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October 5, 2012 Vancouver, Canada
-- El Niño Ventures Inc. ("ELN" and the
"Company") (TSX.V: ELN; Frankfurt:
E7Q.N; OTCQX: ELNOF) is pleased to
announce that it has closed the first
tranche of its non-brokered flow-through
and non flow-through private placement
for gross proceeds of $1,351,452.
The Company issued 5,166,133 non
flow-through units (NFT Units) at a
price of $0.09 per NFT Unit. Each NFT
Unit consists of one common share and
one-half of one non-transferable share
purchase warrant ("Warrant"). Each whole
Warrant will entitle the holder to
purchase one common share of the Company
at a price of $0.15 per share for a
period of 18 months from closing subject
to an accelerated expiry, such expiry
being accelerated to 30 days in the
event the Company's shares have closed
at or above a price of $0.25 per share
for 10 consecutive trading days on the
TSX Venture Exchange.
In addition, the Company issued
8,865,000 flow-through units ("FT Unit")
at $0.10 per FT Unit. Each FT Unit
consists of one common flow-through
share and one-half of one
non-transferable, non flow-through,
share purchase warrant. Each whole
Warrant will entitle the holder to
purchase one non flow-through common
share of the Company at a price of $0.16
per share for a period of 18 months from
closing subject to an accelerated
expiry, such expiry being accelerated to
30 days in the event the Company's
shares have closed at or above a price
of $0.26 per share for 10 consecutive
trading days on the TSX Venture
Exchange.
The proceeds of this private placement
will be used to fund the 2012
exploration budget at the Murray Brook
Polymetallic project in Bathurst, New
Brunswick and general working capital.
The Company has paid $24,407.50 and
166,600 warrants in finder's fees in
connection with this first tranche
closing of the private placement.
All of the securities to be issued by
the Company in connection with this
private placement will be subject to a
hold period which expires February 3,
2013, four months and one day after the
closing date.
About El Niño Ventures Inc.
El Niño Ventures Inc. is an
international exploration company,
focused on exploring for zinc, copper,
gold, silver and lead in New Brunswick,
Canada and copper/cobalt in the
Democratic Republic of Congo ("DRC").
About El Niño Ventures Inc. Bathurst
Projects
El Niño Ventures Inc. has two active
projects in the Bathurst Mining Camp.
1. Bathurst Mining Camp Project -
Bathurst Option Join Venture (BOJV)
The BOJV project initially comprised of
4,712 claims owned 50% El Nino/50%
Xstrata Zinc and 2907 claims wholly
owned by Xstrata Zinc, together with an
area of interest clause in which El Nino
and Zstrata Zinc hold equal interest.
The Tri - Party Agreement (BOJV) with El
Nino Ventures, Xstrata Zinc & Votorantim
Metals ("VM) Canada (wholly owned
subsidiary of Votorantim Metais, the 2nd
largest mining company in Brazil)
provides VM Canada the opportunity to
incur exploration expenditures of $10
million over a period of 5 years to earn
a 50% interest. VM Canada may further
increase its interest to 70% by spending
an additional $10 million over 2 years.
VM Canada has spent approx. $6.5 to date
and have completed more than 6,000
metres of exploration drilling of the
12,000 metres planned. In September 2012
VM Canada contracted Daignos Inc of
Brossard, Quebec to complete a
comprehensive study utilizing their
proprietary software to identify
exploration targets within the area of
interest that show high statistical
probability of mineralization. It is the
BOJV agreement that provided ELN with
the option to participate in the Murray
Brook Project and any new additional
acquisitions in the area of interest.
2. Murray Brook Project -- Option
JV/Votorantim Metals Canada
The Murray Brook project is a
polymetallic, massive sulphide deposit.
Historically, the deposit is the
fifth largest in the Bathurst Mining
Camp, New Brunswick. The Murray
Brook property is located 60 km west of
Bathurst. It is supported by excellent
infrastructure, including paved roads,
grid electricity and communities to
provide goods, services and skilled
labour (Figure 1). To date, more
than 28,000 metres of drilling has been
completed with encouraging results. In
February 2012, NI43-101 resource
estimation was announced (see
news release dated Feb. 28, 2012).
The technical report is filed on
SEDAR.com and also available on
ELN's website. An updated NI43-101
is slated for release by the end of
2012, with plans for a PEA/Scoping study
in early 2013.
Currently, El Nino and Votorantim each
hold a 35% interest for a total of 70%
in the Murray Brook Polymetallic project
in Bathurst, New Brunswick. Through a
Purchase Sell Agreement, which has been
accepted by the owners, both El Nino and
Votorantim have an option to earn-in for
the remaining 30% interest, resulting in
both companies having a 50% interest in
the Murray Brook project.
By funding its share of the ongoing
costs for the project, El Nino is in the
enviable position for a junior to be in
a 50/50 Joint Venture with a major
producer on a project that is moving
rapidly through the development stages.
Although the terms of the
Participation Agreement provided for a
three-year period to earn the initial
50% and two years to earn the additional
20%, ELN and VMC completed their earn-in
in less than 18 months. Encouraging
drill results and a very positive NI
43-101 resource estimation accelerated
the exploration and development programs
and is a testament to both ELN and
Votorantim's commitment to aggressively
advancing the project (see ELN press
releases dated:
February 28 and
May 17,
June 5,
June 27,
July 17,
July 30,
August 14 and
August 28, 2012).
The company is currently completing the
2012 $3 million exploration program that
included:
- $2.5 million exploration a the
Murray brook deposit, 97 holes
drilled for a total of 18,500 metres
- $500,000 exploration at the
adjacent Camel Back property
- Updated resource calculation and
initial metallurgical study
A recently completed (February 2012) NI
43 - 101 Mineral Resource Estimate for
the Murray Brook Zn - Cu - Pb - Ag - Au
deposit, which includes explanatory
footnotes, is presented below. The
resource estimate is based on various
assumptions regarding mining methods,
processing and metal recoveries, payable
metal NSR credits and metal prices. This
estimate makes no provision for capital
costs to mine the deposit, nor mill the
material mined, as resources are not
reserves and the reader should not
presume economic viability. The
Technical Report on the 2012 NI 43-101
Mineral Resource Estimate is filed on
SEDAR.com and is available on ELN's
website.
Metallurgical test-work of bulk
sample material from the Murray Brook
deposit is currently underway at RPC
Laboratories (Fredericton, New
Brunswick), under the direction of
Votorantim Metals Canada Inc., operators
of the Murray Brook Project. Three
holes were drilled to provide sample
materials for metallurgical tests. The
test-work is focused on determining
potential metal recoveries based on a
recommended metals recovery process
flowsheet which, subsequently, will form
the basis for a small scale
metallurgical pilot plant program.
Metallurgical results, along with a
revised resource estimate which will
incorporate 2012 drill results, will
form the basis of a Preliminary Economic
Assessment (PEA or Scoping Study) study
to be completed in Q1 2013.
Figure 1- Land tenure map showing the
location of optioned properties and
proximity
to infrastructure in the Bathurst Mining
Camp.
Kasala Copper-Cobalt Project -- DRC
The Kasala Copper/Cobalt project is
located in the Central African Copper
belt, approximately 25 km from Minmetals
Mining Resources' Kinsevere Mine
(formerly owned by Anvil Mining). The
Kinsevere mine has a resource of 24.8
million tons grading 3.75% Cu. Drill
intercepts on the Kasala project of up
to 232 metres grading 3.28% Cu. The
project is currently under Force Majeure
pending outcome of arbitration in
British Columbia and litigation in the
DRC.
Qualified Persons Statement
This news release has been reviewed and
approved for technical content by Ali
Hassanalizadeh M.Sc. P.Geo., a qualified
Person under the provisions of National
Instrument 43 - 101.
On Behalf of the Board of Directors,
"John Oness"
John Oness, COO & Director
Further Information: Tel: +1 604 685
1870 Fax: +1 604 685 8045
Email: info@elninoventures.com or visit www.elninoventures.com
650-555 West 12th Avenue, City Square, West Tower, Vancouver, B.C.,
Canada, V5Z 3X7
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange
nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the
policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the
adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements. Note: This
release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and
uncertainties. These statements may differ materially from actual
future events or results and are based on current expectations or
beliefs. For this purpose, statements of historical fact may be
deemed to be forward-looking statements. In addition,
forward-looking statements include statements in which the Company
uses words such as "continue", "efforts", "expect", "believe",
"anticipate", "confident", "intend", "strategy", "plan", "will",
"estimate", "project", "goal", "target", "prospects", "optimistic"
or similar expressions. These statements by their nature involve
risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially
depending on a variety of important factors, including, among
others, the Company's ability and continuation of efforts to timely
and completely make available adequate current public information,
additional or different regulatory and legal requirements and
restrictions that may be imposed, and other factors as may be
discussed in the documents filed by the Company on SEDAR (www.sedar.com),
including the most recent reports that identify important risk
factors that could cause actual results to differ from those
contained in the forward-looking statements. The Company does not
undertake any obligation to review or confirm analysts' expectations
or estimates or to release publicly any revisions to any
forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after
the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated
events. Investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking
statements. |
