehabilitation Agent) plantation, a forestry area, the public road, as well as several private landholders’ properties (Figure 1).

Monument reached an agreement regarding the road construction and assessment with all stakeholders including Felcra, the Forestry Department and the Public Works Department of Pahang State, and private landholders. The public infrastructure already established by the government includes two major bridges across Telom and Jelai Kecil Rivers that will be utilized for the haulage. A security deposit of USD $60,000 will be placed with the authority as the assurance for compliance.

A public engagement meeting was held by the Company for the local community and villagers to hear the trial mining decision. The potential environment impact of full-scale mining activities, such as dust caused by traffic movement and erosion and sedimentation that might occur during the mining operations was discussed; and the safety and environmental risk control system were introduced at the meeting. The Company has assured the local community that any adverse impact on the surrounding environment will be mitigated according to industry standards.  The high environmental standards which have been implemented at the Selinsing Gold Mine will be applied to all of its operations.

The construction of the haulage road involves the placement of road base material on the existing track, upgrading the culvert crossings, as well as grading the road surface. The total road upgrading costs are estimated to be up to USD$150,000. It is expected to be completed by the end of September 2019.

Figure 1 is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/5e75d8b7-ba68-4ae0-8087-81adfbab1924

Trial Mining

Trial mining will take one month to complete, including mining and feeding into the mill up to 15,000 tonnes of initial bulk samples, allowing Monument to obtain a more reliable estimate of gold grades at Peranggih, and allowing a comparison with the grade control and exploration drilling.

The initial bulk samples will be selected from the exposed mineralization in the historic mining area at Central Peranggih, where a 5m x 5m close spaced RAB drilling program was completed in November 28, 2017. The drill program successfully delineated a zone of higher grade gold material at Peranggih Central by testing an area of 150m strike length by 80m width and 20m depth, known to contain a significant amount of coarse gold in a hydrothermal breccia system. The old site in Central Peranggih is bounded to the North and South by abandoned mining ponds yet to be tested for mineralization by drilling.

The Pahang State Mineral and Geoscience Department has given approval to proceed with the bulk sampling program. Previous mining activities in the early nineties were carried out by local miners who left behind several small mining ponds and a minor amount of tailings and historical ore stockpiles (Figure 2). The mining lease was granted at Peranggih, and it has been registered on 15^th March 2019 and valid for 10 years till 14^th March 2029.

Figure 2 is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/3f59be77-2438-4937-8217-f34634820ba0

The bulk sample is expected to be free digging and composed of oxide material. The gold mineralization is hosted in both matrix supported and clast-supported quartz breccia. Significant coarse free gold has been observed hosted in the breccia matrix. The matrix is friable and composed of clay minerals and small rock fragments, as well as a combination of ore and gangue minerals. The gold mineralization is thought to be associated with hydraulic fracturing and associated boiling due to pressure release.

Exploration Program

Depending on the outcome of the trial mining/bulk sampling program, a follow up exploration program may be designed to test adjacent areas (e.g. the North Pond), and areas within the district with similar occurrences of brecciated material.

During 2019 structural targets related to shear structures have been developed within the Peranggih region. A wide spaced 100m x 50m soil sampling program (Figure 3) has been completed in the third quarter to test the extension of the northwest trending structure that hosts the Peranggih mineralization. Samples have been sent to Intertek, Perth and results are expected to be received in later September, 2019.

Figure 3 is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/dae9f985-bebe-4602-9f98-82a4acbafed8

The scientific and technical information in this press release has been prepared by Adrian Woolford, B.Sc. (Hons) Chief Geologist of Monument Mining Limited; reviewed and approved by Roger Stangler, MEng, MAusIMM, MAIG, a Qualified Person as defined by NI43-101, retained by Golder Associates Pty Ltd.

About Monument

Monument Mining Limited (TSX-V: MMY, FSE: D7Q1) is an established Canadian gold producer that owns and operates the Selinsing Gold Mine in Malaysia. Its experienced management team is committed to growth and is advancing several exploration and development projects including the Mengapur Copper-Iron Project, in Pahang State of Malaysia, and the Murchison Gold Projects comprising Burnakura, Gabanintha and Tuckanarra in the Murchison area of Western Australia. The Company employs approximately 190 people in both regions and is committed to the highest standards of environmental management, social responsibility, and health and safety for its employees and neighboring communities.

Cathy Zhai, President and CEO
Monument Mining Limited
Suite 1580 -1100 Melville Street
     Vancouver, BC V6E 4A6

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION visit the company web site at www.monumentmining.com or contact:

Richard Cushing, MMY Vancouver	T: +1-604-638-1661 x102	rcushing@monumentmining.com
Wolfgang Seybold, Axino GmbH	T: +49 711-82 09 7211	wolfgang.seybold@axino.com

"Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release."

Forward-Looking Statement

This news release includes statements containing forward-looking information about Monument, its business and future plans (“forward-looking statements”). Forward-looking statements are statements that involve expectations, plans, objectives or future events that are not historical facts and include the Company’s plans with respect to its mineral projects and the timing and results of proposed programs and events referred to in this news release.  Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved". The forward-looking statements in this news release are subject to various risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements.  These risks and certain other factors include, without limitation: risks related to general business, economic, competitive, geopolitical and social uncertainties; uncertainties regarding the results of current exploration activities; uncertainties in the progress and timing of development activities; foreign operations risks; other risks inherent in the mining industry and other risks described in the management discussion and analysis of the Company and the technical reports on the Company’s projects, all of which are available under the profile of the Company on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.  Material factors and assumptions used to develop forward-looking statements in this news release include:  expectations regarding the estimated cash cost per ounce of gold production and the estimated cash flows which may be generated from the operations, general economic factors and other factors that may be beyond the control of Monument; assumptions and expectations regarding the results of exploration on the Company’s projects; assumptions regarding the future price of gold of other minerals; the timing and amount of estimated future production; the expected timing and results of development and exploration activities; costs of future activities; capital and operating expenditures; success of exploration activities; mining or processing issues; exchange rates; and all of the factors and assumptions described in the management discussion and analysis of the Company and the technical reports on the Company’s projects, all of which are available under the profile of the Company on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.  Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.