Investment Update

RNS Number : 3951D

Mineral & Financial Invest. Limited

31 January 2018

 

Mineral and Financial Investments Limited

Lagoa Salgada Deposit Increased by 114% to a 9.62Mt Resource

HIGHLIGHTS:

·     Lagoa Salgada Resource increased by 114% to 9.62Mt resource, at the top end of 8.0Mt to 10.0Mt guidance given last year, on in-fill drill program at LS-1 and new resource at LS-1 Central Sectors.

·     Zinc grade for the LS-1 total resource is 2.59%. In-situ Zinc increased by 94.5% to 548.9M/lbs.

·     Lead grade for the LS-1 total resource is 2.59%. In-situ Lead increased by 98.8% to 549.5M/lbs.

·     Copper grade for the LS-1 total resource is 0.35%. In-situ Copper increased by 116.2% to 73.6M/lbs.

·     Tin resource in the Gossan will be calculated at a later date.

George Town, Cayman Island - January 31, 2018 - Mineral & Financial Investments is very pleased to announce its 49%-owned investment, TH Crestgate GmbH, a private Swiss-based investment company has received the final draft of the resource update of the LS-1 deposit at the 100%-owned Lagoa Salgada zinc-lead-copper project in central southern Portugal.

AGP Mining Consultants Inc. of Canada completed a Technical Report (43-101) resource evaluation. The deposit's resource tonnage was increased by 114% to 9.62Mt. The details of the resource can be seen below:

Category 3% cut-off grade*	2018 LS-1 AREA RESOURCE UPDATE SUMMARY
	Tonnes	Mineral	Grade	Contained Metal	Units
LS-1 Sector Indicated	5,700,000	Zn (%)	2.84	356,136,000	Lbs.
		Pb (%)	3.01	378,246,653	Lbs.
		Cu (%)	0.32	40,212,269	Lbs.
		Ag (g/t)	54.28	9,947,305	Oz.
		Au (g/t)	0.79	144,775	Oz.
LS-1 Sector Inferred	1,940,000	Zn (%)	2.50	106,924,070	Lbs.
		Pb (%)	2.84	121,465,744	Lbs.
		Cu (%)	0.24	10,264,711	Lbs.
		Ag (g/t)	48.22	3,007,597	Oz.
		Au (g/t)	0.66	41,166	Oz.
LS-1 Central Sector Inferred	1,980,000	Zn (%)	1.95	85,120,378	Lbs.
		Pb (%)	1.14	49,762,683	Lbs.
		Cu (%)	0.53	23,135,282	Lbs.
		Ag (g/t)	18.55	1,180,864	Oz.
		Au (g/t)	0.07	4,456	Oz.
Total	9,620,000	Zn (%)	2.59	548,928,334	Lbs.
		Pb (%)	2.59	549,475,080	Lbs.
		Cu (%)	0.30	73,612,262	Lbs.
		Ag (g/t)	45.7	14,135,766	Oz.
		Au (g/t)	0.62	190,397	Oz.

*100% of resource - MAFL own 49% of the project through its ownership in TH Crestgate GmbH

Source: AGP Mining Consultants (Paul Daigle, P.Geo.)

Jacques Vaillancourt, Chairman of Mineral and Financial, stated that -" This is an extraordinary result for the first year of exploration at the Lagoa Salgada Project. Increasing the tonnage while maintaining the grades of the original LS-1 resource is a very is a great achievement. Additionally, establishing a maiden resource for the LS-1 Central Sector is also a very significant achievement in 12 months. Lagoa Salgada is now the 3^rd largest known zinc-lead-copper deposit in Portugal, after the Neves Corvo and Aljustrel mines. The location of the Lagoa Salgada project on the Iberian Pyrite Belt (IPB), just north of the 250Mt Aljustrel mine and to the east of the old Lousal mine, that operated from 1900 to 1988, shows that the ore bodies in the area have very large scale and long life potential "

M&FI had repeatedly guided towards a range of 8.0Mt to 10.0Mt. This resource update is at the top end of the guidance given over the past 6 months. LS-1 is one of 17 known anomalies on the Lagoa Salgada property. The LS-1 area's resource is comprised of two sectors: The LS-1 Sector resource, which increased its total tonnage by 69.9% to 7.64Mt, and: The LS-1 Central Sector where a new maiden inferred resource of 1.98Mt was established. The mineralogical study completed recently highlighted the presence of significant tin in the gossan cap of the LS-1 deposit. The Company is reviewing the resource potential of the high-grade tin assays in the gossan cap which overlays the LS-1 deposit.

The overall impact of the program was to increase Lagoa Salgada metal content as follows:

Metal	In-situ content	% Increase	Metal Value Distribution (Using Spot Price)
Zinc (lbs)	548,928,334	94.5%	38.1%
Lead (lbs)	549,475,080	98.8%	29.1%
Copper (lbs)	73,612,262	116.2%	10.4%
Silver (oz)	14,135,766	83.0%	10.9%
Gold (oz)	190,397	63.4%	11.4%

To compare the resource increase of the LS-1 Sector only, total tonnages increased by 70% while grades were essentially unchanged. This is noteworthy, as the drill program was an infill program of angled drill holes within the known mineral envelope. Seventy nine holes (79) have been drilled in the Lagoa Salgada Project, 35 holes in the LS-1 Area (17 in the LS-1 Sector and 9 in the LS-1 Central Sector's deposits') executed drill holes were relatively shallow, averaging 300m (including the 140m of tertiary cover) when compared to the deposit depth of the mines on the Iberian Pyrite Belt. There remains significant exploration potential below the known deposit, additionally the deposit is open to both the south and to the east. Additional structural work must be done to fully understand the ore displacement that the surrounding faulting may have caused.

Area/ Category	LS-1 2018 Resource (New)				LS-1 2012 Resource (Old)
	Tonnes	Mineral	Grade	Contained Metal	Tonnes	Grade	Contained Metal	Units	Metal Content Increase
LS-1 Sector Indicated	5.7Mt	Zn (%)	2.84	356,136,000	2.94Mt	3.40	220,521,729	Lbs.	61.8%
		Pb (%)	3.01	378,246,653		2.94	190,686,436	Lbs.	98.4%
		Cu (%)	0.32	40,212,269		0.34	22,052,173	Lbs.	82.4%
		Ag (g/t)	54.3	9,947,305		54.7	5,175,824	Oz.	92.2%
		Au (g/t)	0.79	144,775		0.82	77,562	Oz.	86.7%
LS-1 Sector Inferred	1.94Mt	Zn (%)	2.50	106,924,070	1.55Mt	1.80	66,667,071	Lbs.	73.4%
		Pb (%)	2.84	121,465,744		2.50	85,648,710	Lbs.	41.8%
		Cu (%)	0.24	10,264,711		0.35	11,990,819	Lbs.	-14.4%
		Ag (g/t)	48.2	3,007,597		51.0	2,548,710	Oz.	18.0%
		Au (g/t)	0.66	41,166		0.78	38,971	Oz.	5.6%
LS-1 Sector Total	7.64Mt	Zn (%)	2.8	548,928,334	4.5Mt	2.85	282,188,800	Lbs.	64.4%
		Pb (%)	3.0	549,475,080		2.79	276,335,146	Lbs.	80.8%
		Cu (%)	0.30	73,612,262		0.34	34,042,992	Lbs.	48.3%
		Ag (g/t)	52.7	14,135,766		53.4	7,723,897	Oz.	67.7%
		Au (g/t)	0.8	190,397		0.8	116,532	Oz.	59.6%

References in this announcement to exploration results and resource updates have been approved for release by Joao Barros, BSc (Engineering), MSc (Geology), who has more than 15 years of relevant experience in the field of activity concerned. Mr. Barros is a Member of the Portuguese Engineers Association. Mr. Barros is employed by Redcorp Empreedimentos Mineiros, Lda., a wholly owned subsidiary of TH Crestgate GmbH, and has consented to the inclusion of the material in the form and context in which it appears.

This report should be seen as indicative of possible mineral content and not definitive, as the sample group is insufficient to arrive at any economic conclusions.

For more information:           

Katy Mitchell, WH Ireland Group Limited                                   [phone]

Jon Belliss, Beaufort Securities Limited                                       [phone]

Jacques Vaillancourt, Mineral & Financial Investments Ltd.         [phone]

 

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