New Century Resources recommences trading following zinc mine acquisition
New Century Resources (ASX: NCZ) has recommenced trading on the ASX following completion of the transaction to acquire an initial 70% interest in the Century Zinc Mine in North West Queensland, with an option to acquire 100%.
Key Highlights:
- Recommencement of trading under the new ASX code NCZ.
- Tailings infill drilling underway as precursor input for upcoming restart feasibility.
- Review of extensive historical exploration database underway.
New Century Executive Chairman Evan Cranston said:
“The completion of the initial acquisition interest in the Century Zinc Mine is a significant transformational milestone for the company. Century’s remaining resources and its associated infrastructure are world class and we are very excited for the Project to be a part of our company’s future. I would like to welcome the incoming directors Patrick, Tolga and Tom to the board and would also would like to thank new and existing shareholders for their support as we embark on this exciting chapter for the company.”
New Century Managing Director Patrick Walta said:
“The near term restarting of operations at Century represents one of the most exciting large scale development projects on the ASX. The board would like to express its gratitude to all stakeholders for their assistance during the transaction process, in particular MMG Limited, the Queensland State Government and all associated Native Title Groups. We look forward to continuing to build successful working partnerships that can provide lasting benefits to the Lower Gulf Region, brought about by further operations at Century.”
As outlined in the Prospectus, the company is now focused on progressing a tailings feasibility study in preparation for a potential near term restarting of the existing plant and infrastructure at the Century Zinc Mine.
Tailings drilling program underway
As part of this study process, New Century is undertaking an infill drilling program over the Century Tailings Deposit which is targeting an upgrade in the confidence level of the existing resource base to an Indicated Resource level at a minimum.
Figure 1: Tailings drilling underway at the Century Zinc Mine.
Current Resources of the Century Tailings Deposit stand at an Indicated Resource of 12.8Mt at 2.97% zinc, Inferred Resource of 58.2Mt at 2.68% zinc for a total 71.0Mt at 2.73% zinc (1,940,000t of contained zinc metal).
Figure 2: Planned grid drilling at the Century Zinc Mine tailings deposit (~3km from 7Mtpa processing plant).
The planned drilling program consists of 175 HQ3 diameter drill core holes on a 125m × 125m spacing (an average depth of 13m) for a total 2,350m drilling.
The program is anticipated to be completed in August 2017 with analytical results to be processed shortly after.
Historical exploration review underway
The company has also commenced a review of the extensive historical exploration database associated with the Century Zinc Mine.
This review will focus on prioritising the currently identified targets (see Figure 3) as a precursor to drilling these and other targets, which is scheduled to immediately follow conclusion of the tailings drilling program.
Figure 3: Identified drilling targets at the Century Zinc Mine.
New Century plans to update the market following completion of the historical exploration review.