RNC released information about its discoveries over a period of weeks beginning September 9. During the week prior to September 9, approximately 9,250 ounces (oz) of high-grade gold was produced from a 44-m3 cut, 130 metric tons (mt), on 15 level at the Beta Hunt mine, a grade of more than 70 oz/mt. Large specimen stones included a 95-kg stone with an estimated gold content of 2,440 oz and a 63-kg stone with an estimated gold content of 1,620 oz. All of the high-grade, coarse gold was hand-picked and immediately sent to the Perth Mint.

Follow-up announcements over ensuing weeks included an estimate that 24,000 oz of gold had been extracted from the discovery zone, as well as descriptions of the geologic structures that host the gold and suggestions as to why these structures interacted to produce high-grade gold deposits. RNC anticipates that understanding the depositional model for the gold mineralization will serve as a guide for future exploration within the mine.

RNC President and CEO Mark Selby described Beta Hunt mine geology and why the coarse, high-grade gold at the mine is only now being discovered. He said work to date has only scratched the surface of the mine’s gold potential and anticipates that there will be an ongoing flow of news from the mine over the next six months to a year.

RNC is a Canadian company headquartered in Toronto. In addition to the wholly owned Beta Hunt mine, its holdings include a 28% interest in a nickel joint venture with Waterton that owns the Dumont nickel-cobalt project in the Abitibi region of Quebec, which hosts the world’s largest undeveloped nickel reserve and second largest undeveloped cobalt reserve.