Paramount Gold and Silver Corp. ("Paramount") announced today that its independent consultants are nearing completion of a new NI-43-101 compliant resource estimate for its 100%-owned San Miguel Project in Northern Mexico to be followed by a revised Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) for the project.
A PEA is a complete, integrated project design which estimates mining and processing methods and rates of production, capital and operating costs, cash flows at specified metal prices, rates of return, mine life and net present values at a proposed discount rate.
Mine Development Associates ("MDA") (www.mda.com) of Reno, Nevada is currently preparing the new resource estimate to incorporate the results of drill holes within the resource areas since the last estimate prepared in September 2012. The updated resource estimate is expected to materially upgrade resources from the inferred classification to measured and indicated classifications as well as increase the overall size of the resource.
A revised PEA for the San Miguel project will follow the completion of the resource estimate, once again prepared by Metal Mining Consultants ("MMC") (www.metalminingconsultants.com) of Denver, Colorado. The revised Mine Plan will incorporate: the new resource estimate; current gold/silver prices; a heap leach scenario for the San Francisco and San Antonio zones; and a reconfigured model using smaller ore blocks.
The new heap leach scenario at San Francisco and San Antonio is the result of the Company's foresight to evaluate material which was not included in the previous mill-only PEA scenario. The metallurgical work completed by McClelland Laboratories of Reno, NV confirmed that heap leaching this material is a likely scenario (see news release May 27, 2014) and could increase estimated resources, mine life and project economics.
Paramount CEO Christopher Crupi exclaimed, "We are eager to see the results of the updated resource and mine plans for San Miguel. We anticipate they will demonstrate the potential for a strong, economically-rewarding project at current metal prices."
NI 43-101 Disclosure
Exploration activities at San Miguel are being conducted by Paramount Gold de Mexico S.A de C.V personnel under the supervision of Glen van Treek, Exploration Vice President of the Company and Bill Threlkeld, a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, who have both reviewed and approved this press release. An ongoing quality control/quality assurance protocol is employed including blank, duplicate and reference standards in every batch of assays. Cross-check analyses are conducted at a second external laboratory on 10% of the samples. Samples are assayed at ALS Chemex and Acme Laboratories, Vancouver, B.C., using fire assay atomic absorption methods for gold and aqua regia digestion ICP methods for other elements.
Source: http://www.paramountgold.com