VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / January 27, 2022 / ZincX Resources Corp. ("ZincX" or the "Company")(TSXV:ZNX)(OTCQB:ZNCXF)(FRA:M9R) is pleased to provide a mineral claim status update for its Akie and Kechika Regional mineral claims. The 100% owned Akie property hosts the premier Zn-Pb-Ag Cardiac Creek deposit and the Kechika Regional claims cover the same highly prospective geology over a continuous strike length of up to 140 kilometres. There is a total of 230 mineral claims in good standing that comprise an area of 79,780 hectares (798 sq. km).
The Company has filed an annual Statement of Cost with the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation based on exploration expenditures incurred during the 2021 drill program. The filing has extended the entire contiguous claim package ingood standing to September 13, 2030.
Peeyush Varshney, President and CEO commented, "We are pleased to extend the good-to status of our massive mineral claim block out to almost 10 years in the future. This coupled with the recently announced Akie drill permit extension will allow the Company to continue to explore the Akie and Kechika regional projects unimpeded well into the future with no carrying costs and no minimum expenditure commitment."
The Company is actively planning for the 2022 exploration season at the flagship Akie property.
The Akie Zn-Pb-Ag Project
The 100% 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 zinc-lead-silver and stratiform barite deposits.
Drilling on the Akie property by ZincX Resources 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.
The Company updated the estimate of mineral resources at Cardiac Creek in 2018, as follows:
5% Zinc Cut-Off Grade
Contained Metal:
Category
Tonnes (million)
Zn (%)
Pb (%)
Ag (g/t)
Zn (B lbs)
Pb (B lbs)
Ag (M oz)
Indicated
22.7
8.32
1.61
14.1
4.162
0.804
10.3
Inferred
7.5
7.04
1.24
12.0
1.169
0.205
2.9
The Company announced robust positive results from the 2018 Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA). The PEA envisages a conventional underground mine and concentrator operation with an average production rate of 4,000 tonnes per day. The mine will have an 18-year life with potential to extend the life-of-mine (LOM) through resource expansion at depth. Key parameters for the PEA are as follows:
Parameter
Base Case1
Tonnes Mined
25.8 Mt
Mined Head Grades
7.6% Zn; 1.5% Pb; 13.08 g/t Ag
Tonnes Milled
19.7 Mt
Milled Head Grades (after DMS2 upgrade)
10.0% Zn; 1.9% Pb; 17.17 g/t Ag
Total Payable Metal (LOM)
$3,960M3
Initial CAPEX
$302.3M including $45.7M contingency
LOM Total CAPEX
$617.9M including $58.5M contingency
All-in Total OPEX
$102.4 per tonne milled
Pre-Tax NPV7%
$649M
Pre-Tax IRR
35%
Pre-Tax Payback
2.6 years
After-Tax NPV7%
$401M
After-Tax IRR
27%
After-Tax Payback
3.2 years
1. The base case used metal prices are calculated from the 3 year trailing average coupled with two year forward projection of the average price; and are: US$1.21/lb for zinc, US$1.00/lb for lead and US$16.95 for silver. A CDN$/US$ exchange rate of 0.77 was used. The NPV discount rate is 7%. 2. DMS = dense media separation. 3. All dollar amounts expressed in Canadian dollars.
The PEA is considered preliminary in nature and includes mineral resources, including 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. Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves have not yet demonstrated economic viability. Due to the uncertainty that may be attached to mineral resources, it cannot be assumed that all or any part of a mineral resource will be upgraded to mineral reserves. Therefore, there is no certainty that the results concluded in the PEA will be realized.
Kechika Regional Project
In addition to the Akie Project, the Company owns 100% of eight of eleven large, contiguous property blocks that comprise the Kechika Regional Project including the advanced Mt. Alcock prospect. The Kechika Regional Project also includes the Pie, Yuen and Cirque East properties which the Company maintains a significant 49% interest with partners Teck Resources Limited (TSX: TECK.B) and Korea Zinc Co. Ltd holding 51%. 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, British Columbia, Canada.
Ken MacDonald P.Geo., 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. Mike Makarenko P.Eng, JDS Energy and Mining, is the designated Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 and is responsible for the PEA technical information contained in this release.
(1) Murrell, M., and Roberts, W., 1990; Summary Report, 1989 Exploration Program on the Mt. Alcock Property, British Columbia Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources, Assessment Report 19829A & B, 133p.
(2) Carne, R.C., 1980; Report on Diamond Drilling on the Bear and SI Claim Group, British Columbia Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources, Assessment Report 8626, 51p.
The TSX Venture Exchange has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release.
