YENIPAZAR GOLD-SILVER-COPPER-ZINC-LEAD PROPERTY
Property Overview
The Yenipazar gold-silver-copper-zinc-lead property (the “Yenipazar Property”) is the Company’s most advanced property and is located at the geographic center of Turkey, approximately 220 kilometres east-southeast of Ankara, the capital city. The Yenipazar Property is easily accessible via public roads and has good access to rail transportation and electrical power supply.
Aldridge has identified a mineral deposit on the Yenipazar Property which falls into the broad category of a metamorphosed volcanogenic massive sulphide (“VMS”) deposit (the “Yenipazar Deposit”). The Yenipazar Deposit has a currently determined strike length of 1700 metres (open in one direction) averaging 150 metres in width and approximately 25 metres in thickness at depths between 30 and 190 metres. Much of the orebody is sitting at a depth of approximately 80 metres.
From 2005 to 2010, the Company drilled 369 resource definition holes, including 363 reverse circulation (“RC”) holes for 49,085 metres at the Yenipazar Deposit. A further 918 metres was completed in 6 diamond drill holes, and 9 holes were cored by Anatolia Minerals, now Alacer Gold, for total of 2,016 metres in the late 1990’s. The Aldridge diamond drill holes were collared approximately five metres from the corresponding RC hole for duplication and metallurgical purposes. Overall, the metal grades improve with diamond drilling and the results confirm very good lateral continuity of the resource at the five metre-scale. Mineralized horizons appear to vary only slightly in thickness and elevation, which is an important aspect for open pit mining. As of May 2011, Aldridge is drilling approximately 30 diamond holes of large diameter throughout the deposit to determine variability parameters for the ore. The drilling of these holes will provide data to be used in the Company’s forthcoming feasibility study, approximately 8-9 tonnes of material for metallurgical testwork, and the potential to upgrade the resource.
In December 2010, the Company announced positive results from an independent, National Instrument 43-101 compliant, Technical Report and Preliminary Economic Assessment on the Yenipazar Property prepared by P&E Mining Consultants Inc. (“P&E”), EHA Engineering Ltd. and BC Mining Research Ltd. (the “PEA”).
The PEA states that the Yenipazar Deposit has favourable economic potential as an open pit mine producing copper, zinc and lead concentrates containing quantities of gold and silver. The base case economic analysis contemplates an average life-of-mine strip ratio of 4.5:1 (including the pre-stripping), a 5,700 tonnes per day mill feed rate and a 12 year mine life. The following tables provide itemized summaries for the metal prices used in preparing the PEA and economic highlights of the PEA:
| Three Year Trailing Average Metal Prices as of November 30, 2010 |
| Copper |
US$2.95/pound |
| Lead |
US$0.90/pound |
| Zinc |
US$0.86/pound |
| Gold |
US$1007/ounce |
| Silver |
US$16.19/ounce |
| Economic Highlights |
| NPV Undiscounted |
US$408.0 million |
| NPV 5% discount |
US$254.7 million |
| NPV 7% discount (base case) |
US$208.5 million |
| NPV 10% discount |
US$151.0 million |
| Internal Rate of Return |
23.2% |
| Project Payback Period From Start of Production (years) |
3.9 years |
| Total Pre-Production Capital (including contingencies) |
US$197.6 million |
| Total Sustaining Capital |
US$45.0 million |
| Life of Mine Average NSR Value (US$/tonne) |
US$57.27/tonne |
| Life of Mine Average Operating Cost (US$/tonne) |
US$29.65/tonne |
Pursuant to the PEA, the indicated and inferred resources at the Yenipazar Deposit, utilizing a NSR cut-off grade of US$15/t, are:
| Category |
Tonnes |
Gold g/t |
Silver g/t |
Copper % |
Lead % |
Zinc % |
| Indicated |
24,284,000 |
1.09 |
33.8 |
0.31 |
1.16 |
1.50 |
| Inferred |
218,000 |
0.49 |
22.7 |
0.30 |
0.71 |
1.16 |
Outlook
During fiscal year 2011, Aldridge plans to spend approximately $3.0 to $5.0 million at the Yenipazar Property. The majority of these expenditures will be in the form of infill diamond drilling to increase the geological database and to upgrade resources to reserves and to provide sufficient material for a pilot plant scale metallurgical study to optimize recoveries of zinc, lead, copper, gold and silver. As part of a definitive feasibility study that the Company plans to complete in fiscal year 2012, the Company intends to undertake geotechnical drilling, condemnation drilling and commence the preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement. The intent of the feasibility study is to complete the Company’s obligations to earn-in with Anatolia and to have third party consultants evaluate the economic potential of putting the Yenipazar Deposit into full production. Additionally, the Company intends to conduct geophysical exploration work on the Yenipazar Property in an attempt to discover other VMS bodies.