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NioGold Mining Corporation (TSX-V: NOX) Expands Gold Resources in Historic Val d’Or Region of Abitibi Gold Belt in Canada

on 3/1/2013

With positive returns on their initial drill program at the Malartic project, NioGold Mining Corporation (NioGold; TSX-V: NOX) is now working on expanding their gold resource in the historic areas of the Val d’Or region of the Abitibi Gold Belt.


Recently, Metals News had the opportunity to learn about the progress that NioGold is making on the Marban and Malartic Block gold project located in the historic Val d’Or gold region of Canada.  Yan Ducharme, Vice President of Exploration, took the time to talk about his own experience and to provide an update on the projects that NioGold (TSX-V: NOX) is currently focused on. 

Ducharme has an extensive mining background that he brought to assist with development of the company since his start with NioGold Mining in 2007.  With a Master’s Degree in Earth Sciences from Université du Québec à Montréal, Ducharme has been working on helping to guide NioGold in developing their holdings in the Val d’Or region.  Said Ducharme, “I’ve been with NioGold for five and a half years.”  Ducharme’s experience includes working with other large mining companies on multiple continents.  He said, “I was with IAMGOLD before NioGold and have worked in Surinam and in Quebec.  I was also in Africa.”  He joined NioGold as a senior geologist on the Marban Block project, part of the larger Malartic project in the Abitibi Gold Belt.


The company is currently moving the Marban Block project forward and determining the exact extent of the resource.  He said, “Our focus now is to work the Marban Block project, to bring it to the next level.”  The initial push on Marban Block has included working toward increasing the size of the resources they have defined.  As NioGold has worked on the project, it has gotten attention from other companies.  To that end, NioGold has secured a strategic partner in Aurizon Mines to assist with the work, providing a portion of the project in return for an investment in development as they move it forward toward production.  Said Ducharme, “We have a partner, Aurizon, who can buy in when they spend $20 million dollars on the project and buy half the ounces of the resource estimate after the $20 million is spent.” Said Ducharme, “Right now, according to the latest resource estimate steered by Aurizon we have increased the resource to two million ounces.  We are trying to increase that amount and get to the feasibility stage.” 

Work plans are currently in progress to continue to forward the project in 2013 toward additional resource development and data collection. Given the specific configuration of the property, NioGold will be working through the winter to develop the resource.  Ducharme said, “We want to investigate the Norlartic and Kierens deposits trend.”  Part of this investigation involves also looking at potential drilling options as NioGold moves closer to production.  The company will be looking at the option of open pit processes. 

Said Ducharme, “We want to test the open pit potential.”  With the presence of the Keriens creek nearby, winter work will be required.  Ducharme said, “For that we need to drill near the surface and we need to do that during the winter because we need to build ice bridges.”  Though working in the winter can be a challenge, the staff of NioGold is committed to understanding more about the potential for the deposit in order to move it to feasibility and production. 

Ducharme said, “We want to increase the inferred resource to a higher category and extends the deposits.”  The drilling plans include working on a new section as NioGold begins their work plans for the year.  Said Ducharme, “We are right now working on the North zone which is about 200 meters north-east of the Norlartic deposit. It was mined before and there is some historical resource on it.”

Ultimately, NioGold is focused on moving the Marban Block project forward to production as soon as they have a better understanding about the resource.  Said Ducharme, “We want to make a 43-101 resource estimate that will include all the zones and evaluate their open pit potential.   Increasing the resource is part of that plan too.”  Potential investors who are interested in the results of their most recent drilling program will have access to new information soon.  Said Ducharme, “We are updating the resource estimate by including our 2012 drilling.  We are working on that right now and should have an update in the next few months.”


For investors who are looking for a new way to invest in gold, NioGold may offer an option worth additional evaluation.  Ducharme believes that NioGold offers specific reasons why investors should take a second look.  On why investors should investigate NioGold Mining, Ducharme said, “One reason is that we are in the mining friendly jurisdiction of Val d’Or.” 

Additional reasons include deposit size and location.  Remarked Ducharme, “You won’t find many deposits with resources above the million ounces mark at five minutes from the Abitibi highway like we have.  There are only three.  IAMGOLD’s Westwood project, Aurizon’s Joanna and ours. We are fifteen minutes from Val d’Or.  We are also surrounded by mills among which a few are not running at full capacity.  It is a very nice place to have a project.”

 

With an extensive resource and a focus on expanding the project, NioGold is working toward creating investor value.  Located in the historic area of Val d’Or in the Abitibi Greenstone Belt of Canada, the Marban Block project offers a good deal of potential, excellent location and a mining friendly community surrounding the area.  For investors who are interested in a gold play in Canada, NioGold should be an excellent option worth further investigation. 

Disclosure

The Alper family has stock in NioGold Mining.

http://www.niogold.com/

NioGold Mining Corporation
24549 53rd Avenue
Langley, British Columbia
V2Z 1H6

T: +1.604.856.9887
F: +1.604.856.9479

Investor Relations
Dale Paruk, Vice President Corporate Development

T: +1.604.662.4505
TF: +1.877.642.6200
E: dparuk@niogold.com
W: www.niogold.com



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