Mr. Peeyush Varshney reports
CANADA ZINC METALS ENGAGES JDS FOR PRELIMINARY ECONOMIC ASSESSMENT FOR AKIE PROJECT
Canada Zinc Metals Corp.has formally engaged JDS Energy & Mining Inc. of Vancouver, B.C., to conduct a preliminary economic assessment (PEA) of its 100-per-cent-owned zinc-lead-silver Cardiac Creek deposit located on the Akie property in northeastern British Columbia.
JDS is widely regarded as a leader in mine project engineering and economic assessments, both in Canada and abroad. JDS has completed assessments for similar zinc projects in several Canadian jurisdictions, including British Columbia, the Northwest Territories and Yukon.
JDS, through its affiliate JDS Silver, also acted as the EPCM (engineering, procurement and construction management) contractor for the newly constructed Silvertip silver-lead-zinc mine in Northern British Columbia, which was sold to Coeur Mining in October, 2017.
JDS previously worked with the company in 2017, developing a high-level assessment of the Akie project. JDS will now build on the past work by incorporating new metallurgical test results and the recently updated National Instrument 43-101 resource announced for the Cardiac Creek deposit in January, 2018.
The PEA study will focus on practical, fit-for-purpose solutions that will maximize the value of the project. JDS anticipates completing the PEA in late May, 2018, and will subsequently file a technical report based on NI 43-101 guidelines and Canadian Institute of Mining (CIM) best practices. The PEA will provide a solid project evaluation to be used by management to establish the approximate value and outline the key decision points for the future development of the project.
The PEA report will be written by JDS in collaboration with a number of other specialized and experienced consulting and advisory firms in the area of tailings disposal, metallurgy, environmental science and geology. JDS has previously completed a site visit during the 2017 drilling campaign.
The Akie zinc-lead-silver project
The 100-per-cent-owned Akie property is situated within the Kechika trough, the southernmost area of the regionally extensive Paleozoic Selwyn basin and one of the most prolific sedimentary basins in the world for the occurrence of sedex (sedimentary exhalative) zinc-lead-silver and stratiform barite deposits.
Drilling on the Akie property by Canada Zinc Metals since 2005 has identified a significant body of baritic-zinc-lead sedex mineralization known as the Cardiac Creek deposit. The deposit is hosted by siliceous, carbonaceous, fine-grained clastic rocks of the Middle-to-Late-Devonian Gunsteel formation.
With additional drilling completed in 2017, the company has updated the estimate of mineral resources at Cardiac Creek, as shown in the attached table.
5% zinc cut-off grade Contained metal CategoryTonnes Zn PbAgZnPbAg (millions)(%)(%) (g/t) (billions lb) (billions lb) (millions oz)Indicated 22.7 8.32 1.6114.1 4.162 0.80410.3 Inferred 7.5 7.04 1.2412.0 1.169 0.205 2.9
In addition to the Akie project, the company owns 100 per centof eight of 11 large, contiguous property blocks that comprise the Kechika regional project, including the advanced Mount Alcock prospect. The Kechika regional project also includes the Pie, Yuen and Cirque East properties, within which the company maintains a significant 49-per-cent interest with partners Teck Resources Ltd. and Korea Zinc Co. Ltd. These properties collectively extend northwest from the Akie property for approximately 140 kilometres covering the highly prospective Gunsteel formation shale,the main host rock for known sedex zinc-lead-silver deposits in the Kechika trough of northeastern British Columbia. These projects are located approximately 260 kilometres north-northwest of the town of Mackenzie, B.C.
Ken MacDonald, PGeo, vice-president of exploration for the company, is the designated qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 and is responsible for the technical information contained in this release.
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