And $12M cash... Strategic Review of Hog Ranch Gold Property
•Rex Minerals Limited (ASX:RXM) (Rex or the Company) has initiated a Strategic Review
process to evaluate options for the 100% owned Hog Ranch Gold Property (Hog Ranch or
the Property), located in Nevada, USA.
•This process is designed to review Rex's options to accelerate exploration and substantially
increase the scale and hence value of the Property. The review will consider a suite of
funding alternatives and also take into account recent inbound interest in the Property.
•Rex has appointed Treadstone Resource Partners to assist and manage the Hog Ranch
Strategic Review.
•Hog Ranch is interpreted by Rex to have the geological signature of a large-scale gold camp.
This interpretation is based on the extensive work by Rex since acquisition in 2019.
Rex believes that fast-tracking a substantial exploration program and subsequent feasibility studies at Hog
Ranch will provide a unique opportunity to define and develop a world-class gold operation, across what is
already a significant “Gold Trend”. The current mineralised trend extends for approximately 16km.
The operational strategy planned by Rex aims to define and enhance the potential at Hog Ranch with
specific focus on:
•Substantially expanding the shallow oxide Mineral Resource at the Krista and Bells Project locations
(up from the current 2.1Mozs oxide portion of the gold Resource1);
•Building on the gravity, soil sampling and 3D induced polarisation (IP) data which indicates that
considerable sulphide hosted gold exists around the Airport Project location;
•Exploring for the most well-endowed part of Hog Ranch which is interpreted to exist at depth at Krista
West and the White Mountain Project locations; and
•Commencing feasibility studies focusing on a new large-scale open-pit and heap leach gold operation
at Bells and Krista combined, targeting over 200kozs gold per annum2.
The Company will explore various options for Hog Ranch including a review of recent inbound expressions
of interest, joint ventures and other funding options or partnerships. There is no guarantee that this work
will result in any transaction.
Commenting on the partnering process, Rex’s Managing Director & CEO, Richard Laufmann, said:
“Hog Ranch is a unique asset with huge scalability and upside that we would like to build upon as soon
as is possible.
“Our vision for Hog Ranch is to double the existing Resource2by expanding the footprint at Krista,
drilling the standout targets around Airport and exploring for the higher-grade potential at depth.
1See RXM ASX Announcement of 23 March 2021
2These statements are aspirational and dependent on outcomes of the proposed exploration and feasibility studies
RXM – Hog Ranch Strategic Review2 | P a g e
“We strongly believe that Hog Ranch has the potential to become a significant gold operation, and the
strategic review being undertaken, aims to define the best pathway forward to maximise value for our
shareholders.”
Work programs completed by Rex since the projects acquisition in 2019
Rex has developed new interpretations of the gold potential at Hog Ranch based on a number of new
regional surveys, trial datasets, and an assessment of the extensive historical datasets. The work
completed since the acquisition of Hog Ranch in late 2019 includes:
1.Growth in a new Mineral Resource over three stages up to 2.3Mozs gold3;
2.Regional surveys completed over the entire host rock Caldera (up to 500km2) including: airborne
magnetic, radiometric and hyperspectral surveys, regional soil sampling programs and infill soil
sampling down to 100m spacing over the entire Mining Claim area for both gold and pathfinder
metals;
3.Review and validation for the use of Gravity, 2D and 3D IP surveys over small trial locations; and
4.Further investigation and processing of recent datasets collected by previous explorers including:
•Two large 2D seismic survey lines
•Six 4km long CSAMT surveys over Krista.
In response to the rapid growth in understanding the gold mineralisation, Rex has expanded the mining
claims at Hog Ranch from 247 to 1,035 for a total area of approximately 8,500Ha.
Rex has also completed economic studies at Hog Ranch with an initial focus on a small startup project for
the Bells area4(less than 25% of the current Hog Ranch Mineral Resource). This has provided a foundation
of information for further assessment of larger scale options which would incorporate the much larger
portfolio of gold Resource and targets around the Krista area (current Krista Mineral Resource of
1.55Moz3
).
In anticipation of a significant development project at Hog Ranch, Rex has completed comprehensive
baseline biological and cultural surveys over its high priority exploration targets over the past several
years, which are a prerequisite to permitting material additional ground disturbance in the USA. These
baseline studies have been submitted to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) as part of the
submission of a Plan of Operations for exploration permit, which is currently under review by BLM.
Targeted expansion of the gold mineralisation at Hog Ranch
The Hog Ranch Property is currently comprised of five project locations (Figure 1) which make up a
greater than 16km Gold Trend and which have the potential to materially increase the scale of Hog
Ranch:
1.Shallow oxide gold mineralisation – Krista and Bells
The Krista Project and Bells Project are the locations for the current shallow oxide gold Resource in
addition to where the further definition of the shallow oxide Resource definition drilling is planned. The
shallow oxide gold potential at Hog Ranch represents the lowest risk target type based on the extensive
historical mining, historical drilling, recent drilling spread broadly over the Krista and Bells Projects.
The surface anomalism and interpreted structural trends indicate that the shallow oxide potential may
exist over a much larger area than is currently defined by the existing Mineral Resource. In addition,
studies have shown that the angled modern RC drilling at both Krista and Bells are achieving an increase
to the gold grade of over 20% in comparison to the historical drilling infor
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