Gold reserves and resources at the Pampalo mine and resources along the Karelian Gold Line in Finland
The updated ore estimate for Pampalo has a total ore reserve of 321 000 tonnes with a grade of 2.86 g/t gold for 29 400 ounces of gold. The updated ore reserve represents a 99 % increase in tonnes and 60 % increase in ounces when compared to the ore reserve estimate as of 31 December 2021.
The updated ore reserve estimate includes the Pampalo Deep extension area and the Pampalo East open pit. The deep extension area of Pampalo has a proven ore reserve of 219 000 tonnes with a grade of 3.64 g/t gold for 25 600 ounces of gold. Most of the increase in ore reserves come from the underground drilling programme completed in 2022, where a total of 117 drill holes were drilled in the planned extraction area between levels 815 and 875. This resulted in several high-grade intersections (release 26 August 2022 and 27 February 2023) which are included in the current updated estimate. In addition, 49 990 tonnes of identified ore reserves were verified in the current extraction area between levels 755 and 815.
The Pampalo East open pit was re-started in summer 2022. The mineral resource estimate was updated, and part of the mineral resources were converted into ore reserves based on the open pit optimization results and pit planning. The updated estimate for the Pampalo East pit area has a probable ore reserve of 102 000 tonnes with a grade of 1.17 g/t gold for 3,800 ounces of gold.
In addition to the ore reserves at the Pampalo Deep deep hole, a potential mineral resource of 117,000 tonnes at a grade of 5.92 g/t, including 22,000 ounces of gold, has been reported. These are located below the reported ore reserves (Pampalo Deep). The Pampalo deposit remains open at depth and the company is planning to continue underground drilling in 2023. An additional inferred mineral resource of 281 000 tonnes with a grade of 1.51 g/t gold for 13 600 ounces gold has been reported for the East open pit. The East deposit remains open at depth and towards northeast and the company is planning to complete a surface drilling program in Spring 2023 to test further potential of these areas.
Further updates and changes to the other reported mineral resources in the Karelian gold line will be made later as drilling and exploration progresses and are not yet included in this update. For some of the Karelian gold deposits, the update and validation of the reserve estimates is planned for later in 2023.
The estimates for the Pampalo mine and the resources along the Karelian Gold Line in Finland have been prepared according to the 2012 Australasian Code for Reporting of Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves (Joint Ore Reserve Committee – JORC-code).
Gold resources in Idaho, USA
There have been no changes in the reported mineral resources of the deposits in the Idaho project. At the beginning of 2022 Endomines carried out an underground drilling campaign. The campaign produced very encouraging drill results (press release May 31, 2022) as out of 8 holes, 5 drill holes intersected high-grade (over 8g/t) gold mineralization. More drilling is needed to better define the continuities and dimensions of the high-grade zones. The company intends to continue development in the US in line with its strategy through a partnership model.
The mineral resources reported for the Friday Underground and Buffalo Gulch projects in Idaho, USA, are classified in accordance with standards defined by Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (“CIM”), “CIM Definition Standards – For Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves”, prepared by the CIM Standing Committee on Reserve Definitions and adopted by CIM Council on May 10, 2014.
The mineral resources currently quoted regarding the Deadwood, Rescue, and Kimberly exploration projects, are per definition historical, made before the introduction of today’s disclosure standards. Endomines cautions that while the presented historic resources for Kimberly, Rescue, and Deadwood appear to be in general accordance with those set out in NI 43-101 Sections 1.2 and 1.3, a qualified person has not done sufficient work to classify the historical estimates as current mineral resources, and Endomines is not treating the historical estimates as current or reliable.
Gold and silver resources in Montana, USA
In October 2020 Endomines completed purchase of US Grant and Kearsarge gold projects in Montana, USA. The US Grant is a high-grade, underground gold and silver project with a historical resource totaling 165 700 ounces of gold and 4.47M ounces of silver contained in 346 000 tonnes of mineralized material. The US Grant mine has had gold and silver mined periodically between 1867 and 1984. The Kearsarge project is a high-grade, underground gold project with a historical resource totaling 380 700 ounces of gold contained in 4.1 million tonnes of mineralized material.
The addition of the US Grant and Kearsarge gold projects adds a historical total of 546,400 ounces of gold and 4.47 million ounces of silver with considerable potential for additional resources to be discovered through exploration of the district. An update and validation of the US Grant and Kersarge mineral resource estimates is planned for 2022.
Endomines is not treating the US Grant and Kearsarge historic estimates as either a mineral resource or mineral reserve as defined in NI 43-101.