Arc Minerals Regulatory News (ARCM)

Ortac Resources Ltd / Epic: OTC / Market: AIM / Sector: Mining & Exploration

19 June 2017

ORTAC RESOURCES LTD 

("ORTAC" OR THE "COMPANY")

Update on Inferred Mineral Resources at Akyanga Deposit, DRC

Inferred Mineral Resources of over 1 Moz of gold at a grade of 2.27 grams per tonne endorses view of commercially viable asset

Ortac Resources Ltd ("Ortac"), the AIM listed exploration and mine development company, is pleased to provide an update on its investment in Casa Mining Limited ("CASA"), a private company developing the Misisi gold project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo ("DRC"), in which, following conversion of the Company's convertible loan note, Ortac will hold an approximate, 45% equity interest.

Highlights:

· African Mining Consultants ("AMC") have provided an updated JORC-compliant Inferred Mineral Resource of 1,046,000 oz Au at an average grade of 2.27 g/t Au, using a US$1,250/oz gold price and a conservative 1.50 g/t Au cut-off grade;

· Over 350,000 oz increase in Au Inferred Mineral Resources at a 0.5 g/t Au cut-off grade to 1,573,000 oz Au at an average grade of 1.65 g/t Au;

· High cut-off grade demonstrates a robust >2g/t Au orebody;

· Extensions to open-ended mineralisation to be investigated in upcoming drill program.

Vassilios Carellas, Ortac's CEO, commented:

"This is an extremely positive development for Ortac, as a major shareholder in CASA. This latest Mineral Resource Estimate firmly demonstrates the clear potential to increase the gold mineral resources at the Akyanga Deposit. One of the findings of the independent AMC report that is particularly encouraging is that the average gold grade for the million ounce core at Akyanga has now increased to over 2.20 g/t Au.

With the overall resource now reporting at over 1.5 million ounces, and the extensions to the open-ended mineralisation about to be tested by the upcoming drill program, the geology is very much pointing positively towards the view that a commercially viable and recoverable gold asset is about to be proven in what is a free milling orebody."

Background and Rationale

CASA engaged African Mining Consultants ("AMC") to assist with a review and re-interpretation of the geological model, initiated during an internal workshop with independent experts in 2016 ("IE - 2016"), with the aim of investigating its effect on the potential resource at the Akyanga Deposit.

Mineral Resource Estimation Parameters and Results

AMC audited the IE - 2016 mineralised domains, created a revised block model based upon five continuous mineralised veins systems and produced a series of pit-limiting shells for the new block model to constrain the Mineral Resource Estimate ("MRE"). Reasonable assumptions, based on a conventional gravity and CIL operation, were used to enable a mineral resource to be reported within a pit limiting shell. This satisfies the JORC 2012 Code requirement for the resource to exhibit 'reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction'.

AMC has reported the 2017 mineral resource, within a US$1,250/oz gold selling price optimised pit shell, at a conservative 1.50 g/t Au cut-off grade, which comprises 14.3Mt at a grade of 2.27g/t Au for approximately 1.05 Moz of contained metal as shown in Table 1. AMC used a relatively high cut-off to demonstrate a robust >2g/t orebody at different metal prices.

Table 1 below illustrates the 2017 mineral resource estimation for the Akyanga Deposit.

Table 1 - Akyanga Deposit grade/tonnage results at various cut-offs - effective date 9th May 2017 (in accordance with the guidelines of the JORC Code (2012)

1. There are reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction under assumptions of a gold price of US$1250/oz; employment of conventional open-pit mining methods, and processing in a conventional Gravity + CIL purpose built facility. Mining costs are assumed

at US$3/t ore/waste. Processing costs at US$18/t ore and general and administration US$1.5/t ore.

2. Reported Mineral Resources contain a 5% allowance for hanging wall and footwall contact boundary loss and dilution. A mining recovery of 5% is applied.3. All resources are reported as Inferred and grade (Au) interpolation was carried out using the Ordinary Kriging (OK) interpolation method to estimate g/t Au in the block model.'

4. Approximate drill hole spacing's for Inferred Mineral Resources are 100m. Depth of mineralisation below surface ranges from 0m to

300m for all Inferred Resources.

5. Rounding as required by reporting guidelines may result in apparent summation differences between tonnes, grade and contained

metal content.

In addition to the US$1,250 gold selling price, AMC ran conceptual pit optimisations for US$1,400 / US$1,600 / US$1,800 and US$1,920 (highest recorded) gold selling prices to test the effect on the mineral resource robustness at a selected cut-off (a 1.5g/t cut-off was used to a show a >2g/t orebody). The results are displayed in Table 2.

Table 2 - 2017 MRE results at 1.5 g/t Au cut-off and selected gold prices

This analysis demonstrates, with assumptions used, the mineable resource is not sensitive to the gold price and that the Akyanga Deposit is a potentially consistent +2g/t, robust, orebody.

Ongoing Geological Work 

AMC have made a number of recommendations to enhance the geological model and proportionately the potential grade continuity and tonnage across the deposit.

AMC recommendations include, and are not limited to, re-logging of historical holes, orientating the drilled core for the different vein systems and infill drilling to improve confidence levels and better understand the higher-grade structures that are inherent to the deposit.

Exploration and QA/QC Programmes

Exploration programmes were conducted under the supervision of Mr Crispus Sang, Exploration Manager for CASA Mining. Strict QA/QC protocols were followed, including the insertion of standards, blanks, and duplicates on a regular basis. Samples were collected by CASA, transported to, prepared and analysed primarily by, ALS Minerals (ALS), Tanzania in partnership with ALS Canada/Johannesburg, and later in the programs by SGS, Tanzania.

Samples were initially submitted to the SGS Laboratory ("SGS") in Mwanza, Tanzania for preparation, where they were dried and pulverised to 75 microns before being analysed at the same laboratory. From drillhole MSDD0010 onwards, samples were submitted to the ALS Minerals ("ALS") facilities in Mwanza for preparation, and subsequently to ALS in Vancouver and Johannesburg for analysis. Owing to slow sample turnaround time, samples from drillhole MSDD0084 were, following fresh accreditation of the laboratory, submitted to SGS Mwanza. The ALS Vancouver analytical facility is ISO 9001:2008 accredited and has received accreditation to ISO/IEC 17025:2005 from the Standards Council of Canada (SCC). The ALS Johannesburg laboratory is ISO/IEC 17025:2005 accredited for sample preparation and analysis.

Qualified Persons

The mineral resource estimates reported in this news release were supervised by Mr Thomas Rogers (BSc. Hons, MSAIMM, MEIZ) of African Mining Consultants (AMC). Mr Rogers has sufficient experience in the activity which he is undertaking to qualify as a Competent Person as defined under the JORC Code (2012). AMC consents to the inclusion in this announcement of the matters based on this information in the form and context in which it appears. 

The information in this press release is based on information provided by Casa Mining Limited and AMC and compiled on behalf of Ortac by Mr Vassilios Carellas. The updated AMC resource estimate has not been independently verified by Ortac Resources Ltd. Mr Vassilios Carellas (BSc (Hons), MAusIMM) is the Chief Executive Officer for Ortac Resources Limited and has sufficient experience relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity which he is undertaking to qualify as a Competent Person as defined under the JORC Code (2012). Mr Carellas consents to the inclusion in this announcement of the matters based on his information in the form and context in which it appears.

Market Abuse Regulation ("MAR") Disclosure

Certain information contained in this announcement would have been deemed inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 until the release of this announcement.

Contacts

About Ortac

Ortac Resources Limited is an AIM listed exploration and mine development company focused on a diversified portfolio of mining projects with interests in Slovakia, Eritrea, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia. 

In addition to its 100% holding in the Kremnica Mining Licence Area in Slovakia, Ortac also holds a 18.48% interest in Andiamo Exploration Limited, a private company exploring for resources in Eritrea; a 19.35% convertible interest in Zamsort Limited, a private company located in Zambia; and a 45% in CASA Mining Ltd, a private gold mine development company advancing the large-scale Misisi Gold Project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

For more information visit www.ortacresources.com

Glossary

Au

The chemical symbol for gold.

Core Drilling

The process of obtaining cylindrical rock samples by means of annular-shaped rock-cutting bits totated by a borehole-drilling machines.

Cut-off grade

The lowest grade of mineralized material considered economic; used in the calculation of the ore reserves/resources in a given deposit.

g/t

grammes per tonne

Inferred Mineral Resource

 That part of a Mineral Resource for which tonnage, grade and mineral content can be estimated with a low level of confidence. It is inferred from geological evidence and assumed but not verified geological and/or grade continuity. It is based on information gathered through appropriate techniques from locations such as outcrops, trenches, pits, workings and drill-holes which may be limited or of uncertain quality and reliability.

JORC Code (2012) Mineral Resource

A Mineral Resource estimate which meets the requirements of the Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves, as published by the Joint Ore Reserves Committee of The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, Australian Institute of Geoscientists and Minerals Council of Australia. The code is widely accepted as a standard for professional reporting purposes for reporting of mineral resources and ore reserves.

Kriging

A method of interpolation which predicts unknown values from data observed at known locations. It uses the variogram to express spatial variation, and minimizes the error of predicted values that are estimated by spatial distribution of the predicted values.

m

metre

Mineralisation

The process or processes by which a mineral is introduced into a rock, resulting in a valuable or potentially valuable deposit. It is a general term, incorporating various types; e.g., fissure filling, impregnation, and replacement.

Moz

Million Ounces

Ore Body

Is the continuous, well-defined mass of material of sufficient ore content to make extraction economically feasible.

Oz(s) Ounce

Troy ounce - 1 ounce is equal to 31.1034807 grams

Resource (mineral)

A concentration or occurrence of material of intrinsic economic interest in or on the Earth's crust in such form, quality and quantity that there are reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction. The location, quantity, grade, geological characteristics and continuity of a Mineral Resource are known, estimated or interpreted from specific geological evidence and knowledge. Mineral Resources are sub-divided, in order of increasing geological confidence, into Inferred, Indicated and Measured categories;