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PNX Metals continues to get zinc results from Mt Bonnie drilling

Published: 10:00 18 Jan 2017 AEDT

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Assay data is being used to estimate a new resource

PNX Metals (ASX:PNX) has received the final assays grading up to 13.1% zinc equivalent from its 27 hole drill program at the Mt Bonnie deposit within the Hayes Creek gold-silver-zinc project in the Northern Territory.

Significant intersections included 16.6 metres at 4.24% zinc, 1.74 g/t gold, 137 g/t silver, 0.86% lead, 0.21% copper from 26.1 metres.

Assay data is being used to estimate a new resource, due in early February 2017.

Drilling has successfully discovered a new near-surface southerly 100 metre extension to mineralisation.

James Fox, managing director, commented: “Results from the zinc cleaner flotation batch test work have been improving with arsenic grades now within specifications for concentrate sale.

“We have also seen an increase in overall plant recoveries from previous test work for all payable metals and look forward to completing the locked cycle flotation tests to establish metallurgical parameters for use in the Hayes Creek pre-feasibility study.”


Drill result details

Assays from the final two holes of the 27 hole reverse circulation and diamond drilling program at the Mt Bonnie VMS deposit include:

- 16.6 metres at 4.24% zinc, 1.74 g/t gold, 137 g/t silver, 0.86% lead, 0.21% copper from 26.1 metres including 6.9 metres at 8.28% zinc, 1.92 g/t gold, 177 g/t silver, 1.57% lead, 0.42% copper; and
- 20.65 metres at 6.62% zinc, 2.60 g/t gold, 101g/t silver, 0.60% lead, 0.43% copper from 53.95 metres including 5.05 metres at 12.85% zinc, 1.09 g/t gold, 65.8 g/t silver, 0.53% lead, 0.41% copper.

Drilling has discovered a new near-surface southerly extension to mineralisation that extends 100 metres beyond the limits of previous drilling to directly beneath the Southern Gossan.

This area, which sits outside the existing resource boundary, remains open to the south and at depth, and will be drilled during the 2017 dry season.


Metallurgical test-work update

Metallurgical test work has progressed successfully through the latter part of 2016 with consultants working on the milling flotation of the ores to maximise recovery of valuable metals and metal grade of the product concentrates.

Metallurgical optimisation is progressing well with continued improvements in recoveries of payable metals and rejection of deleterious elements.

Both the zinc and precious metals concentrates will now be sent for mineralogical analysis to further optimise grind size and reagent parameters.


Background

PNX’s focus is on its four projects located in the Pine Creek Region, 180 kilometres south of Darwin.

- Hayes Creek Project (flagship);
- Burnside Project;
- Moline Project; and
- Chessman Project.

The Hayes Creek project contains the Iron Blow and Mt Bonnie gold-silver-zinc deposits, located less than 3 kilometres apart and situated on granted mineral leases wholly owned by PNX.

The Hayes Creek pre-feasibility study is fully funded and due for completion by mid-2017.

It will expand on the scoping study completed in March 2016, which found that mining and processing ore derived from the proposed open-pit and underground operations at Hayes Creek would generate strong financial returns for PNX.


Analysis

This drill program has successfully discovered extensions to near surface mineralisation that bodes well for a resource upgrade due in early February.

Significantly, the mineralisation being drilled out is near-surface and likely capable of being easily mined.

The mineralisation remains open to the south and at depth and will provide for additional drill targets.

The final assays build on the previous batches which showed mineralisation to extend beyond the predicted depth of the existing resource boundary and provide the potential to model an expanded open-pit scenario.

Shares in PNX are up 130% over the past 12 months, currently trading at $0.028.

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