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VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Feb. 05, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Calibre (TSX: CXB; OTCQX: CXBMF) (“Calibre” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce additional ore control reverse circulation (“RC”) drill results from its Leprechaun open pit (“Leprechaun”) at Valentine Gold Mine (“Valentine”) in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The Company has completed 21,500 metres of RC drilling on a 9 x 9 metre spacing. The results of this drilling demonstrate 29% more ore tonnes at a 1% higher grade for 30% more gold than the comparable area in the 2022 Mineral Reserve model at an ore-waste cut-off of 0.38 g/t gold.
Darren Hall, President and Chief Executive Officer of Calibre, stated: “I am very encouraged to report that Calibre’s Leprechaun open pit ore control drilling confirms grade and adds tonnage resulting in a 30% increase in contained gold compared to the Mineral Reserve. Importantly, the grade distribution as seen in Table 1 indicates that applying a higher cut-off grade will result in processing higher grade material. At a 0.70 g/t cutoff, the reserve model estimated 660kt at 2.02 g/t whereas the ore control model, for a similar tonnage, results in 18% higher grade by increasing the cutoff to 1.0 g/t. This is an extremely positive result which could result in increased metal production while simultaneously extending mine life.
I am also pleased to report that Valentine construction is going well, with strong progress on structural, mechanical, and piping activities in the grinding, reagents and gold room areas. Additionally, we have advanced pre commissioning at the crusher and various e-rooms. There are no changes to Valentine’s fully funded initial project capital cost of C$744 million and we remain on track to deliver first gold during Q2 2025.”
Table 1 Ore Control Block Model vs 2022 Mineral Reserve by Grade (For benches 386 – 350)
| Ore Control Block Model | 2022 Mineral Reserve | Percent Difference | |||||||||||||
| Cut-off | Tonnes | Grade | Ounces | Cut-off | Tonnes | Grade | Ounces | Tonnes | Grade | Ounces | |||||
| > 1.50 | 407,259 | 3.20 | 41,855 | > 1.50 | 207,205 | 3.46 | 30,055 | 40 | % | -8 | % | 33 | % | ||
| 1.00 – 1.49 | 258,199 | 1.21 | 10,078 | 1.00 – 1.49 | 200,451 | 1.21 | 7,798 | 25 | % | 0 | % | 26 | % | ||
| 0.70 – 0.99 | 266,690 | 0.84 | 7,244 | 0.70 – 0.99 | 188,857 | 0.83 | 5,050 | 34 | % | 2 | % | 36 | % | ||
| 0.38 – 0.69 | 483,982 | 0.52 | 8,154 | 0.38 – 0.69 | 395,729 | 0.53 | 6.691 | 20 | % | 0 | % | 20 | % | ||
| > 0.38 | 1,416,129 | 1.48 | 67,330 | > 0.38 | 1,055,242 | 1.46 | 49,593 | 29 | % | 1 | % | 30 | % | ||
| >1.00 | 665,458 | 2.43 | 51,933 | >0.70 | 659,513 | 2.02 | 42,902 | 1 | % | 18 | % | 19 | % | ||
Table 2 Ore Control Block Model vs 2022 Mineral Reserve by Bench (above 0.38 g/t, i.e. the ore / waste cutoff)
| Bench | Ore Control Block Model | 2022 Mineral Reserve | Percent Difference | |||||||||
|
| Tonnes | Grade (g/t Au) | Ounces | Tonnes | Grade | Ounces | Tonnes | Grade (g/t Au) | Ounces | |||
| 386 | 42,639 | 1.32 | 1,812 | 35,162 | 1.14 | 1,293 | 19 | % | 14 | % | 33 | % |
| 380 | 161,570 | 1.41 | 7,345 | 131,876 | 1.27 | 5,372 | 20 | % | 11 | % | 31 | % |
| 374 | 329,331 | 1.50 | 15,864 | 231,801 | 1.34 | 10,002 | 35 | % | 11 | % | 45 | % |
| 368 | 289,817 | 1.49 | 13,904 | 221,084 | 1.68 | 11,968 | 27 | % | -12 | % | 15 | % |
| 362 | 261,075 | 1.61 | 13,553 | 203,766 | 1.79 | 11,758 | 25 | % | -11 | % | 14 | % |
| 356 | 159,771 | 1.50 | 7,692 | 111,145 | 1.56 | 5,563 | 36 | % | -4 | % | 32 | % |
| 350 | 171,927 | 1.30 | 7,160 | 120,407 | 0.94 | 3,637 | 35 | % | 32 | % | 65 | % |
| Total | 1,416,129 | 1.48 | 67,330 | 1,055,242 | 1.46 | 49,593 | 29 | % | 1 | % | 30 | % |
The tables above demonstrate the correlation between the ore control block model, supported by the closer spaced 9 x 9 metre drilling, and the 2022 Mineral Reserve Block Model from the Feasibility Study1. The comparison was carried out on 7.9 million tonnes of material extending from the current topography to bench 350 on blocks within 9 metres of RC drilling using 6 x 6 x 6 metre block sizes. For the 2022 Mineral Reserve Block Model, blocks flagged as Proven & Probable are reported. For the Ore Control Block Model, a similar method was used to delineate ore vs. waste, respecting a minimum mining width of six metres and a minimum grade of 0.38 g/t gold. The RC drilling is a component of the Company’s standard mining approach.