TORONTO, ONTARIO–(Marketwire – Aug. 12, 2011) – Carpathian Gold Inc. (TSX:CPN) (the “Corporation” or “Carpathian”) is pleased to announce that it has closed its previously announced agreement (the “Agreement”) with Barrick Gold Corporation (“Barrick”) for a non brokered CDN$20 Million private placement to purchase 38,461,538 common shares (the “Private Placement” and the “Common Shares”) of the Corporation at a price of $0.52 per share. The Common Shares will be subject to a four-month hold period.
As previously announced on July 18, 2011, the proceeds from the Private Placement will be exclusively applied to the Corporation’s ongoing exploration and development work on its wholly owned Rovina Valley Project (“RVP”) situated in west-central Romania.
Rovina Valley Project (RVP) Background
RVP is comprised of three Au-Cu porphyry systems (Rovina, Colnic and Ciresata), which were discovered by the Corporation. From 2006 to 2008, 181 diamond drill holes totaling 71,375 m have been completed on the project prior to the present drilling program. In late 2008, PEG Mining Consultants Inc. (“PEG”) completed a NI 43-101 resource estimate (“2008 Resource”).
A detailed NI 43-101 compliant Preliminary Economic Assessment (“PEA”) was released on March 23, 2010. The PEA was completed by PEG, which led a consortium of specialists assembled for the study. The PEA, utilized conventional open-pit mining for the Colnic and Rovina deposits with the Ciresata deposit mined by bulk-underground methods. Ore processing will utilize industry-standard crush-grind and flotation process at a rate of 40,000 tonnes per day to produce a gold-rich saleable copper concentrate. This process does not require the use of cyanide. The study considered a 19 year mine-life over which a total of 6.22 million Au-eq ounces would be produced. At metal prices of US$1,250/oz gold and US$3.00/lb copper the study arrived at a pre-tax NPV of US $870 million based on a 10% discount rate. Further details of the study are presented in previous news releases of the corporation.
According to the cautionary statement required by NI 43-101, it should be noted that this PEA is preliminary in nature as it includes inferred mineral resources that cannot be categorized as reserves at this time and as such there is no certainty that the preliminary assessment and economics will be realized. The full Study of the PEA is available on www.SEDAR.com.
About Carpathian
The Corporation is an exploration and development company whose primary business interest is developing near-term gold production on its 100% owned Riacho dos Machados Gold Project in Brazil, which is currently focusing on activities surrounding permitting and construction, along with progressing its exploration and development plans on its 100% owned Rovina Valley Au-Cu Project located in Romania. On a company wide basis, the Corporation currently hosts NI 43-101 resources of 4.0 million ounces of gold in the measured plus indicated categories and 4.5 million ounces of gold in the inferred category, as well as 759.1 million pounds of copper in the measured plus indicated category and 663.1 million pounds of copper in the inferred category.
The Riacho dos Machados Gold Project is targeted to produce in the order of +/-100,000 ounces of gold per annum, with construction targeted by management to be initiated by mid 2011 with an anticipated goal for the commencement of production in late 2012 or early 2013. The Rovina Valley Project will enhance the Corporations growth profile as a mid-tier gold producer.
Forward-Looking Statements: This press release includes certain statements that may be deemed “forward-looking statements”. Forward-looking statements are frequently characterized by words such as “plan”, “expect”, “Project”, “intend”, “believe”, “anticipate”, “estimate”, and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions “may” or “will” occur. All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts, that address future exploration drilling, exploration activities and events or developments that the Corporation expects, are forward-looking statements. Although the Corporation 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 forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include market prices, exploitation and exploration successes, continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated statements. The Corporation undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements if circumstances or management’s estimates or opinions should change. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.
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