December 16, 2013, Vancouver, B.C., Prophecy Platinum Corp. (TSX-V: NKL; OTC-QX: PNIKF) “Prophecy Platinum” or the “Company” is pleased to announce further results from the 2013 field program at its 100%-owned Wellgreen PGM-Ni-Cu project, located in Canada’s Yukon Territory. Re-logging and sampling work that was part of the 2013 field program has confirmed the extension of mineralization by more than 325 metres to the east of the Far East cross section announced on November 21, 2013. That cross section included hole 215, which intercepted 756 metres of continuous mineralization grading 1.92g/t Platinum Equivalent (“Pt Eq.”) or 0.46% Nickel Equivalent (“Ni Eq.”), including a 65.6 metre interval grading 4.19g/t Pt Eq. (1.00% Ni Eq.), comprised of 1.33g/t platinum+palladium+gold (“3E”) with an additional 0.56% nickel and 0.45% copper.
These newly interpreted cross sections are 225 to 325 metres east of hole 215 and indicate continuity of the mineralization in the Far East with additional broad zones of mineralization in four different drill holes ranging from 300 to 375 metres in width and grading approximately 2 g/t Pt Eq. (0.48% Ni Eq.). These drill holes are the eastern most in the deposit and, like drill hole 215, also show higher grade zones of significant width at 3-5 g/t Pt Eq. grades.
Investors should note that Wellgreen is a polymetallic deposit with mineralization that includes platinum group metals (PGMs), gold, nickel, copper and cobalt. At current metal prices using anticipated metallurgical recoveries and proportionally allocated costs for each of the metals, the net economic contribution is anticipated to be largest for platinum, palladium and gold (3E elements), followed by nickel and then by copper and cobalt. Platinum equivalent values referred to in this release are intended to reflect total metal equivalent content in platinum for all of the metals using relative prices for each of the metals. Please refer to Table 1 for assay results by individual metal and the metal prices used to calculate Pt Eq. and Ni Eq.
Greg Johnson, Prophecy Platinum’s President and Chief Executive Officer, stated, “Our focus on the eastern portion of the Wellgreen deposit in 2013 is yielding exciting results. Assays from hole 215, which we recently released, demonstrate that the mineralization in this part of Wellgreen is the widest seen yet in the deposit, beginning from the surface and looks to be amenable to both open pit and select bulk underground mining. We are developing a number of compelling targets for further work, as the deposit remains open down dip and to the south, as well as along trend further to the east. We believe that the Far East Zone provides an opportunity for improved economics for the overall deposit through a combination of shallow open pit mining and bulk underground mining targeting higher grade mineralized zones. These assay results are confirming the newly developed geologic model for the deposit and will be important for advancing the project to the next level of confidence on the resource estimate update and preliminary economic assessment planned for Q2 2014. In addition, the metallurgical work that is currently underway is showing encouraging results which are improving on the results used in the 2012 PEA by optimizing the conventional metallurgical process and flowsheet.”
Drilling has now been completed for the season at Wellgreen. Final assay results are pending for additional holes drilled in 2013 and for a number of the re-logged and sampled historical drill holes. Results from these other areas in the Wellgreen deposit will be reported in future updates as they are received and interpreted.
Metallurgical Testing Update
Additional batch sample test work is underway to optimize metal recovery and concentrate quality from the conventional sulphide flotation process at Wellgreen. This work includes improvements to the magnetic separation process, optimization of grinding requirements and evaluation of the extraction of the rare PGMs (rhodium, iridium, osmium and ruthenium) in addition to platinum, palladium and gold. Upon completion of the batch sample test work, the metallurgy team will look to commence locked cycle tests (“LCTs”) on composite samples that are representative of the proposed mine production schedule, including the higher grade underground areas in the Far East Zone. It is anticipated that the initial phase of production would be higher sulphur material with above average PGM grades. The results from this metallurgical test work would be designed to provide estimated recovery and concentrate grade data based on the projected production schedule and allow for improved accuracy on the capital expenditure and operating cost estimates in the 2014 PEA.
Far East Zone Cross Section 578,600 E
The Far East Zone cross section depicted in Figure 1 is located 225 metres to the east of the cross section containing hole 215, which was discussed in our news release dated November 21, 2013. Drill holes in this section indicate that broad widths of continuous PGM-Ni-Cu mineralization continue to the east and remain open to expansion down dip to the south and on trend. As with other areas at Wellgreen, mineralization begins near surface and is continuous with grades of PGM-Ni-Cu mineralization generally greatest in the lower two-thirds of the tabular ultramafic body.
As can be seen in Figure 1, broad zones of significant PGM-Ni-Cu mineralization over 300 metres in width define the mineralization in this area. Drill hole 153 encountered a portion of the tabular ultramafic body totalling 345.4 metres of 2.05 g/t Pt Eq. (0.49% Ni Eq.), which included 16.3 metres grading 4.65 g/t PtEq. (1.11% Ni Eq.) and a second interval of 24.5 metres of 3.48 g/t Pt Eq. (0.83% Ni Eq.) The broad interval in hole 153 equals a grade thickness value of 707 gram metres (“g-m”), highlighting the continuity of broad zones of mineralization in this part of the Far East Zone. Mineralization is interpreted to extend down dip to the south and is projected to exceed 500-600 metres in thickness. This represents a priority target for further drill testing that the Company plans to evaluate in a future drill program.
