Brigus Gold production doubles; sees higher 2012 output

UPDATE

 3 hours ago by Thomson Reuters

NYSE: BRD 

TSE: BRD
 

 April 24 (Reuters) - Brigus Gold Corp's quarterly production nearly doubled and the gold miner said it expects a rise in full-year output as the development of its Black Fox underground mine in Ontario speeds up.
The company forecast output of 77,000 to 85,000 ounces of gold for 2012, up from 55,756 ounces in 2011.
Production rose to 16,922 ounces of gold for the first quarter from 8,500 ounce a year ago.

The company, which had been facing delays in the development of its main Black Fox mine due to staffing and equipment issues, said it expects production to increase from the mine throughout the year and reach 25,000 ounces per quarter by the year-end.

The company's shares closed at 80 Canadian cents on Monday on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Related articles

• Brigus Gold Reports 5.95 Grams Per Tonne Gold over 56.7 Metres from the 147 Zone on the Black Fox Complex (retirefunds.blogspot.com)
• Brigus Gold Reports Continued Progress at Black Fox Gold Mine. (retirefunds.blogspot.com)
• Will Brigus Gold Shine in 2012? (fool.com)

Brigus Gold Reports 5.95 Grams Per Tonne Gold over 56.7 Metres from the 147 Zone on the Black Fox Complex

Tuesday Apr 17, 2012 by Business WireBrigus Gold Corp. ("Brigus" or the "Company") (NYSE Amex: BRD; TSX: BRD) is pleased to announce that exploration drilling on the southern portion of the Black Fox Complex continues to return high-grade gold assays from the 147 Zone. 

The following table includes highlights from the drill holes reported today from the 147 Zone (all uncut, average gold grades over core length widths):

Hole Number   From      To      Core    Gold Assay
                (m)      (m)     Width   grams/tonne
                                  (m)
-----------   ------   ------   -----   -----------
  GF11-286     61.60    64.60    3.00       8.92
-----------   ------   ------   -----   -----------
  including    63.60    64.60    1.00       25.10
-----------   ------   ------   -----   -----------
  GF11-348    256.00   263.00    7.00       3.92
-----------   ------   ------   -----   -----------
  including   259.00   262.00    3.00       7.81
-----------   ------   ------   -----   -----------
              310.25   313.00    2.75       15.98
              ------   ------   -----   -----------
  including   311.25   312.10    0.85       43.71
-----------   ------   ------   -----   -----------
  GF12-412     52.00    66.00    14.00      1.58
-----------   ------   ------   -----   -----------
               93.00   103.00    10.00      27.78
              ------   ------   -----   -----------
  including    95.00   101.00    6.00       45.17
-----------   ------   ------   -----   -----------
  GF12-415     47.00   103.70    56.70      5.95
-----------   ------   ------   -----   -----------
  including    74.00    92.00    18.00      7.97
-----------   ------   ------   -----   -----------
     and       97.00   100.00    3.00       38.10
-----------   ------   ------   -----   -----------

"The ongoing drill program on the 147 Zone continues to deliver impressive results that expand and further confirm the continuity of this high grade gold zone," said Howard Bird, Brigus VP Exploration. "The near surface intercepts in drill holes GF12-412 and 415 are located within the conceptual open-pit design. Brigus recently commenced work to complete a preliminary economic assessment on both the 147 and Contact zones. The results of this study will be released in the third quarter along with an updated resource statement."
The initial resource estimate for the 147 and Contact zones, as released in December 2011, added more than 50 percent to the gold resource at the Black Fox Complex. 

The 147 and Contact zones provide Brigus with near term production growth opportunities due to their close proximity to the existing Black Fox Mine infrastructure.

To date, the Company has systematically explored 25 percent of the property and significant upside potential remains on the rest of the property. The Black Fox Complex covers an area of approximately 18 square kilometres within the Timmins Mining District, Ontario. The core area of the 147 Zone extends for approximately 250 m in a north-south direction dipping at approximately 80 degrees to the east. Gold mineralization primarily occurs within multiple quartz carbonate brecciated zones within bleached units of variolitic mafic volcanics and other parallel footwall zones.

Details of the most recent 147 Zone drill holes and the 147 Zone drill-hole location map is on the Company's website at www.brigusgold.com.Surface drilling was conducted by Norex Drilling and was supervised by the Brigus exploration team. All sample analyses reported herein were performed by Polymet Labs of Cobalt, Ontario, which is ISO 9001:2000 certified in North America using standard fire assay procedures. Intercepts cited do not necessarily represent true widths, unless otherwise noted. Brigus Gold's quality control checks include insertion of blanks, standards and duplicates to ensure laboratory accuracy. Senior Exploration Project Manager John A. Dixon, P. Geo., reviewed the technical exploration information in this release as the Qualified Person for the Company.

About Brigus Gold
Brigus is a growing gold producer committed to maximizing shareholder value through a strategy of efficient production, targeted exploration and select acquisitions. The Company operates the wholly owned Black Fox Mine and Mill in the Timmins Gold District of Ontario, Canada. The Black Fox Complex encompasses the Black Fox Mine and adjoining properties in the Township of Black River-Matheson, Ontario, Canada. Brigus is also advancing the Goldfields Project located near Uranium City, Saskatchewan, Canada, which hosts the Box and Athona gold deposits. In Mexico, Brigus has granted Cangold Limited the option to acquire a 75% interest in the Company's Ixhuatan Project located in the state of Chiapas. In the Dominican Republic, Brigus has signed an agreement to sell its remaining interests in three mineral exploration projects.

Cautionary and Forward-Looking Statements
Statements in this news release, which are not historical facts, are forward-looking statements that involve risk, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. All statements regarding the Company's ability to successfully expand the Black Fox Complex gold resource, add to Black Fox resources, advance new discoveries to production, convert resource estimates into near-term production, release of an updated mineral resource estimate in 2012 and the Black Fox underground mine exploration drilling program and continue to obtain positive down dip continuity of significant gold mineralization are forward-looking statements and estimates that involve various risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements include environmental risks and other factors disclosed under the heading "Risk Factors" in Brigus Gold's most recent Annual Information Form and Management Discussion and Analysis filed under the company's name at www.sedar.com and annual report on Form 40-F filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission at www.sec.gov and elsewhere in Brigus Gold's documents filed from time to time with the Toronto Stock Exchange, the NYSE Amex, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and other regulatory authorities. All forward-looking statements included in this news release are based on information available to the Company on the date hereof. The Company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, except as required by applicable securities laws.
SOURCE: Brigus Gold Corp.

Brigus Gold Corp. 
Jennifer Nicholson, CA, 902-442-7186 
Executive Vice President 
jnicholson@brigusgold.com 
or 
Katherine Burgess, 902-442-7184 
Manager, Stakeholder Relations 
kburgess@brigusgold.com

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Western Lithium Demonstrates High Performance Results From Rechargeable Lithium Ion Battery Testing at Argonne National Laboratory and Provides Operations Update

Western Lithium USA Corporation

TSX : WLC
OTCQX : WLCDF

April 16, 2012 08:30 ET

RENO, NEVADA--(Marketwire - April 16, 2012) - Western Lithium USA Corporation (the "Company" or "Western Lithium") (TSX:WLC)(OTCQX:WLCDF) is pleased to announce results from electrochemical performance testing by Argonne National Laboratory of US Department of Energy ("Argonne"), of lithium carbonate extracted from the Company's Kings Valley Hectorite clay lithium deposit in Nevada, USA. Several electrochemical cells were fabricated using Western Lithium's lithium carbonate that was upgraded and purified with carbon dioxide during one of its pilot testing programs. The batteries incorporated three common cathode chemistry types consisting of: lithium manganese spinel (LiMn₂O₄), olivine (LiFePO₄), and lithium nickel manganese composite oxide (LiMn₂O₃.LiNi_0.5Mn_0.5O₂).

Each cell was duplicated to incorporate lithium carbonate obtained from an industry standard Sigma-Aldrich Co. LLC ("Sigma-Aldrich") product and compared under the same conditions with Western Lithium product. The initial test results demonstrate superior performance by Western Lithium's product for olivine chemistry, and similar or slightly better performance for the other two cathode chemistries when compared against the Sigma-Aldrich standard. As a general conclusion, the testing completed so far indicates that Western Lithium can produce high purity and high quality lithium product for use in multiple types of lithium ion battery chemistries.

"We have always believed that our Nevada deposit could produce a high quality and consistent source of lithium carbonate for what we expect will be increasing specifications required by high performance lithium ion batteries," said Jay Chmelauskas, President of Western Lithium. "The initial work at Argonne is supporting our view that we will be able to sell an acceptable product to the lithium battery market."

The Company has also been advancing a potential opportunity to sell its Hectorite clay into the growing oil and gas drilling fluids market. Further clay testing and economic studies are currently being undertaken, and a decision is expected whether to advance the clay business in the second quarter of 2012.

The Company recently completed a NI 43-101 pre-feasibility study that was filed on January 27, 2012. Over the past several months Western Lithium has been active to complete a comprehensive Plan of Operations to submit to the Bureau of Land Management in Nevada to initiate its Environmental Impact Assessment study. The Company continues to seek a strategic partner in order to advance definitive feasibility studies and a planned demonstration plant. It is envisioned that further engineering and testing will be required in order to support the permitting process. With a current treasury of approximately $6 million and based on the current financial market conditions, the Company may begin to modify activities until financial market conditions improve and there is greater market demand for new sources of lithium supported by the adoption of electric and hybrid vehicles.

The following charts graphically demonstrate the comparison of Western Lithium's product against a Sigma-Aldrich standard lithium carbonate using multiple cathode chemistries that did not have a carbon coating. Processing and testing conditions were kept the same for samples derived from the Western Lithium and the Sigma-Aldrich lithium carbonate. Comparing the performance of the Olivine chemistry, it is evident that the capacity of the lithium carbonate prepared with Western Lithium's product demonstrated superior electrochemical performance against the Sigma-Aldrich sample. This may be due to better reaction or better mixing with the other precursor materials leading to a more optimal particle size. The results of the lithium manganese spinel demonstrated slightly better coulombic efficiencies (less capacity loss between charge and discharge) and cycling retention (less capacity loss during cycling). There were no discernible performance differences when comparisons were made using high capacity lithium nickel manganese layered oxide chemistry. The overall conclusion from these initial test results, is that Western Lithium expects at least similar performance from its Kings Valley, Nevada derived lithium carbonate as compared to industry standards.
To view the charts associated with this press release, click on the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/w413g.pdf
About Argonne
Argonne National Laboratory seeks solutions to pressing national problems in science and technology. The nation's first national laboratory, Argonne conducts leading-edge basic and applied scientific research in virtually every scientific discipline. Argonne researchers work closely with researchers from hundreds of companies, universities, and federal, state and municipal agencies to help them solve their specific problems, advance America's scientific leadership and prepare the nation for a better future. With employees from more than 60 nations, Argonne is managed by UChicago Argonne, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science.
About Western Lithium
Western Lithium is developing the Kings Valley, Nevada lithium deposit into a strategic, scalable and reliable sources of high quality lithium carbonate. The Company is positioning itself as a major U.S.-based supplier to support the rising global demand for lithium carbonate that is expected from the increased use of hybrid/electric vehicles.
Forward-Looking Statements: This document includes forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: the Company's ability to sell an acceptable or premium product to the lithium market and to produce a high purity and high quality lithium product for use in multiple types of lithium ion battery chemistries. When used in this document, the words such as "plan", "estimate", "expect", "intend", "may", "likely" and similar expressions are forward-looking statements. Although the company believes that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, such statements involve risks and uncertainties and no assurance can be given that actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ from these forward-looking statements are disclosed under the heading "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Information Form for the year ended September 30, 2011 which is available at www.sedar.com.

The TSX has neither approved nor disapproved of the contents of this press release. Neither the TSX nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release.

Contact Information

Western Lithium USA Corporation
Investor Relations
604-681-3071
604-681-3091 (FAX)
info@westernlithium.com
www.westernlithium.com

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• Cost of Advanced Lithium-Ion Batteries for EVs Dropped 14% Last Year, 30% Since 2009 (treehugger.com)
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Talison Lithium reports 15% increase in Q3 2012 sales

Perth, Western Australia, April 12, 2012 – Talison Lithium Limited (“Talison” or the “Company”) (TSX: TLH | US: TLTHF ) 

 

Lithium producer Talison Lithium's third-quarter sales rose 15 percent, helped by higher output.

The Perth, Australia-based company reported quarterly sales of 111,896 tonnes of lithium concentrate, up from 97,001 tonnes of lithium concentrate in the year-ago period.
Talison sold lithium for an average price of $340 per tonne, 12 percent above last year.
Production rose 6 percent to 93,563 tonnes of lithium concentrate.
Talison said production at its flagship Greenbushes in Western Australia will be shut down for about two weeks during May for expansion work.

 

Peter Oliver, Chief Executive Office and Managing Director, said, “During the quarter Talison achieved another record level of production at Greenbushes. This record was especially pleasing given the extensive construction activity currently underway to expand production capacity.  The expansion is nearly complete and, together with the recent price increase, positions Talison strongly for the expected growth in the lithium market.”

Preliminary Production and Sales Volume

• Talison sold 111,896 tonnes lithium concentrate during Q3 FY2012 (or approximately 16,600 tonnes lithium carbonate equivalent (“LCE”)), a 15% increase compared to Q3 FY2011.

• Q3 FY2012 production was a record 93,563 tonnes lithium concentrate (approximately 14,000 tonnes LCE), a 6% increase compared to Q3 FY2011.

• The average sales price of lithium concentrates sold during Q3 FY2012 was US$340 per tonne, demonstrating the initial impact from the price increase that applied from January 2012.

• Sales of lithium concentrate materially matched production for the nine months ended March 31, 2012, with 267,432 tonnes of lithium concentrate (approximately 40,000 tonnes LCE) sold and 273,286 tonnes of lithium concentrate (approximately 40,500 tonnes LCE) produced.

* Tonnes of lithium concentrate

1. From quarter to quarter sales volume and average sales price may vary as sales are made in large shipments that can be irregular in timing and in varying proportions of technical-grade and chemical-grade lithium concentrate.
2. This includes the approximately 38,000 tonnes of Talison’s lithium concentrate sales that were delayed from December 2011.

Outlook

Talison expects to sell approximately 350,000 to 360,000 tonnes of lithium concentrate for the full year ending June 30, 2012, in line with earlier expectations.

Growth Projects

Greenbushes Stage 2 Expansion On Schedule and On Budget

The Stage 2 Expansion at the Greenbushes Lithium Operations continues to proceed on schedule and on budget.

The Expansion is now in the final stages of construction and will then move into the commissioning phase. Production will be shut-down for approximately two weeks during May to link the existing production circuits to the new expanded production circuits.

Work on the new chemical-grade plant as part of the Stage 2 Expansion at the Greenbushes Lithium Operations.

Proposed Minerals Conversion Plant

Talison is continuing to advance its plan to add value to the high-quality Greenbushes resource by developing a plant to convert lithium minerals into lithium carbonate.

The engineering study for the lithium carbonate plant has now commenced and Talison is finalising tenure arrangements for its preferred site in the Kwinana Industrial Area, Western Australia. Discussions with potential customers are continuing positively.

The Company anticipates making an investment decision on the project by the end of calendar 2012 and is targeting production of lithium carbonate in 2015.

Greenbushes Resource Development

Talison is undertaking additional resource definition drilling at the Greenbushes Lithium Operations. The objective is to increase lithium mineral reserves and extend mine life to support future additional expansions of the lithium concentrate processing plants and a potential doubling in capacity of the lithium carbonate plant.

Talison is targeting completion of the resource development program by the end of calendar 2012.

About Talison

Talison is a leading global producer of lithium and has been supplying a global customer network from the Greenbushes Lithium Operations in Western Australia for over 25 years. In anticipation of sustained growth in lithium consumption, driven primarily by the secondary lithium battery market, Talison is developing several growth projects including a lithium carbonate plant in Western Australia and a lithium brine exploration project in Chile.

To view the entire press release please visit: http://www.talisonlithium.com/investor-centre/news

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San Gold Achieves Record Production in Q1 2012

San Gold Corporation

TSX : SGR
OTCQX :SGRCF

April 11, 2012 08:00 ET

WINNIPEG, MANITOBA--(Marketwire - April 11, 2012) - San Gold Corporation (TSX:SGR)(OTCQX:SGRCF) today announced preliminary results of operations at its Rice Lake Mining Complex in Manitoba, Canada for the quarter ended March 31, 2012.
Q1 Production Highlights

• Record gold production of 22,162 ounces.
• Mill production of 153,537 tons.
• Mine production of 144,549 tons.

First Quarter 2012 Preliminary Operating Results
San Gold produced a record 22,162 ounces of gold in the first quarter. In addition the company finished the quarter with approximately 16,100 tons of ore in surface stockpiles representing an additional 2,000 to 2,500 ounces of gold in front of the mill.

The operation milled a record 153,537 tons in the quarter at an average daily throughput of 1,687 tons per day, 85% more than was milled during the first quarter of 2011. Grade was 5.35 grams per tonne, which is similar to the previous quarter and slightly below our full year budgeted grade of 6.58 grams per tonne. Recovery improved to 92.4% for the quarter, with a recovery of 93.5% achieved in March.

"The Rice Lake operations team has got off to an excellent start in Q1 and we remain on track to achieve our full year guidance of between 95,000 and 105,000 ounces of gold," said San Gold President and Chief Executive Officer George Pirie.

The operation mined a record 144,549 tons of ore despite a 14-day scheduled upgrade of the A-shaft loading pocket to improve material handling capacity in Rice Lake. The company completed 1,946 metres of lateral development and 275 metres of vertical development during the quarter. Underground mine operations remain focused on developing an extensive mining complex that will facilitate access to the down dip extensions of the L10 and 007 from the Rice Lake shaft infrastructure on 16 and 26 levels.

About San Gold
San Gold is an established Canadian gold producer, explorer, and developer that owns and operates the Hinge, 007, and Rice Lake mines near Bissett, Manitoba. The Company employs more than 400 people and is committed to the highest standards of safety and environmental stewardship. San Gold is on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol "SGR" and on the OTCQX under the symbol "SGRCF".
For further information on San Gold, please visit www.sangold.ca
Cautionary Note
This news release includes certain "forward-looking statements". All statements, other than statements of historical fact included in this release, including, without limitation, statements regarding forecast gold production, gold grades, recoveries, cash operating costs, potential mineralization, mineral resources, mineral reserves, exploration results, and future plans and objectives of the Company, are forward-looking statements that involve various risks and uncertainties. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to mining and processing of mined ore, achieving projected recovery rates, anticipated production rates and mine life, operating efficiencies, costs and expenditures, changes in mineral resources and conversion of mineral resources to proven and probable mineral reserves, and other information that is based on forecasts of future operational or financial results, estimates of amounts not yet determinable and assumptions of management.
Any statements 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 or phrases such as "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", "plans", "estimates" or "intends", or stating that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved) are not statements of historical fact and may be "forward-looking statements." Forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events or results to differ from those reflected in the forward-looking statements.
There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's expectations include, among others, the actual results of current exploration activities, conclusions of economic evaluations and changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined as well as future prices of precious metals, as well as those factors discussed in the section entitled "Other MD&A Requirements and Additional Disclosure and Risk Factors" in the Company's most recent quarterly Management's Analysis and Discussion ("MD&A"). 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 or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.

No stock exchange, securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained herein.

Contact Information

San Gold Corporation
Tim Friesen
Communications Director
1 (855) 585-4653

San Gold Corporation
George Pirie
President and CEO
1 (416) 214-0024
www.sangold.ca

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