Mr. John Burzynski reports
OSISKO RELEASES RESOURCE ESTIMATE FOR OSBORNE-BELL
Osisko Mining Inc. has provided a mineral resource estimate for its 100-per-cent-owned Osborne-Bell gold deposit, located 15 kilometres northwest of the town of Lebel-sur-Quevillon, Que. This estimate is the result of 927 drill holes (279,925 metres) completed by previous operators on the project since 1994, including 50 that were completed after the last resource estimate was published in 2012, and four new drill holes completed by Osisko in December, 2017.
The mineral resource estimate has been prepared by Innov-Explo from Val d'Or, Que., and the technical report, to be prepared and filed in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 -- Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects will be available on SEDAR under the corporation's profile within 45 days.
Highlights:
Inferred resource of 2,587,000 tons at 6.13 grams per tonne gold for 510,000 ounces of gold assuming $1,300 (U.S.) per ounce gold price and a lower cut-off grade of 3.0 g/t Au;Continuing 50,000-metre 2018 exploration drill program, including definition/expansion drilling at Osborne-Bell;Osborne-Bell deposit remains open at depth below 500 metres.
John Burzynski, president and chief executive officer, commented: "We are very pleased with our initial resource estimate on Osborne-Bell, a project we acquired for approximately $1.5-million less than a year ago. We had made no assumptions regarding resources during the bankruptcy acquisition of the deposit and surrounding properties in 2017; this first estimate points to a potentially significant deposit that is located very close to the possible site for a planned future Windfall-Lynx gold mill in Lebel-sur-Quevillon. By virtue of its proximity to the proposed Lebel-sur-Quevillon mill site, mining of Osborne-Bell could be realized with essentially immaterial capital expenditures, assuming material can be transported directly to the nearby proposed mill site. We are continuing our 50,000-metre drill program at Osborne-Bell and the surrounding Quevillon area in order to expand the deposit, which remains open at depth, and focus on upgrading inferred resources to M&I categories. This is an excellent start to our year of building a resource base in the Urban-Barry-Quevillon camp. We are also on track for the eagerly awaited Windfall-Lynx resource update coming in May, 2018."
The total inferred mineral resource for the Osborne-Bell deposit has been estimated at 2,587,000 tonnes with an average grade of 6.13 g/t Au for 510,000 ounces of gold, using a 3.0 g/t lower cut-off grade. The model for the resource estimate includes nine individual, subvertical and tabular mineralized zones that were defined using a two-metre minimum true thickness. All mineral resources were classified as inferred mineral resources. Additional drilling and historical data validation through core reassaying are under way to potentially upgrade portions of the resource to measured mineral resource and indicated mineral resource categories.
OSBORNE-BELL INFERRED MINERAL RESOURCES Cut-off gradeTonnesGrade Oz Au (2)(t) (1)(g/t)Greater than 6.00 g/t 883,000 9.77 277,000Greater than 5.00 g/t 1,273,000 8.44 346,000Greater than 4.00 g/t 1,816,000 7.26 424,000Greater than 3.50 g/t 2,156,000 6.70 465,000Greater than 3.00 g/t 2,587,000 6.13 510,000Greater than 2.50 g/t 3,166,000 5.51 560,000Notes (1) Rounded to nearest thousand which may cause apparent discrepancies.(2) Rounded to nearest thousand which may cause apparent discrepancies.
This mineral resource estimate reflects geological remodelling of the Osborne-Bell deposit, the re-evaluation of historical drilling results from previous operators and the addition of new information from drilling comprising 50 drill holes performed after the 2012 mineral resource estimate released by the previous owner (see the NI 43-101 technical report and mineral resource estimate -- Osbell-Bell deposit, Comtois property, dated effective Oct. 26, 2012, and filed on SEDAR on Dec. 7, 2012, under the issuer profile of Maudore Minerals Ltd.) and four new Osisko verification drill holes completed in December, 2017. The model focuses on definition of higher-grade subdomains as compared with the broad mineralized domain approach of earlier estimates. This estimate only considers mineralized zones potentially minable by underground methods at a lower cut-off grade of 3.0 g/t Au. The cut-off calculation is based on assumptions of (a) a mining cost of $80/tonne mined, (b) a processing and transportation cost of $58/t milled, (c) a general and administrative cost of $10/t milled, (d) a gold price of $1,300 (U.S.)/ounce, and (e) a U.S./Canadian exchange rateof 1.29. Other parameters are described in the associated table. The effective date of the current resource estimation is March 2, 2018.
PARAMETERS USED FOR RESOURCE ESTIMATIONParameters Unit ValueGold price US$/oz$1,300Exchange rateUS$/C$1.29Mill recovery %93Selling costC$/t oz 5Mining costC$/t mined80G&A costC$/t milled10Processing cost C$/t milled40Transport C$/t milled18Calculated cut-off grade Au g/t2.96
Further details regarding the curent mineral resource estimate, including the key assumptions, parameters and methods used to prepare the mineral resource estimate of the Osborne-Bell gold deposit will be available on SEDAR under the corporation's profile within 45 days. For further details about the 2012 resource estimate, please see the NI 43-101 technical report and mineral resource estimate -- Osbell-Bell deposit, Comtois property, dated effective Oct. 26, 2012, and filed on SEDAR on Dec. 7, 2012, under the issuer profile of Maudore Minerals Ltd. at SEDAR.
Mineral resource estimate notes:
Resources are presented undiluted and in situ and are considered to have reasonable prospects for economic extraction.The estimate encompasses nine tabular gold-bearing zones each defined by individual wireframes with a minimum true thickness of two metres. High-grade capping was done on composite data and established on a per-zone basis for gold. It varies from 25 g/t Au to 55 g/t Au.Density values were applied on the following lithological basis (grams per cubic centimetre): volcanic host rocks equal 2.80; late barren dikes and Beehler stock equal 2.78; Zebra felsic unit equals 2.72.Grade model mineral resource estimation was evaluated from drill hole data using an ordinary kriging interpolation method on a block model using a block size of 2.5 metres by 2.5 metres by 2.5 metres.The mineral resource estimate presented herein is categorized as inferred mineral resource. The inferred mineral resource category is only defined within the areas where drill spacing is less than 100 metres and shows reasonable geological and grade continuity. The mineral resource estimate was prepared using Geovia GEMS 6.8. The estimate is based on 931 surface diamond drill holes. A minimum true thickness of 2.0 metres was applied, using the grade of the adjacent material when assayed, or a value of zero when not assayed. Estimates use metric units (metres, tonnes and g/t). Metal contents are presented in troy ounces (metric tonne by grade divided by 31.10348). The number of metric tonnes was rounded to the nearest thousand. Any discrepancies in the totals are due to rounding errors.InnovExplo is not aware of any known environmental, permitting, legal, title-related, taxation, socio-political or marketing issues, or any other relevant issue not reported in the technical report, that could materially affect the mineral resource estimate.These mineral resources are not mineral reserves as they do not have demonstrated economic viability. The quantity and grade of reported inferred resources in this mineral resource estimate are uncertain in nature and there has been insufficient exploration to define these inferred resources as indicated or measured, and it is uncertain if further exploration will result in upgrading them to these categories.
Qualified person
This mineral resource estimate was prepared by Pierre-Luc Richard, PGeo, MSc, who is a qualified person within the meaning of NI 43-101. Mr. Richard is an employee of Innov-Explo and is considered to be independent of Osisko for purposes of Section 1.5 of NI 43-101. The effective date of the mineral resource estimate is March 2, 2018.
The scientific and technical information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Mathieu Savard, PGeo, who is a qualified person within the meaning of NI 43-101, and serves as the vice-president, exploration, Quebec, of Osisko.
Quality control
For the sample processed by Osisko during late 2017 campaign and included in this resource estimation, all NQ core assays reported were obtained by either one-kilogram screen fire assay or standard 50-gram fire assaying AA (atomic absorption) finish or gravimetric finish at ALS Laboratories in Val d'Or, Que., Thunder Bay and Sudbury, Ont., or Vancouver, B.C.,or Bureau Veritas in Timmins, Ont. The one-kilogram screen assay method is selected by the geologist when samples contain coarse gold or present a higher percentage of pyrite than surrounding intervals. Selected samples are also analyzed for multielements, including silver, using an aqua regia ICP-AES (inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy) method at ALS Laboratories. Drill program design, quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) and interpretation of results is performed by qualified persons employing a QA/QC program consistent with NI 43-101 and industry best practices. Standards and blanks are included with every 20 samples for QA/QC purposes by the corporation as well as the lab. Approximately 5 per cent of sample pulps are sent to secondary laboratories for check assay.
About Osisko Mining Inc.
Osisko is a mineral exploration company focused on the acquisition, exploration and development of precious metal resource properties in Canada. Osisko holds a 100-per-cent interest in the high-grade Windfall Lake gold deposit located between Val d'Or and Chibougamau in Quebec and holds a 100-per-cent undivided interest in a large area of claims in the surrounding Urban Barry area and nearby Quevillon area (over 3,300 square kilometres), a 100-per-cent interest in the Marban project located in the heart of Quebec's prolific Abitibi gold mining district, and properties in the Larder Lake mining division in Northeastern Ontario, including the Jonpol and Garrcon deposits on the Garrison property, the Buffonta past-producing mine and the Gold Pike mine property. The corporation also holds interests and options in a number of additional properties in Northern Quebec and Ontario. Osisko continues to be well financed with approximately $190-million in cash and investments as of Dec. 31, 2017.
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