Maritime Initiates Re-Commissioning Program at the Pine Cove Mill

October 9, 2024 View PDF

TORONTO, ON (October 9, 2024) – Maritime Resources Corp. (TSX.V: MAE, OTC Pink: MRTMF) (“Maritime” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce that refurbishment work has begun at the Company’s Pine Cove mill (“Pine Cove”) in the Baie Verte mining district of Newfoundland and Labrador. Maritime acquired the Point Rousse Project in 2023, including the Pine Cove gold processing plant and large capacity in-pit tailings storage facility. The plant operated until the first quarter of 2023 and has been on a care and maintenance program since then.

Highlights:

  • Appointment of industry veteran Dwight Goudie as Pine Cove Mill Manager
  • Excavation and stockpiling of mineralized material is ongoing ahead of processing operations restart
  • Mechanical and electrical inspections, minor repairs have commenced
  • Sourcing of reagents and consumables, recruitment of key personnel is underway
  • 2 million cubic metres of water discharged from the tailings storage facility year to date

Garett Macdonald, President and CEO comments, “With the closing of the $8 million rights offering in September we are moving quickly to re-commission the Pine Cove mill and return it to operating condition. Our focus over the next several months is to begin processing the mineralized stockpile inventory, providing cash flow and an important springboard for the development of our fully permitted Hammerdown Gold Project.”

Pine Cove Mill
A comprehensive program of equipment upgrades and inspections are now underway throughout the processing plant, focusing on all electrical and mechanical systems to ensure a safe start up. Maritime’s care and maintenance team is working with industry consultants and local contractors to complete the work at the plant over the next two months. Maritime has begun sourcing the necessary reagents and minor equipment to support processing operations later this year. Recruitment of key personnel is also underway.

Figure 1: Pine Cove Site View

Mill Manager Appointment
Maritime is pleased to announce the appointment of Dwight Goudie as Mill Manager for the Company. Mr. Goudie is a resident of the Baie Verte mining district and has over 40 years of combined mill maintenance, plant construction and mineral processing experience, from western Canada’s Tumbler Ridge region, and in more recent years operating process plants for FireFly Metals Ltd (previously Rambler Metals and Mining Limited).

Mineralized Stockpiles
Mineralized material from around the process plant and mill yard is being stockpiled near the facility while completing additional sampling of the area. Gold bearing material from tailings storage facility #2 (TSF2) has been excavated and hauled to the stockpile yard. Maritime has identified approximately 85,000-115,000 tonnes of stockpiled and tailings material grading approximately 1.1 grams per tonne gold for approximately 3,000 to 4,000 ounces of contained gold (June 6, 2024 News Release). The potential quantity and grade are conceptual in nature and there has been insufficient exploration to define a mineral resource. It is uncertain whether further exploration would result in the stockpiled and tailings material being delineated as a mineral resource. Tonnages were estimated from surveyed volumes of the stockpile and tailings areas applying bulk density factors of 2.0 tonnes per cubic metre (“t/m3”) for compacted stockpile material and 1.5 t/m3 for screened fines material. Grades were estimated from assay results of the 677 samples that were collected and were in line with the grades processed by previous operators.

Figure 2. Stockpiling Mineralized Material

Tailings Storage Facility
Maritime continues to prepare the Pine Cove Pit tailings impoundment area for future tailings disposal. Dewatering activities have been ongoing throughout the year with approximately 2 million cubic metres of environmentally compliant water discharge year to date. This has resulted in a water level reduction of over 14 m since acquiring the asset in August 2023, positioning the operation well for future tailings and water management.

The first tailings storage facility supporting former operations at Pine Cove, TSF1, contains inert tailings and is located adjacent to the site office complex. Maritime is currently working with Shoreline Aggregates Inc. “Shoreline” to schedule the beginning of reclamation work of this area in the fourth quarter of 2024. “As we continue to strengthen our partnership with Shoreline at Pine Cove, both parties continue to realize the mutual benefits of operating on one site. Having a company with heavy equipment and a skilled workforce operating at our site means that we are able to find creative and cost effective arrangements to execute work such as this,” added Perry Blanchard, Vice President of Environment and Sustainability.

TSF2, also used for inert tailings storage during past operations, is being repurposed in support of Shoreline’s wash plant operations. Under the direction of the facility’s Engineer of Record, Knight Piesold, TSF2 will be used for recycling of wash plant water and capture and removal of fines during Shoreline’s aggregate production. Construction work is near completion and the facility will be ready for Shoreline’s operations in 2025. Fines containing gold which are captured in this facility will be recovered and processed in the Pine Cove mill.

Figure 3. Pine Cove Tailings Facility

Qualified Person
The technical content of this news release has been reviewed and approved by Mr. Stacy Freudigmann, P.Eng. F.AusIMM. of Canenco Consulting Corp., an independent consultant for process engineering and metallurgy, who is a “Qualified Person” as defined in National Instrument 43-101 – Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.

About Maritime Resources Corp.
Maritime (TSX.V:MAE, OTC Pink: MRTMF) is a gold exploration and development company focused on advancing the Hammerdown Gold Project in the Baie Verte District of Newfoundland and Labrador, a top tier global mining jurisdiction. Maritime holds a 100% interest directly and subject to option agreements entitling it to earn 100% ownership in the Green Bay Property which includes the former Hammerdown gold mine and the Orion gold project. Maritime controls over 439 km2 of exploration land including the Green Bay, Whisker Valley, Gull Ridge and Point Rousse projects. Mineral processing assets owned by Maritime in the Baie Verte mining district include the Pine Cove mill and the Nugget Pond gold circuit. The Company also owns the Lac Pelletier gold project in Rouyn Noranda, Québec.

On Behalf of the Board:

Garett Macdonald, MBA, P.Eng.
President and CEO
Phone: (416) 365-5321
info@maritimegold.com
www.maritimeresourcescorp.com

Caution Regarding Forward Looking Statements:

Certain of the statements made and information contained herein is “forward-looking information” within the meaning of National Instrument 51-102 – Continuous Disclosure Obligations. Forward-looking statements are often identified by terms such as “will”, “may”, “should”, “anticipate”, “expects”, “intends”, “indicates” “plans” and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements concerning the Hammerdown mineralization, its’ metallurgical response, precious metal extraction based on the ongoing metallurgical testwork, the Project’s strong environmental attributes, new opportunities to generate cash flows and add value for shareholders, estimating contained gold in and generating cash flow from mineralized stockpiles and tailings material at the Point Rousse project, estimated all-in sustaining costs, estimated project capital costs, first production being achieved at the Project, provision of additional employment and business opportunities in the region, and ability of the Company to engage with local service providers, amongst other things, which involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company, or industry results, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. All forward-looking statements and forward-looking information are based on reasonable assumptions that have been made by the Company in good faith as at the date of such information. Such assumptions include, without limitation, the price of and anticipated costs of recovery of, base metal concentrates, gold and silver, the presence of and continuity of such minerals at modeled grades and values, the capacities of various machinery and equipment, the use of ore sorting technology will produce positive results, the availability of personnel, machinery and equipment at estimated prices, mineral recovery rates, and others. Forward-looking information is subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual events or results to differ from those reflected in the forward-looking information, including, without limitation, the ability of the Company to continue to be able to access the capital markets for the funding necessary to acquire, maintain and advance exploration properties or business opportunities; global financial conditions, including competition within the industry to acquire properties of merit or new business opportunities, and competition from other companies possessing greater technical and financial resources; difficulties in advancing towards a development decision and executing exploration programs on the Company’s proposed schedules and within its cost estimates, whether due to weather conditions, availability or interruption of power supply, mechanical equipment performance problems, natural disasters or pandemics in the areas where it operates; increasingly stringent environmental regulations and other permitting restrictions or maintaining title or other factors related to exploring of its properties, such as the availability of essential supplies and services; factors beyond the capacity of the Company to anticipate and control, such as the marketability of mineral products produced from the Company’s properties; uncertainty as to whether the acquisition of assets and new mineral property interests will be completed in the manner currently contemplated by the parties; uncertainty as to whether mineral resources will ever be converted into mineral reserves once economic considerations are applied; uncertainty as to whether inferred mineral resources will be converted to the measured and indicated categories through further drilling, or into mineral reserves, once economic considerations are applied; government regulations relating to health, safety and the environment, and the scale and scope of royalties and taxes on production; and the availability of experienced contractors and professional staff to perform work in a competitive environment and the resulting adverse impact on costs and performance and other risks and uncertainties, including those described in each MD&A of financial condition and results of operations. In addition, forward-looking information is based on various assumptions including, without limitation, assumptions associated with exploration results and costs and the availability of materials and skilled labour. Should one or more of these risks and uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in forward-looking statements. Accordingly, readers are advised not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Except as required under applicable securities legislation, Maritime undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange (“TSX-V”) nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX-V) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.