Nevada Copper Corp (TSX: NCU) said it has completed an updated NI 43-101 compliant resource estimate for its wholly-owned Pumpkin Hollow IOCG (iron oxide copper gold) property in Nevada, which show significant increases in the copper, gold and iron resources while showing substantial increases in the measured and indicated categories.
The increase in the total resources is largely due to the very successful expansion of open mineralization and focused resource classification drilling during 2008.
The new resource estimate increased to 9.3 billion pounds of copper at a 0.20 percent cutoff, an increase of 1.4 billion pounds of copper or 18 percent from the November 2007 resource of 7.9 billion pounds.
Measured and indicate copper resource rose 42 percent to 5.6 billion pounds at a 0.20 percent cutoff, and the measured and indicated gold resource increased 55 percent to 983,000 ounces.
The measured, indicated and inferred iron resource in the Western deposits rose 47 percent to 362 million tons averaging 35.8 percent iron at a 20 percent cutoff. The measured and indicated copper resource for the open pit Western deposits saw a 74 percent increase to 198 million tons averaging 0.66 percent copper at 0.30 percent cutoff.
The Eastern underground deposits now contain a measured and indicated resource of 31 million tons averaging 1.83 percent copper and an inferred resource of 9 million tons of 1.67 percent copper at 1 percent cutoff.
Total gold resource stands at 1.45 million ounces and 55 million ounces of silver at a 0.20 percent cutoff.
Work on an update of the preliminary economic assessment study will commence immediately, followed by a feasibility study in 2009.