Rubicon unveils 110% gold resource increase

Rubicon Minerals Corp. [RMX-TSX; RBYCF-OTC] on Wednesday March 27 released an updated mineral resource update for its flagship Phoenix gold project near Red Lake, northwest Ontario.

The company said measured and indicated resources at the site are up 110% to 589,000 ounces in comparison to the 2018 indicated resource of 218,000 ounces. However, grade of the latest measured and indicated resource estimate has dropped 2% to 6.26 g/t gold from 6.37% in the earlier estimate.

Rubicon said the increase in measured and indicated resources is mainly attributable to the company’s successful 20,000-metre oriented infill drilling program in 2018. The main objective of that program was to improve confidence in the mineral resources above the 854-metre level.

However, as a result of the successful conversion to measured and indicated resources, inferred resources have decreased 28% to 540,000 ounces of gold from 749,000 ounces in 2018. Over the same period, the inferred grade increased 9.0% to 6.53 g/t gold from 6.00 g/t gold.

The company also said the 2019 mineral resource metrics are based on a 3.0 g/t gold cut-off grade.

Rubicon shares were unchanged at $1.18 on Wednesday and trade in a 52-week range of $1.00 and $1.73.

The Phoenix Gold Project is an underground exploration project located in the district of Red Lake, in northwestern Ontario, 265 km northeast of Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Rubicon owns 100% of the Phoenix Gold Project which consists of the high-grade F2 Gold Deposit, more than 9,000 metres of underground development, including a commissioned shaft that goes down approximately 730 metres below surface and surface infrastructure that includes a 1,250 tonne-per-day mill, a completed tailings management facility, electric power supply and substation.

The property is centred on the historical McFinley Shaft (now called the Phoenix Shaft) and hosts a 200-person camp.

Since acquiring the Phoenix gold project in 2002, Rubicon has conducted an extensive exploration program, which includes geological mapping, re-logging of selected historic boreholes, digital complication of available historical data, ground and airborne magnetic surveys, mechanical trenching, channel sampling, along with numerous drilling programs.

The company recently commissioned its 1,250 tonne-per-day mill, work that included the processing of approximately 5,000 tonnes of development material to bed in the mill.

“The significant growth in measured and indicated resources, without a significant decline in grade, brings additional confidence and validation for the Phoenix gold project and its potential as a commercially viable operation,” said Rubicon President and CEO George Ogilvie.

“We remain firmly on a path to building a conceptual mine plan with new economics for the Phoenix Gold Project, which will be reflected in a new PEA scheduled for the second half of 2019,” he said.