TORONTO, April 28, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Duluth Metals Limited ("Duluth Metals") (TSX: DM) (TSX: DM.U) is pleased to announce a corporate update on the Twin Metals Project. Financing requirements for the Twin Metals Project are fully covered for the next three years by Antofagasta plc which is providing US$130 million in funding for the joint venture operating company, Twin Metals Minnesota LLC ("Twin Metals") which is 60% owned by Duluth Metals and 40% by Antofagasta plc.
Twin Metals Project
The Twin Metals Project is the new name for the expanded project which includes the Nokomis Deposit and additional resources on newly acquired adjacent properties. Three significant NI43-101 compliant resources have been added to the project with the acquisition of Franconia Minerals Corporation ("Franconia"). These resources include the Maturi Deposit, the Birch Lake Deposit, and the Spruce Road deposit. Franconia held an undivided 70% interest in these properties and has exercised its option to increase its interest to 82% by agreeing to fund all of the carried interest of its joint venture partner through to commercial production. The Twin Metals Project encompasses all these resources and the fully contiguous land package that contains all four resources. The Twin Metals Project is currently in an extensive review of various scaling and development alternatives for the expanded project. For the next several years, Twin Metals will be focused on advancing the Project, as it moves through pre-feasibility towards completion of a bankable feasibility and a Draft Environmental Impact Statement. Twin Metals has a dedicated budget of US$130 Million to finance development activities over a 36 month period.
Current work on the Twin Metals Project includes:
- Drilling with 5 rigs to better understand deposit, including continuity between Maturi and Nokomis deposits;
- A sixth rig is drilling large diameter core to add to the metallurgical bulk sample;
- Geological review of old and new core data to provide a fully updated resource estimate for the full property;
- Additional metallurgical tests conducted on progressively larger samples;
- Assessment of a range of various scales of operations and a variety of production alternatives;
- Environmental base line studies to provide inputs for the Environmental Review Process;
- Construction completion this summer of a new project office for Twin Metals in Ely, to accommodate the rapidly expanding project program.
The Twin Metals Project now covers over 25,000 acres of land/mineral interests and consolidates the largest base and precious metal land position in Minnesota. This extensive land position provides Twin Metals with the platform to plan and develop one the world's largest nickel-copper-PGM deposits within a new emerging mining belt in Minnesota, USA.
About Duluth Metals Limited
Duluth Metals Limited is committed to acquiring, exploring and developing copper, nickel and platinum group metal (PGM) deposits. Duluth Metals has a joint venture with Antofagasta plc on the Twin Metals Project, located within the rapidly emerging Duluth Complex mining camp in north-eastern Minnesota. The Duluth Complex hosts one of the world's largest undeveloped repositories of copper, nickel and PGMs, including the world's third largest accumulation of nickel sulphides, and one of the world's largest accumulations of polymetallic copper and platinum group metals. Aside from the joint venture, Duluth Metals retains a 100% position on approximately 31,000 acres of mineral interests on exploration properties adjacent to and nearby the Twin Metals Minnesota LLC joint venture.
About Twin Metals Minnesota LLC
Twin Metals Minnesota LLC is a joint venture company, which is 60% owned by Duluth Metals and 40% by Antofagasta plc. The joint venture's principal asset is called the Twin Metals Project, located within the Duluth Complex mining camp in north-eastern Minnesota. The Twin Metals Project now covers over 25,000 acres of land/mineral interests and includes four NI 43-101 compliant Mineral Resources: the Spruce Road Deposit; the Nokomis Deposit; the Maturi Deposit, and the Birch Lake Deposit. (Franconia held an undivided 70% interest in the Birch, Spruce and Maturi properties and has exercised its option to increase its interest to 82% by agreeing to fund all of the carried interest of its joint venture partner through to commercial production.)
This document may contain forward-looking statements (including "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the US Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995) relating to, among other things, the operations of Duluth, the environment in which it operates, timing and amount of capital expenditures, results of exploration and mine development, the availability of funding to Duluth and timing of geological reports. Such statements are based on operations, estimates, forecasts and projections. They are not guarantees of future performance and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that are difficult to predict and may be beyond the control of Duluth. A number of important factors could cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially from those expressed in forward-looking statements, including those set forth in the annual information form under the heading "Risk Factors" and in the other public filings of Duluth. Consequently, undue reliance should not be placed on such forward-looking statements. In addition, all forward-looking statements in this press release are given as of the date hereof. Duluthdisclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, save and except as may be required by applicable securities laws.
For further information:
Mara Strazdins
Director of Corporate Communications
Telephone: +1-(416)-369-1500 ext. 222
Email: mstrazdins@duluthmetals.com
Vern Baker
President
Telephone: +1-(651)-389-9990
Email: vbaker@duluthmetals.com
Webpage: http://www.duluthmetals.com
