
Overview
Tournigan has a strong presence in Europe, taking advantage of Europe's stability, infrastructure and educated population. Its mission is to bring advanced mineral projects with exploration potential into profitable production. The company has leveraged its local knowledge in Slovakia, an EU member since 2004, to acquire a 100% interest in the Kuriskova uranium project, complementing its other uranium licences in the area. Slovakia has four operating nuclear reactors providing more than 50% of its current energy requirements and is the third largest user per capita of nuclear power in the world. The country is adding two new reactors by 2013.
Tournigan's Uranium Licences in Eastern Slovakia
Tournigan holds 100% of six uranium licences covering 152 square kilometres along much of the Slovak Carpathian uranium belt. The licences are located approximately 350 kilometres northeast of the capital city of Bratislava and have excellent infrastructure nearby. The company is committed to safe and sustainable exploration and mine development in Slovakia.
Management
Dorian L. (Dusty) Nicol, B.Sc. Geo, M.A. Geo
President and CEO
Mr. Nicol has over 30 years of international experience in mineral exploration and mining. His past positions include Executive V.P. - Exploration with Yukon-Nevada Gold, President and CEO of Queenstake Resources, Latin America Manager for Canyon Resources, V.P. Exploration for Castle Exploration with programs in Central America and Africa, and exploration positions with Exxon Minerals and Renisson Gold Fields in Papua New Guinea. Among other achievements, his programs have led to the addition of over 1.5 million ounces of gold at Jerritt Canyon, Nevada, including the discovery of a new mine at Starvation Canyon. He is a member of the American Institute of Professional Geologists and a Fellow of the Society of Economic Geologists. He has a B.Sc. in geology from M.I.T. and a Master's Degree in Geology from Indiana University and is fluent in five languages.
Boris Bartalsky, Ing, PhD
Country Director, Slovakia
Mr. Bartalsky has been managing exploration of the uranium and gold deposits that are now part of Tournigan's licences since 1996. Prior to that, he was deputy director, applied geology, for the Geological Survey of Slovakia. Mr. Bartalsky is a graduate of the Technical University, Košice and holds a PhD in geology.
Alva L. Kuestermeyer, BSc, MS
Mr. Kuestermeyer has over 35 years of operational and consulting experience in the minerals industry specifically in project management, mineral processing, extractive metallurgy, market analysis and project economics. He joins Tournigan after spending four years at SRK Consulting (U.S.), Inc. in Denver, CO, as its Principal Metallurgical Engineer / Mineral Economist. His work has included numerous consulting assignments for uranium, base and precious metals, ferroalloys, non-ferrous and industrial mineral projects world-wide. Previously, he worked at ASARCO, Dames & Moore, Behre Dolbear, PAH and SRK. He has a B.S. in Metallurgical Engineering and an M.S. in Mineral Economics.
Ravi Sharma, MAusIMM
Manager, Resources and Reserves
Mr. Sharma has over 19 years experience as a mining and exploration geologist. Prior to joining Tournigan he worked as Chief Mine Geologist for Barrick Gold Corporation's Bulyanhulu Mine in Tanzania where he was responsible for mine geology and near mine exploration. He held the position of Chief Mine Geologist for Vedanta Resources, Zod Gold Mines in Armenia. Mr. Sharma is a member of AusIMM and a qualified person for NI 43-101 reporting purposes.
Doris Meyer, CGA
Chief Financial Officer and Corporate Secretary
Ms. Meyer is a member of the Association of the Certified General Accountants of British Columbia and Canada. She was vice president, finance of Queenstake Resources Ltd. from 1985 to 2003 and corporate secretary until 2004 where she led negotiations of joint venture and purchase agreements, equity financings, debt financings and capital purchases. In 1996 Ms. Meyer formed Golden Oak Corporate Services Ltd. Ms. Meyer acts as chief financial officer and/or corporate secretary of several publicly traded mining companies and her company provides those clients with administrative, accounting and compliance services.
Board of Directors
Dorian L. (Dusty) Nicol, B.Sc. Geo, MA Geo
President and CEO
Mr. Nicol has over 30 years of international experience in mineral exploration and mining and has held a variety of executive and senior management positions with international mining companies. He has a B.Sc. in geology from M.I.T. and a Master's Degree in Geology from Indiana University.
Michael J. Hopley, P. Eng.
Chairman of the Board
Mr. Hopley is an exploration geologist with over 30 years of experience and has held a number of senior level management positions with companies such as Consolidated Gold Fields Ltd., Gold Fields Mining Corporation, Bema Gold Corporation and Arizona Star Resources Corp. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Geology from London University, England.
Hein Poulus, QC
Director
Mr. Poulus is a partner with Stikeman Elliott LLP, a Canadian law firm. Mr. Poulus holds undergraduate and law degrees from the University of British Columbia and an LL.M. from the London School of Economics.
Peter Bojtos, P.Eng.
Director
Mr. Bojtos is a professional engineer with over 36 years of experience in the mining industry. He has a strong background in corporate management and governance as well as in all facets of the industry from exploration through the feasibility study stage to mine construction, operations and decommissioning. He serves an independent director of several companies other than Tournigan including US Gold Corp. and Vaaldiam Resources Ltd. Mr. Bojtos graduated from the University of Leicester, England (1972).
Rex McLennan, MBA
Director
Mr. McLennan is currently the Chief Financial Officer of Saskatchewan Wheat Pool Inc. (trading as Viterra) effective February 4, 2008. Previously, from 2005 to 2007, Mr. McLennan was the Executive Vice-President and CFO of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Organizing Committee, and prior to that he was Executive Vice-President and CFO of Placer Dome Inc. from 1997 to 2005, and Vice-President & Treasurer from 1994 to 2006. Mr. McLennan holds a B.Sc. (Mathematics & Economics) from the University of British Columbia, and an MBA (Finance & Accounting) from McGill University.
David Montgomery, BA
Director
Mr. Montgomery is the former Chief Executive of the Mirror Group, plc. formerly served as a non-executive director for Donahue Inc., Scottish Media Group, the Press Association and is a former Managing Director of News UK. Currently, Mr. Montgomery's principal role is Chairman of Mecom UK Management, a European media investment company. He is also chairman of The African Lakes Corporation plc, Integrated Education Fund Development Board (NI), Espresso Broadband Ltd and West 175 Media Group plc. Mr. Montgomery is a graduate from Queens University, Belfast, with a degree in History and Politics.
Ronald Shorr, CFA
Director
Mr. Shorr is a Chartered Financial Analyst who has been involved with research, development, restructuring, and financing corporations for over 30 years, including operations, acquisitions and fund raising. He has been President, Chief Executive Officer and a Director of Maudore Minerals Ltd. of Montreal since 2004. He graduated from the University of Michigan (B.A.) and Harvard Business School (M.B.A.), subsequently attending graduate school at the Krumb School of Mines at Columbia University.
Chief Property
Kuriskova Uranium Deposit, Slovakia
Tournigan's flagship property is the Kuriskova deposit, located approximately 10 kilometres northwest of Košice. Tournigan acquired the property in June 2005. The Kuriskova uranium deposit is part of a belt of largely strata-bound uranium-molybdenum deposits hosted in a sequence of Permian-age meta-volcanic/sedimentary rocks in eastern Slovakia. The deposit has a northwest-southeast strike, and a variably steep-moderate southwest dip (60 degrees in the upper part, 47 degrees in the lower part). The overall dimensions of the Main Zone of the deposit, established to date by drilling, start about 120 metres below the surface and extend to a depth of approximately 650 metres below surface with an average thickness of 2 to 8 metres along a strike length of 650 metres.
In July of 2009, Tournigan announced the results of a Preliminary Assessment of the Kuriskova uranium deposit prepared by independent consultant, Pincock, Allen & Holt. The results are summarized in the following table:
| Description | Units | Value |
| Mine Life | Years | 15 |
| Uranium Production (Average First 5 Years) |
000 lbs U3O8 |
2,395 |
| Uranium Production (Average Life of Mine) |
000 lbs U3O8 |
1,382 |
| Uranium Recovery | % | 90 |
| Uranium Price | US$/lb U3O8 | 65.00 |
| Initial Capital Investment1 | US$ millions | 168 |
| Operating Cost (First 5 Years)2 |
US$/lb U3O8 | 17 |
| Operating Cost (Average Life of Mine)2 |
US$/lb U3O8 | 32 |
| Estimated Royalty Payment (Average Life of Mine) |
US$/lb U3O8 | 3 |
| Estimated Present Value @ 12%3 | US$ millions | 135 |
| Payback Period | Years | 5.6 |
| Internal Rate of Return3 | % | 35.8 |
|
1Includes 30% contingency. 2Pre-royalty; includes 5% contingency and molybdenum credit at $14.50/lb Mo. 3Pre-tax. |
||
Project Upside
Tournigan Energy believes that the Kuriskova property has excellent upside potential for expanding the size and overall grade of the deposit through continuing exploration.
Of significance is the zone of high-grade uranium mineralization which remains open to the north and east of the currently-defined Indicated Resource. Drilling near the edge of the zone encountered high-grade uranium mineralization: for example, Drill Hole LH-K-12A, which intersected 2.35 meters of 1.38% U3O8; Drill Hole LH-K-10A, which intersected 6.5 meters of 2.16% U3O8; and Drill Hole 14A which intersected 6 meters of 0.79% U3O8, including 0.7 meters of 6.18% U3O8 and 0.4 meters of 0.93% U3O8 (see the NI 43-101 Kuriskova Resource Update, April 2009, by SRK Consultants for more information on these drill intercepts, including locations). Step-out drilling in this area will be a priority during the next phase of drilling.
In addition to targets immediately adjacent to the defined resource, recently completed ground radiometric and radon gas-in-soil surveys indicate the presence of anomalies extending up to 300 meters northwest and 200 meters southeast of the currently defined resource. Further interpretation of these new survey results may lead to identification of drill targets with potential to increase the size of the Kuriskova deposit or indicate the presence of satellite deposits.
The Preliminary Assessment projects a nominal mining rate of 750-800 tonnes of mineralized material per day using the underhand cut and fill mining method with paste backfill. As further geotechnical and hydrogeological data for the project area are obtained, it may be possible to modify the mining method and increase the daily production rate and lower mining operating costs. Exploration success may add to the size and overall grade of the deposit which could also contribute to a higher production rate and lower unit mining costs.
Other areas of upside for the project include: (1) reducing the project's preproduction period and possibly construction capital cost, and (2) optimizing the process plant flowsheet and associated operating costs.
Current Resource:
The current resource estimate is based on the report: "Updated NI 43-101 Technical Report on Resources, Kuriskova Uranium Project, Eastern Slovakia," prepared by SRK Consulting (U.S.) Inc. dated April 16, 2009 (the Independent Qualified Person for this report was Allan Moran of SRK) and summarized in the following table:
| Class | U% | Tonnes | U3O8% | U3O8 lbs |
| Indicated | 0.473 | 1,191,000 | 0.558 | 14,654,000 |
| Inferred | 0.182 | 3,780,000 | 0.215 | 17,901,000 |
-Molybdenum Resource: 3.3 million pounds at 0.030% Mo in 4.9 million tonnes
-Mo resource numbers represent Mo associated with Uranium resource blocks above a 0.05%U cutoff
A complete table of the February 2009 resource estimate, prepared by Tournigan and reviewed, audited and approved by SRK, can be found here.
The February 2009 resource estimate incorporates the results of 23 diamond drill holes totaling 9,267 metres that were drilled since the last resource estimate previously disclosed in a news release dated July 16, 2008. The estimate was prepared by Ravi Sharma, Tournigan's manager of resources and reserves, under the supervision of SRK, who have prepared an NI 43-101technical report file with SEDAR April 17, 2009. Allan V. Moran, principal geologist and Frank Daviess, principal resource geologist, who reviewed, audited and approved the current resource estimate, are both with SRK and are independent Qualified Persons as defined by NI 43-101.
Qualified Persons
The Preliminary Assessment was prepared by an engineering team from Pincock, Allen & Holt (part of Runge Limited) of Lakewood, Colorado. Authors included Mr. Terry Laverty, a registered professional engineer, Mr. Tom Noyes, a registered professional engineer, and Mr. Ray Hyyppa, a registered professional engineer. Mr. Terry Laverty, the Independent Qualified Person under the standards of NI 43-101, was PAH's Project Manager.
Dorian L (Dusty) Nicol, B.Sc. Geo, M.A. Geo., Tournigan's President and CEO, is a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the technical disclosure contained on this website.
Novoveska Huta Uranium Deposit, Slovakia
At the western end of the Carpathian uranium belt, approximately 65 kilometres west of Kuriskova, is the Novoveska Huta deposit. This shallow dipping deposit was a historical uranium producer with open pit and underground workings. A historical resource estimate reported the following:
| Tonnes (millions) | U3O8% | U3O8 (lbs) |
| 12,000,000 | 0.075% | 19,970,000 |
Novoveska Huta --Plan Map (top) and Historical Longitudinal
Projection (bottom) showing uranium mineralization in red
In 2008, Tournigan reported drill results from 13 diamond drill holes totaling 6,325 metres on the deposit. The holes, drilled to depths of between 200 to 785 metres, were designed to twin historical holes and explore the deposit to the east. Highlights of the downhole radiometric logging include:
- Hole LH-NH-4 with 7.6 m @ 0.399% eU308
- Hole LH-NH-13 with 38.7 m @ 0.132% eU308 including 4.5 m @ 0.241% eU308
- Hole LH-NH-12 (step-out 166 m east):6.2 m @ 0.157% eU308 and 24 m @ 0.106% eU308
Next Steps
In 2009, Tournigan plans to re-evaluate the geologic model of the deposit to determine whether there is potential to improve the grade from that of the historic resource.
Gold
Kremnica Gold Project, Slovakia
Tournigan acquired the Kremnica mine and surrounding exploration licences spanning 123 km² in 2003 and has since conducted a successful exploration program on the property in addition to a NI 43-101 pre-feasibility study (Beacon Hill, May, 2007). The pre-feasibility study included 41 diamond drill holes by Tournigan in 2005, 79 historical diamond drill holes and 3,148 historic underground samples. It determined:
| Resource Class | Tonnes (millions) | U% |
|
Gold (ounces) | SILVER (ounces) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Measured | 8.2 | 1.61 | 13.3 | 425,000 | 3.5 million | |||
| Indicated | 15.4 | 1.24 | 10.3 | 615,000 | 5.1 million | |||
| Inferred | 10.6 | 1.01 | 6.27 | 345,000 | 2.1 million |
- IRR of 13% using US$525 Au (base case)
- IRR of 26% assuming a gold price of US$675 Au
Kremnica Gold 2008 objectives
- Base line data gathering for environmental studies
- Geotechnical and infill holes (completed May 2008)
- Further exploration of Kremnica South
