Roxgold Announces Updated Mineral Reserves & Mineral Resources Statement Including Maiden NI 43-101 Mineral Resources Statement for the Séguéla Gold Project

TORONTO, July 11, 2019 /CNW/ - Roxgold Inc. ("Roxgold" or the "Company") (TSX: ROXG) is pleased to announce an updated Mineral Reserves and Mineral Resources Statement for the Yaramoko Gold Project along with a maiden Mineral Resources Statement prepared in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 ? Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101") for the recently acquired Séguéla Gold Project in Côte D'Ivoire.

Highlights:

Updated Roxgold Mineral Reserves and Mineral Resources Statement as at December 31, 2018⁽¹⁾:

• Company wide Measured and Indicated Mineral Resources estimate for the Yaramoko and Séguéla gold projects of 1,323,000 ounces at 4.8 grams of gold per tonne ("g/t Au") representing an increase of 79% over the December 31, 2016 estimate;
• Maintained Proven and Probable Mineral Reserves of 658,000 ounces at 8.2 g/t Au at the Yaramoko Gold Project following production of 260,000 ounces at 14.4 g/t Au in 2017 and 2018 from the 55 Zone;
• Maiden Séguéla Gold Project ("Séguéla") Indicated Mineral Resource estimate prepared in accordance with NI 43-101 of 496,000 ounces at 2.4 g/t Au and an Inferred Mineral Resource Estimate of 34,000 ounces at 2.4g/t Au for the Antenna deposit;
• Preliminary Economic Assessment for Séguéla expected to be completed in late Q4 2019.

"The addition of Séguéla to Roxgold's development pipeline has substantially increased our resource inventory," commented John Dorward, President and CEO.  "With the addition of the recently commissioned underground mine at Bagassi South, we have essentially matched depletion of reserves at Yaramoko over the past two years and we look forward to a significant drilling program in the second half of next year from a second dedicated underground drilling platform to infill and extend the deeper portions of the 55 Zone.  With the newly defined indicated mineral resources at Séguéla and our upcoming drill program, we believe there is an encouraging line of sight to further increases in the Company's near surface mineral resource inventory in the coming years."

Expected Q3 and Q4 2019 Work Program:

• Q3 - Séguéla drilling results from satellite targets and Antenna infill and extension program
• Q3 - Séguéla development update
• Q4 - Yaramoko regional exploration results
• Q4 - Results of Séguéla Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA")

Mineral Reserves and Mineral Resources

The Company estimated its 2018 year-end Mineral Reserves and Mineral Resources using gold price assumptions of US$1,450 per ounce for the Mineral Resource estimates and US$1,300 per ounce for the Mineral Reserve estimate. These assumptions represent increases of US$200 per ounce and US$50 per ounce respectively compared to the price of US$1,250 per ounce utilized for the 2016 Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves estimate.

The Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves models were prepared in conformity with The Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum's (CIM) Estimation of Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves Best Practices Guidelines (November, 2003) and are classified per the CIM Definition Standards for Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves (May, 2014).

A.  Mineral Resources 

The Estimated Company wide Measured and Indicated gold Mineral Resources from the Yaramoko and Séguéla gold projects (inclusive of Mineral Reserves) increased by 79% to 1,323,000 ounces from 738,000 ounces of gold as per the December 31, 2016 estimate. The increase of 585,000 ounces was primarily due to:

• Acquisition of Séguéla and the subsequent addition of its maiden NI 43-101 Mineral Resource estimate
• Depletion of 260,000 ounces produced in 2017 and 2018 at a grade of 14.4 g/t Au at Yaramoko,
• Inclusion of approximately 45,000 metres of surface and underground diamond drilling at Yaramoko, and
• Minor variations in modeling and estimation assumptions to reflect the current understanding and operation of the orebody at Yaramoko, which have resulted in some reductions in mining costs and in reporting cut-off grade to 3.5 g/t Au from 5.0 g/t Au.

Estimated Inferred Mineral Resources decreased by 35% from 347,000 ounces of gold as at December 31, 2016 to 225,000 ounces of gold as of December 31, 2018. The change is mainly the result of conversion of Inferred Mineral Resources to a higher classification at the 55 Zone, Yaramoko, as well as improved interpretation and modelling assumptions following step-out drilling down-dip.

The supporting Technical Report for Séguéla's maiden NI 43-101 Mineral Resource will be published to SEDAR in the coming weeks.

In the intervening period, the Company published the maiden Bagassi South Reserve and updated Mineral Resource statement, inclusive of 188,000 ounces of gold in the Indicated category, in the December 20, 2017 Technical Report entitled "Technical Report for the Yaramoko Gold Mine, Burkina Faso" (the "2017 Report").

In the second half of 2020, the Company anticipates developing a dedicated drilling platform approximately 650 metres below surface at the 55 Zone to target extensions to the existing orebody at Yaramoko at depth. With a greater understanding of the geological controls of the high grade shoots at Yaramoko, the Company will be looking to benefit from the improved accuracy of drilling over shorter distances and a greater density of intercepts than was possible from surface drilling.

Mineral Resource Statement

B.  Mineral Reserves

Estimated proven and probable Mineral Reserves contained gold slightly decreased by 0.6% from 662,000 ounces of gold as per the December 31, 2016 estimate to 658,000 ounces as of December 31, 2018. The decrease of 4,000 ounces, after production of 260,000 ounces in 2017 and 2018, was a combination of production depletion and addition primarily from infill drilling and conversion of inferred material to a higher category. In this period, the Company published the maiden Bagassi South Mineral Reserve of 170,000 ounces of gold in the 2017 Report.  Please refer to the 2017 Report for further details.

The updated Mineral Reserve estimate incorporates improved operating performance at the Project, which has now been incorporated into updated mining, processing and G&A cost assumptions.  Completion of the Bagassi South and Plant Expansion projects have resulted in economy of scale operating efficiencies which have increased throughput and lowered unit costs.

Over the course of 2018, the Company's primary focus was on exploring and infilling the deeper portions of the 55 Zone and extending Bagassi South. The Company anticipates establishing a second and third underground drilling platform in 2020 and 2022, which the Company believes will assist in the conversion of Mineral Resources to Mineral Reserves at depth at the 55 Zone.  

Mineral Reserves Statement

2019 Exploration and Development Outlook

Activities are progressing at Séguéla with the key initiative being to work towards the completion of a preliminary economic assessment ("PEA") study, which is advancing well. Mine planning, metallurgical testwork, plant design and infrastructure pricing activities are underway. The mine plan and infrastructure sizing will be based upon the existing Mineral Resource and anticipated extensions, delineated by ongoing drilling at Antenna as well as satellite targets within truckable distances to the plant site. The Company anticipates being in a position to release a PEA on this basis in Q4 2019.   

Similarly, environmental baseline works and permitting activities are progressing. Consultants are advancing the baseline assessments and community engagement scopes at site with the intent of incorporating these baseline studies with the completed PEA to progress the environment and mining approvals in Cote d'Ivoire.

Exploration activities at Séguéla have been progressing well with Reverse Circulation ("RC") and diamond core drilling at the Antenna deposit infilling selected areas and testing the strike limits of the new resource, with assays expected to be released in the coming weeks.

A regional airborne geophysical survey is scheduled to commence in early July over five permits, including Séguéla.  This program is designed to help refine the definition of key mineralized structures and to support the forthcoming field season activities.

At Yaramoko an extensive auger drilling campaign extending sampling grids to the south along the favourable Yaramoko Shear corridor and separately to the north around the margins of two granitic intrusions is nearing completion.  Once received these results will be used, in conjunction with other regional data sets, for further target generation incorporating the results received during 2019. Early work has identified several areas of interest with coincident geochemical and geophysical anomalism which will be prioritized once all data has been received.

Qualified Persons

Paul Weedon, P.Geo, VP Geology for Roxgold Inc., a Qualified Person within the meaning of NI 43-101, has reviewed, verified and approved the scientific and technical disclosure contained in this press release. This includes all QA/QC, sampling, analytical and test data underlying the information. For more information (beyond the information contained in this press release) on the Company's QA/QC and sampling procedures, please refer to the Company's annual information form dated March 26, 2019 and the 2017 Report.

Quality Assurance/Quality Control 

Yaramoko
The holes were drilled with NQ2 sized diamond drill bits for drill holes reported in this press release. Company personnel are located at the drill site. Employees of Roxgold conducted all logging and sampling. The core was logged, marked up for sampling using standard lengths of two metres outside of the "zone" and adjusted to lithological contacts up to one metre within the "zone". Samples are then cut into equal halves using a diamond saw. One half of the core was left in the original core box and stored in a secure location at the Roxgold camp within the Yaramoko area. The other half was sampled, catalogued and placed into sealed bags and securely stored at the site until it was shipped to Activation Laboratories located in Ouagadougou (the "Lab"). The core was dried and crushed by the Lab and a 150 gram pulp was prepared from the coarse crushed material. The Lab then conducted routine gold analysis using a 50 gram charge and fire assay with an atomic absorption finish. Samples returning over 5.0 g/t were also analysed by gravimetric analysis. Quality control procedures included the systematic insertion of blanks, duplicates and sample standards into the sample stream. In addition, the Lab inserted its own quality control samples.

Séguéla
The Séguéla Resource estimate is based entirely on RC and diamond drilling sampling.  All drilling data used to generate the Mineral Resource estimate was completed by Newcrest Ltd prior to the acquisition by Roxgold Ltd, utilizing the following procedures and methodologies.  These have been independently verified by Dr Cobb, the Qualified Person for the Séguéla Resource Estimate. All drilling was carried out under the supervision of Newcrest personnel.

RC drilling utilized 5.25 inch face sampling pneumatic hammer with samples collected into 60 litre plastic bags. Samples were kept dry by maintaining enough air pressure to preclude ground water inflow. If water ingress exceeded the air pressure, RC drilling was stopped, and drilling converted to diamond core tails. Once collected, samples were riffle split through a three-tier splitter to yield a 12.5% representative sample for submission to the analytical laboratory. The residual 87.5% sample were stored at the drill site until assay results were received and validated.  Coarse reject samples for all mineralized samples corresponding to significant intervals are retained and stored on site at the Company controlled core yard.

Diamond drill holes were drilled with NQ2 sized diamond drill bits. The core was logged, marked up for sampling using standard lengths of one metre. Samples were then cut into equal halves using a diamond saw. One half of the core was left in the original core box and stored in a secure location at the Company core yard at Séguéla. The other half was sampled, catalogued and placed into sealed bags and securely stored at the site until shipment.

All RC and diamond core samples were shipped to ALS Laboratories preparation laboratory in Yamassoukro for preparation. Samples were dried and crushed by the Lab and a 250-gram split prepared from the coarse crushed material, prior to pulverization and preparation of a 200g sample.  Samples are then shipped via commercial courier to ALS's analytical facility in Kumasi, Ghana where routine gold analysis using a 50-gram charge and fire assay with an atomic absorption finish was completed. Quality control procedures included the systematic insertion of blanks, duplicates and sample standards into the sample stream. In addition, the Lab inserted its own quality control samples.

About Roxgold

Roxgold is a Canadian-based gold mining company with assets located in West Africa.  The Company owns and operates the high-grade Yaramoko Gold Mine located on the Houndé greenstone belt in Burkina Faso and is also advancing the development and exploration of the Séguéla Gold Project located in Côte d'Ivoire.  Roxgold trades on the TSX under the symbol ROXG and as ROGFF on OTC.

This press release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws ("forward-looking statements"). Such forward-looking statements include, without limitation: statements with respect to Mineral Reserves and Mineral Resource estimates, the PEA, and future development activities.  These statements are based on information currently available to the Company and the Company provides no assurance that actual results will meet management's expectations. In certain cases, forward-looking information may be identified by such terms as "anticipates", "believes", "could", "estimates", "expects", "may", "shall", "will", or "would". Forward-looking information contained in this news release is based on certain factors and assumptions regarding, among other things, the estimation of Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves, the realization of resource estimates and reserve estimates, gold metal prices, the timing and amount of future exploration and development expenditures, the estimation of initial and sustaining capital requirements, the estimation of labour and operating costs, the availability of necessary financing and materials to continue to explore and develop the Yaramoko Gold Project in the short and long-term, the progress of exploration and development activities, the receipt of necessary regulatory approvals, and assumptions with respect to currency fluctuations, environmental risks, title disputes or claims, and other similar matters. While the Company considers these assumptions to be reasonable based on information currently available to it, they may prove to be incorrect.

Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include: changes in market conditions, unsuccessful exploration results, possibility of project cost overruns or unanticipated costs and expenses, changes in the costs and timing of the development of new deposits, inaccurate reserve and resource estimates, changes in the price of gold, unanticipated changes in key management personnel and general economic conditions. Mining exploration and development is an inherently risky business. Accordingly, actual events may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect any of the Company's forward-looking statements.  Reference should be made to the Company's annual information form dated March 26, 2019 for further risk factors.  These and other factors should be considered carefully and readers should not place undue reliance on the Company's forward-looking statements. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement that may be made from time to time by the Company or on its behalf, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

SOURCE Roxgold Inc.