The Mount Pleasant Mine property is located in Charlotte County, New Brunswick, 80 kilometres south of Fredericton, the provincial capital. Adex holds 102 continguous mineral claims covering approximately 1,600 hectares (4,000 acres), as well as 405 hectares (1,000 acres) of surface rights at Mount Pleasant, including the existing structures of the past-producing Mount Pleasant Mine.  ADEX has owned the Mount Pleasant Mine claims since 1994.

The focus of Adex's work on the Mount Pleasant property is currently on the following areas:

Tungsten and Molybdenum Resources (Fire Tower Zone)

• The Fire Tower Zone contains a 43-101 compliant resource of 13,489,000 tonnes in the "indicated" category at 0.33% tungsten and 0.21% molybdenum, as well as 841,700 tonnes in the "inferred" category at 0.26% tungsten and 0.20% molybdenum (see news release dated October 23, 2008).
   
• A scoping study of the Fire Tower Zone was completed and prepared by Aker Metals, a division of Aker Solutions Canada Inc. (see news release dated October 30, 2008).  Results of the scoping study indicate that the Fire Tower Zone is financially robust, with an unlevered pre-tax internal rate of return (IRR) estimated at 27.1%, and the after-tax IRR estimated at 19.8%.  Similarly, the net present value of the Fire Tower Zone, using a discount rate of 8%, is C$164.6 million and C$83.7 million on a pre-tax and after-tax basis, respectively.  Based on the scoping study, the operation is projected to generate about C$1.1 billion in revenue over a 13-year life of the mine.  Results are shown below.
  
  
  

  		Option 1 Production of Ammonium Paratungstate and Molybdenum Sulphide Concentrate
  Pre-tax IRR		27.1%
  After-tax IRR		19.8%
  Pre-tax Net Present Value (“NPV”) (discounted at 8%) After-tax Net Present Value (“NPV”)		$164.6 million
  (discounted at 8%)		$83.7 million
  Pre-production capital  Production rate		$130 million 2400 tpd

    

Tin-Indium-Zinc Resources (North Zone)

• The North Zone contains a 43-101 compliant mineral resource estimate of 10,882,000 tonnes in the “indicated” category at 0.43% tin, 67.8 grams per tonne of indium, and 0.67% zinc, as well as 7,603,000 tonnes in the “inferred” category at 0.22% tin, 74.6 grams per tonne of indium, and 0.99% zinc (see news release dated April 6, 2009). 
   
• A Preliminary Assessment of the North Zone was completed in December 2009, which includes a preliminary technical and economic assessment of the production of tin, indium and zinc products from the North Zone (see news release dated December 9, 2009).  The results indicate that there are two viable production options for the North Zone, including the production of tin concentrate, indium sponge and zinc metal and the production of tin concentrate and zinc-indium concentrate. Based on a 10-year project life and production rate of 850 tonnes per day, the Preliminary Assessment shows pre-tax internal rates of return for the tin concentrate, indium sponge and zinc metal production option and the tin concentrate and zinc-indium concentrate production option of 28.87% and 23.49% respectively as shown in the table below.
  

Additional areas of the property such as the Saddle Zone hold significant promise for additional mining targets while other identified targets exist for future exploration programs.

The Mount Pleasant Mine property has a long history of exploration and development beginning in 1937 when tin mineralization was first discovered on the property.  The focus of exploration over the years has shifted from tin-based deposits from 1954-1969 to tungsten-molybdenum deposits from 1969-1985, and back to tin deposits (1991-2004) after important quantities of indium were identified along with the tin and zinc mineralization.   

In the early 1980s, Billiton Exploration Canada Ltd. invested over $150 million for the construction of a tungsten mine and mill based on the then defined reserves within the Fire Tower Zone. The facility was active from 1983 to 1985, milling 990,200 tonnes of tungsten ore at a grade of 0.35%. (A molybdenum by-product was stockpiled for future benefication).  Challenging mill start-up issues and a downturn in the price of tungsten led to the mine's premature closing in 1985.

Today, these surface facilities (including ore storage areas, conveyor galleries, warehouse space and office space) are in excellent condition. Adex believes that relatively modest efforts and capital are required to bring them up to today's standards which could significantly reduce overall costs associated with re-activating the mine.

In the late 1980’s the identification of indium associated with the tin and zinc mineralization provided a major boost for the Mount Pleasant project and represented one of the key reasons Adex acquired the property in 1995. Indium, a rare metal, has significantly increased in value over the last 10 years as it is a key ingredient in new technologies for the production of electronic screens (LED and LCD) and next-generation solar cells. Adex’s Mount Pleasant has been independently identified by Natural Resources Canada as the world’s largest undeveloped indium deposit.¹ (Please see Adex's Commodity Information page for more information on these commodities.)

Since 1989 successive exploration drilling programs at Mount Pleasant have helped define the property's tin and indium deposits (centred around the North and Deep Tin zones), producing promising results that set the stage for further technical evaluation. Today, Adex is focusing on the assessment of a mining plan to mine and commercially produce tin, indium and zinc from those resources identified within the North Zone area of the Mount Pleasant property.

The Mount Pleasant deposits lie within the Appalachian Orogen in southern New Brunswick.  These deposits occur within gently dipping Late Devonian age volcanic and sedimentary rocks that are the remnants of a large epicontinental caldera complex.

The regional geology in the mine area is dominated by the Mount Pleasant Caldera, the exposed part of which measures approximately 13 by 17 kilometres. Multiple layered granitic intrusive rocks and associated mineralization at Mount Pleasant were emplaced along the southwestern margin of the caldera complex. This structure occurs within the northern extension of the Appalachian geosynclinals belt and is situated on the southeast flank of New Brunswick's Central Basin.

New Brunswick's provincial capital, Fredericton, is located 60 kilometres north of Mount Pleasant. With a population of 50,000, the city is an important business and educational centre and is home to the University of New Brunswick. Saint John, the closest major port city with a population of 70,000, is approximately 80 km southeast of the property. The city is Canada's second-largest port and is ice free year-round. Both Fredericton and Saint John host commercial airports. Mount Pleasant is also just 65 kilometres from Canada's border with the United States.

When the Mount Pleasant tungsten mine was operational in the early 1980s, tungsten ore concentrate was regularly transported by road to Saint John for shipment to Europe. Concentrates were also transported via other highways to American customers.

Mount Pleasant is accessible via all-weather roads from Fredericton, Saint John and St. George. Electricity is provided by the New Brunswick transmission grid, while water for the mine is supplied from a pump house located on the nearby Piskahegan River to a storage reservoir on the hillside above the mill.  A new regional gas supply pipeline crosses a few kilometres south of the property.

Environment

In collaboration with several adjacent landowners, Adex Mining has been engaged in forest management of the Mount Pleasant property and surrounding area. Over the past four years, Adex has participated in government-subsidized silviculture programs designed to re-establish and maintain a healthy forest. The silviculture treatment that has been prescribed for the Mount Pleasant area is pre-commercial thinning, which involves freeing up the healthier trees from competition and improving overall growth rates. So far, 400 acres of young forest have been thinned, providing better growth conditions for valuable hardwood such as maple, beech, ash, and yellow birch. Adex believes in responsible environmental management for the preservation of important local wildlife such as deer, moose, bear, fox, and several other small mammals.  

1. Wright, Phillip. "Mineral and Metal commodity Review: Tin." Natural Resources Canada, 1996.