Vancouver, B.C., October 12, 2022 – MOLTEN METALS CORP. (the “Company”) (CSE: MOLT), is pleased to announce that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Slovak Antimony Corp., has been awarded the exploration license for the Trojarova Antimony-Gold Mine near Pezinok in Western Slovakia.
The Trojarova license is located some 15 km north of Bratislava.
The license awarded covers the historic resource and numerous historic mining works in the ore-district.
Figure 1: Location map of Trojarova license with historic drillholes and mining works.
Past Exploration/Development
The Trojarova locality is situated northwards from Sb-Au deposit Kolarsky vrch in one of productive zones of a larger area between the towns Pezinok and Pernek in Male Karpaty Mountains. Positive geochemical anomalies were detected in exploration boreholes and subsequently the Trojarova adit was constructed in order to investigate the Au-As and Sb mineralizations.
The drillholes had intercepted a high-grade Sb mineralization, which was to be opened by the adit. The adit started to be excavated in the 1990s funded from the State budget, until a German investor entered the project. However, the investor did not fulfil his financial obligations at an advanced stage of the underground construction and the project was halted. Therefore, the adit had not yet reached the part of the deposit with the high-grade ore.
The length of the adit is about 700m. And there exists a Lidar survey for the Trojarova claim.
Image 1: The portal at Trojarova
Image 2: The underground workings at Trojarova
Historical Resources
Several historical resources have been calculated using the Soviet-style classification of mineral deposits:
The first was in 1989 based on initial drilling program, where they defined blocks of 1.665 million tonnes @ 2.77 % Sb & 0.81 g/t Au*
The second resource was calculated in 1992 based on previous results and infill drilling: 0.831 million tonnes @ 5.645 % Sb & 0.676 g/t Au*
The most recent resource estimation from 1995 reflected the data obtained from the underground exploration by the Trojarova adit. Exploration was prematurely terminated before drill-verified rich ore was accessed and therefore the reserve estimate is more pessimistic: 0.415 million tons @ 0.162 % Sb and 1.148 g/t Au. The exploration project was also primarily aimed on Au-As ore rather than Sb-rich ore.
The reference for this historic data is:
*Hanas, P., Mokráš, L. & Stupák, J., 1995: Záverečná správa a výpočet zásob Pezinok – Trojárová II, banský prieskum, stav k 31.8.1994. Archív Geofond, Bratislava, č. 80781.
*(Hanas, P., Mokráš, L. & Stupák, J., 1995: Final report & resource estimation on Pezinok – Trojárová II deposit, underground exploration, status to 31.8.1994. Archive Geofond, Bratislava, Nr. 80781)
Note: Historical resources or reserves that have been estimated by previous operators are not NI 43-101 compliant.
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Molten Metals CEO, Christopher Ecclestone, commented “It has been a goal of ours to secure this asset since last year when it first came to our attention and therefore our subsidiary, Slovak Antimony Corp made an application for it and we are very pleased to now add it to our asset base in Slovakia. With extant high-quality adits for access to the resource area, the company expects that bringing this mine to production will be substantially less costly than a de novo operation. Our next task at Trojarova will be extending the adit to access the historic Antimony resources outlined by State geologists in the Communist era”.
General Slovakia Exploration Update
Detailed mapping and bulk sampling will be completed on the project over the coming months to advance the company towards production. The company plans to reopen the Vysna adit at Tienesgrund in late 2022. The company is seeking quotations from mining contractors for the reopening of the Bear Creek adit(s).
Qualified Person
The Company’s disclosure of technical or scientific information in this press release has been reviewed and approved by Micky Allen, C.Geol., Consultant Geologist to the Company. Mr. Allen is a Qualified Person as defined under the terms of National Instrument 43-101.
About Antimony
Antimony (symbol Sb from the Latin word stibium) is a silvery white metal. Antimony oxide is primarily used in fire-retardant formulations for plastics, rubbers, textiles, paper, and paints, whereas Antimony trisulfide is used in the production of explosives, pigments, and antimony salts.
It can also be used for producing semiconductors, infrared detectors, and diodes. Because of its relative inflexibility, it is usually mixed into alloys for further applications (e.g., manufacture of lead storage batteries, solder, sheet and pipe metal, bearings, castings).
Antimony is a strategic metal used to harden lead in ammunition/ordnance and lead-acid storage batteries. Traditionally, Antimony has seen its demand driven by military usage, but this has changed since fire retardants arose to become the main application for the metal.
The latest new technology to utilize the metal is Antimony molten salt batteries for mass storage. The potential here is for a quantum surge in demand if this new technology gains broad adoption.
China has long dominated the production of the metal, however, is suffering declining internal production from mines, but it still dominates the processing of the concentrates, much of which comes from artisanal sources in the developing world.
As a result of this dominance, Antimony is one of the few metals that registers as critical in all the rankings (US, EU, Canada, JOGMEC, UK & Australia) of criticality of supply.
About the Company
Molten Metals is developing Antimony & Antimony-Gold mine projects. Antimony is a critical element with many industrial applications, including ammunition and fire retardants. The upcoming potential new usage is in the mass- storage devices – molten-salt batteries. For further information, please refer to the Company’s disclosure record on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) or contact the Company by email at brooklyn@moltenmetalscorp.com or by telephone at 778.918.2261.
For Additional Information Please Contact
Christopher Ecclestone
Chief Executive Officer
Molten Metals Corp.
Email: cecclestone@moltenmetalscorp.com
Brooklyn Reed
Corporate Secretary
Molten Metals Corp.
778.918.2261
Email: brooklyn@moltenmetalscorp.com
Forward-Looking Information
Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
This release includes certain statements that may be deemed “forward-looking statements”. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words “expects”, “plans”, “anticipates”, “believes”, “intends”, “estimates”, “projects”, “potential” and similar expressions, or that events or conditions “would”, “may”, “could” or “should” occur. Forward-looking statements in this press release include Molten Metals’s plans to continue aggressive exploration at Unga in 2021 and its goal of defining a resource in excess of one million ounces, its plan to continue infill drilling to expand to depth where the system remains open, and its belief that the SH-1 prospect has considerable potential for expansion. Although Molten Metals believes that the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not a guarantee of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include market prices, exploitation and exploration successes, weather, continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. Investors are cautioned that any such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of the Company’s management on the date the statements are made. Except as required by applicable securities laws, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements in the event that management’s beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change.
