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VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA–(Marketwired – Feb. 9, 2015) – NioCorp Developments Ltd. (“NioCorp” or the “Company”) (TSX VENTURE:NB)(OTCQX:NIOBF)(FRANKFURT:BR3) is pleased to announce an updated NI43-101 resource estimate for the Elk Creek niobium deposit (the “Deposit”).
Commencing in May 2014 and finishing in December 2014, the Company completed an 18-hole, three-phase infill drilling program. In those 18 holes, 15,381 meters of drilling was completed. This drilling program has provided data to support the updated resource estimate for the Deposit presented below, and has also provided important information on the hydrology, metallurgy, geochemistry and geotechnical properties of the Elk Creek resource. This data is being used to advance the design of an underground mine and ferroniobium production plant for the project. The drilling has also established that the Deposit remains open at depth, as well as to the northwest and southeast.
SRK Consulting (“SRK”) of Lakewood, Colorado and Cardiff, UK has completed an updated resource estimate according to CIM Standards. A formal NI 43-101 report will be published shortly.
The updated resource estimate for the Elk Creek Deposit is summarized in Table 1 below. The updated estimate reflects the 13 holes that were completed as part of the Company’s Phase II and Phase III drill programs. The data collected from these additional holes has been combined with the data from the Phase I program (5 holes) which formed the basis for the Company’s previous resource estimate dated September 9, 2014. Indicated tonnage has increased from 28.2 million tonnes to 81.2 million tonnes and the indicated grade has increased from 0.63% Nb2O5 to 0.71% Nb2O5 when compared to the September 9, 2014 Mineral Resource estimate. Consequently, the contained Nb2O5 in the Indicated Mineral Resource has increased from 177 million kilograms to 578 million kilograms, an increase of 401 million kilograms over the September 9, 2014 Mineral Resource estimate.
Read the full news release here.
