Rambler agree new exploration tie-up to feed Nugget Pond plant

Rambler Metals and Mining (LON:RMM, CVE:RAB) has agreed a new tie-up with Maritime Resources Corp (CVE:MAE) and Commander Resources Corp (CVE:CMD) to explore the Green Bay area of Newfoundland and Labrador.

The companies will share technical expertise through this new alliance as they focus on two main properties - Hammerdown and Orion.

"The signing of this Alliance allows the marrying of Maritime's success in exploration and Rambler's ability to develop projects from exploration all the way through to production,” said Rambler’s corporate development vice president Peter Mercer.

He added: “The Alliance also provides Rambler with the opportunity to bolster our potential project pipeline and improve our ability to grow the company over the longer term."

Hammerdown, a gold mine that was in production between 2000 and 2004, used to feed ore to the Nugget Pond processing facility – which was acquired and modified by Rambler last year.

It produced 157,000 ounces of gold from 315,000 tonnes of ore, with average grades of 16.1 grams per tonne. The mine was closed after it ran out of economical ore – back when gold prices were below US$300 an ounce (the current price is around US$1,530).

The exploration efforts are currently focused on un-mined veins and remnant pillars.

At Orion the plan is to evaluate the potential for a mining operation that will feed Nugget Pond. At the moment Orion has a NI43-101 resource of 119,374 ounces of gold (inferred) – with 710,285 tonnes grading 5.227 g/t gold.

Maritime is currently working through a diamond drill programme that is aiming to extend known mineralization, whilst upgrading the resource category. So far the exploration highlights include 2.10 metres of 7.47 g/t gold and 1.20 metres grading 16.58 g/t.

Rambler said that the first priority will be to compile all existing information on the Hammerdown mine followed by an economic assessment, which will determine how much of the un-mined material can be profitably mined, trucked and processed at current gold prices.

It also highlighted that a quick start-up to production will be the primary focus, given the majority of the infrastructure is already in place. An effort will also be made to evaluate the expansion of the old mine.

Commander Resources currently own 100 percent of the Green Bay properties but Maritime has an option over a 50 percent stake in the assets. The two companies share a common management team.

"Working in a cooperative manner with Rambler will help shareholders of all parties optimize the value of their respective assets,” said Eric Norton, chief executive of both Maritime and Commander.

“The availability of a mill locally, with a proven track record of high recoveries of gold from this ore, has the potential to significantly accelerate the opportunity of early cash flow to Maritime and Commander".