Rambler Metals hopes to part-fund asset development with gold mined on Nugget Pond property

Rambler Metals & Mining  (AIM: RMM; TSX- V: RAB) is now investigating the gold resource potential within the 140L mining lease of its Nugget Pond property in north-eastern Newfoundland, hoping to uncover some funding opportunities towards project financing.

Rambler bought Nugget Pond in 2009 from Crew Gold (TSX: CRU, OTCBB: CRUGF) primarily for its processing facility, which it plans to put back into use to process ore from the Ming copper-gold mine, 40 kilometres from Nugget Pond on the Baie Verte Peninsula in Newfoundland.

The mill itself is currently under care and maintenance while the company finalizes engineering design for the expansion of a copper floatation circuit.

Upon review of the digital database compiled during the mines closure, Rambler has estimated an exploration target of 13,000 to 15,000 ounces of gold contained within 50,000 to 66,000 tonnes grading at 7 to 9 grammes per tonne of gold.

“The possible uncovering of gold resources at Nugget Pond represents an exciting opportunity for Rambler.  Over the coming months the company will evaluate mining the crown pillar which will have minimal capital requirements and quick start-up. With an operating mill onsite and the present market price of gold Rambler considers Nugget Pond to be an asset of significant value that could provide some self funding opportunities towards our project financing,” said president and chief executive George Ogilvie.

Rambler cautioned, however, that the estimated tonnes and grade are conceptual in nature and are based on previous diamond drilling results. Since the initial closure of the mine limited exploration has been completed on  the property and Rambler said there is a risk that further exploration will not result in the delineation of a new resource.

The Nugget Pond gold mine began commercial production in April 1997 at a milling rate of 350 mtpd (metric tonnes per day) and was later optimized to 500 mtpd.  After four years of profitable operations, production ceased in August 2001 due to depleting reserves and depressed gold prices. During operations the deposit produced a total of 168,748 ounces of gold from 487,765 tonnes of ore grading approximately 10.76 g/t.

The facility surpassed all expectations by running continuously at 98% availability with an average recovery of 95%. Since its initial start up in 1997 the mill has seen ore from three other gold deposits with almost 1.5 Mt (million tonnes) of ore processed over its life to date.

The estimated tonnage remaining is contained within the Main Zones, the Crown Pillar and the Footwall Zone of the mine.  The crown pillar itself contains between 5,000 and 10,000 tonnes of ore grading between 8 to 9 g/t of gold and the fact that the crown pillar is accessible from surface and sits within 100m of the mill and primary crusher should allow for a low capital cost investment, minimal operating costs and a quick start up, Rambler said in the statement.

The Main Zone contains 5,000 to 6,000 tonnes grading 8 to 9 g/t, while the Footwall Zone has 40,000 to 50,000 tonnes grading 7 to 8 g/t.

The company closed a previously announced private placing to raise £5.5 million to fund the acquisition of the facility.

The Nugget Pond mill facility is a fully operational gold hydrometallurgical mill, which includes a gold concentrator. The facility will process base metal sulphides from Rambler’s Ming copper mine through the addition of a copper flotation circuit, as well as process the 'free gold' that exists in the Rambler geological system.


The modification will diversify the existing facility and allow for a range of processing capabilities. The purchase price for the facility, as agreed in the sale and purchase agreement signed with Crew Gold Corp (TSX: CRU, OTCBB: CRUGF) is C$3.5 million.