VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - Sep 11, 2015) - Sutter Gold Mining Inc. (TSX VENTURE:SGM) (SGMNF) ("Sutter" or the "Company") announces that as a result of a recent review by the British Columbia Securities Commission (the "BCSC"), the Company is issuing the following news release to clarify certain technical disclosures made by the Company in an August 2015 presentation.
On August 14, 2015, Sutter posted a presentation (the "Corporate Presentation") to its website which contained disclosure that was subsequently identified by the BCSC as being non-compliant with National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101"). Prior to this posting, on July 23, 2015 the Company had filed an updated technical report dated July 2, 2015 (the "2015 Report") for the Lincoln Project in Sutter Creek, California, which included an updated Preliminary Economic Assessment (the "PEA") on the Lincoln-Comet resource. The August 2015 Corporate Presentation contained certain errors and disclosure issues which did not reflect data from the 2015 Report.
Specifically, the Corporate Presentation contained the following errors and disclosure issues, contrary to the requirements of NI 43-101:
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The Corporate Presentation did not include information required by section 3.1 of NI 43-101 regarding the qualified person.
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The Keystone estimate as described on page 11 of the Corporate Presentation was erroneous. The 2015 Report states a Keystone Inferred Resource of 399,000 tons grading .243 oz Au/ton and a current project-wide Inferred Resource of 905,000 tons at an average grade of 0.249 oz Au/ton.
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The Corporate Presentation, page 20, erroneously reported a sum of the inferred and indicated resource classes contrary to section 2.2 (c) of NI 43-101.
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The Corporate Presentation, page 22, referred to a profitable cutoff grade of 0.19 oz Au/ton for the Keystone deposit which implies that a Keystone reserve estimate had been completed, which is not the case. This cut-off grade was not supported in the 2015 Technical Report. Keystone contains only inferred resources which have not yet been demonstrated to be economically viable.
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The Corporate Presentation, page 25, referred to a "defined mineable resource", which is not a defined term under NI 43-101, rather than a "mineral resource".
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On page 10 of the Corporate Presentation cautionary language stating that mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability was not included as required by 43-101.
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Each instance of disclosure of the PEA results was not accompanied by the cautionary language required by section 2.3(3)(a) of NI 43-101. That disclosure is as follows, the preliminary economic assessment is preliminary in nature, that it includes inferred mineral resources that are considered too speculative geologically to have the economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves, and there is no certainty that the preliminary economic assessment will be realized.
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The Corporate Presentation, Page 22, improperly implied that mining the Keystone deposit would give a positive economic outcome. The data presented was not based on a qualifying NI 43-101 preliminary economic assessment of the Keystone resource, nor did it include qualifications and assumptions made by a qualified person as defined by NI 43-101. The Company retracts the non-compliant or misleading information regarding the Keystone deposit.
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Throughout the Corporate Presentation, any discussion of a production decision for the Lincoln Project was not based on mineral reserves supported by a technical report and feasibility study. In addition, the Corporate Presentation did not provide adequate disclosure of the increased uncertainty and higher risk of economic or technical failure by deciding to put the Lincoln Project into production without first establishing mineral reserves.
As the disclosure described above was contrary to the disclosure requirements of NI 43-101, it should not be relied upon. The Company retracts the non-compliant or misleading representations contained within the Corporate Presentation and the Corporate Presentation has been removed from the Company's website.
The disclosure in this news release has been reviewed by Paul Tietz (Mine Development Associates, Reno, Nevada), a Qualified Person as defined in NI 43-101. Mr. Tietz is a co-author of the 2015 Report. Neither Mr. Tietz nor any persons associated with Mine Development were consulted by the Company on the preparation of the Corporate Presentation and had not approved the technical information disclosed in the Corporate Presentation.
Sutter Gold
Sutter currently holds a number of precious metals properties in California, USA, including the permitted Lincoln underground mine near Sutter Creek, California, as well as a new, permitted processing facility, located near the entrance to the Lincoln Mine. In March 2014, the project was put on care and maintenance while certain mineral processing issues are being evaluated and the Company reduced costs due to capital constraints.
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains "forward-looking information" under Canadian securities law. Any information that express or involve discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance (often, but not always, using words such as "expect", "anticipate", "believe", "plans", "estimate", "scheduling", "projected" or variations thereof or stating that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved, or the negative of any of these terms and similar expressions) are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking information. Forward-looking information relates to, among other things: the price of silver and gold; the accuracy of mineral resource and mineral reserve estimates; the ability of the Company to finance its operations and capital expenditures; future financial and operating performance including estimates of the Company's revenues and capital expenditures and estimated production.
Forward-looking information is subject to a variety of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ from those reflected in the forward-looking information, including, without limitation, risks relating to: fluctuating commodity prices; calculation of resources, reserves and mineralization and precious and base metal recovery; interpretations and assumptions of mineral resource and mineral reserve estimates; exploration and development programs; feasibility and engineering reports; permits and licenses; title to properties; recent market events and conditions; economic factors affecting the Company; timing, estimated amount, capital and operating expenditures and economic returns of future production; operations and political conditions; environmental risks; and risks and hazards of mining operations. This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect any of the Company's forward-looking information. Forward-looking information about the future is inherently uncertain, and actual achievements of the Company or other future events or conditions may differ materially from those reflected in the forward-looking information due to a variety of risks, uncertainties and other factors. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated, described or intended. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements or information. The Company's forward-looking information is based on the assumptions, beliefs, expectations and opinions of management as of the date of this press release, and other than as required by applicable securities laws, the Company does not assume any obligation to update forward-looking statements and information if circumstances or management's assumptions, beliefs, expectations or opinions should change, or changes in any other events affecting such statements or information. For the reasons set forth above, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information.
Neither the 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.
