Inspiration Mining Corporation (the "Corporation") is pleased to announce that it has completed a professional survey of the Langmuir Property. The survey was undertaken by the Corporation as a condition for converting its mining claims in Langmuir into mining leases.
The survey has been submitted to the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines for their acceptance and approval as part of the Corporation's application for the conversion of the mining claims to leases.
The professional survey, which was undertaken by a licensed surveyor, determined and established permanent monuments, designating the precise boundaries of the mining claims. The process involved significant physical efforts and, due to the harshness of the past winter, took more time than originally anticipated.
Langmuir Property
The Langmuir Property comprises 69 mining claims covering 1121 hectares in the Langmuir Township, 25 km southeast of Timmins, Ontario. It hosts the past nickel producing mines of Langmuir No. 1 and 2.
In 2010, Micon International Limited ("Micon") completed the National Instrument 43-101 compliant resource estimate report (the "Micon Report") for the Langmuir North Deposit and the Langmuir No 1 Deposit. A copy of the Micon Report can be viewed under the Corporation's profile on the SEDAR website (www.sedar.com).
Given that the Langmuir No. 1 mine already has some infrastructure in place, such as its access ramp, and the presence of high grade nickel (ranging from 1.5% to 15%, as ret out in the Micon Report), the Corporation is of the opinion that in light of the current economics, it will make economic sense to further advance the Langmuir No. 1 deposit.
The Corporation has completed several internal studies which supports its decision to focus on the development of the Langmuir No. 1 mine. Based on the results of such studies, the Corporation is confident that once the ramp is reopened and the mine is dewatered, it will be able to proceed with preliminary underground drilling with the objective of completing a bulk sample.
Underground exploration and mining of Langmuir No. 1 deposit dates back to 1976 when a ramp was first constructed by Noranda, which then owned those claims. That ramp was 12 foot by 15 foot and extended to a length of 1,250 feet. Noranda ceased underground development of the ramp in 1977, 70 m short of the deposit, due to what it explained as deteriorating economic conditions in its mining operations. When Timmins Nickel subsequently took control of the property, it completed the dewatering of Noranda ramp, extended the ramp for 400 feet (121.9 m) to the 315 foot mine level. It then completed 4,652 feet (1,417.9 m) of underground diamond drilling and metallurgical and ore compatibility studies
During 1990 and 1991, 101,132 tonnes of ore, grading 1.74 nickel was milled from the Langmuir No. 1 mine. However, all underground work at the Langmuir No.1 site ceased in early 1992, when Timmins Nickel was petitioned into bankruptcy. Since the mine closed a further 33,569 metres of resource definition drilling has been completed resulting in a total of 18,776 core samples, which have been analyzed for the Langmuir No.1 deposit. As set out in the Herron Report dated May 17, 2004, the testing to that date has resulted in 127,000 tonnes of inferred resource, grading 2.21% Nickel.
The reader is cautioned that the quantities and grades reported as inferred resources are conceptual in nature and there has been insufficient exploration to define indicated mineral resources in these deposits, and it is uncertain if further exploration will result in delineation of indicated or measured mineral resource in these deposits. The disclosure of the inferred resource is being treated as an exploration target.
The current sampling practice of the Corporation has identified a broad halo zone of greater than 0.20% Ni with several higher grade intersections greater than 2.0% Ni exceeding 20 metres in true width. This extensive surface DDH drilling, together with the Micon Report, dated January 6, 2010, and the NordPro report, dated May 16, 2012, have all been primarily directed to the extensive, but lower grade, disseminate resources which are inferred to be the halo effect. The higher grade massive resource detected at, and open at, depth have not, at this point, been pursued. The Corporation's near term intent is to direct its attention to the dewatering and, to the extent necessary, repair of the ramp to give it access to this higher grade ore.
The processes to be pursued are two-fold. The Corporation is allowed to extract bulk samples of up to an aggregate of 60,000 tonnes from three (3) different deposits as part of its exploration. Bulk sampled ore can be milled and sold by the Corporation as part of its exploration and does not require the necessary permitting necessitated in the mining phase. Additionally, the Corporation will then be able to do underground DDH drilling to target what it believes to be higher grade minerals lying at depth.
Historically, the East Zone was approximately 400 feet long but with limited sampling indicated narrow widths. Inspiration's drilling has been concentrated in the northern portion and down plunge of the East Zone below the 315-foot mine level to a vertical depth of approximately 825 feet below surface. The current sampling practice of Inspiration has identified a broad halo zone of greater than 0.20% Ni with several higher-grade intersections greater than 2.0% Ni exceeding 20 metres in true width.
The assaying of split core samples was conducted by Swastika Laboratories, and included the insertion of blanks and standards. The Qualified Person in charge of the Langmuir Project and the person who prepared the technical data in this release is Andre Ciesielski, P.Geo.
Source: http://www.inspirationmining.com/