NEW YORK, NY, February 12, 2016 /Sector Newswire/ - Metanor Resources Inc. (TSX-V: MTO) (US Listing: MEAOF) (Frankfurt: M3R) announced news this week that it is studying the possibility of restarting gold mining operations at the Company's open pit on its 100% owned Barry Property, this would represent a second mining front. Metanor is a commercial gold producer at its 100%-owned Bachelor Gold Mill in Quebec. Metanor originally mined ore from Barry when it first took the refurbished Bachelor Gold Mill online several years ago, while it was still prepping to access the high-grade underground ore at Bachelor mine, it poured a total of ~45,000 oz gold from Barry sourced ore during that initial interim period. When Bachelor Mine sourced ore came online the Company shuttered the mine at Barry so as to focus on servicing its cash flow obligations to Sandstorm -- obligations we calculate mathematically Metanor has satisfied (and retired) flawlessly. The obligation to continue to mine Bachelor is now at the discretion of management of Metanor whose primary obligation is to maximizing shareholder value. The decision to reactivate Barry is a timely move that leverages the Company's primary asset, its 100%-owned Bachelor Mill, as Metanor can now effectively process ore sourced from anywhere it wishes from outside Bachelor without penalty from Sandstorm, as Sandstorm's gold participation agreement is only on Bachelor-area sourced material. Metanor can juxtapose Bachelor and Barry ore to maximize shareholder value.

Bachelor Mill

Metanor's latest gold production figures reveal a Gold producer that is holding its own, successfully executing on cost-cutting measures, and keeping its head above water after stripping out 'depreciation and depletion. Forward looking, the Company is aiming to attain a 40,000+ oz per annum gold production run rate; production from the Hewfran section is expected to increase the average grade of the mine between 5.8 and 6.2 g/t and cash costs are expected to drop back down. For the current year, Metanor has stated it expects to produce 40,000+ ounces of gold. The Bachelor Lake mill has a capacity of 1,200 tpd but is currently running at a rate of ~800 tpd, with an effective rate of ~700 tpd with periodic routine downtime for maintenance. Barry ore is softer and the mill can be operated at 1,100+ TPD while processing Barry ore without upgrade modifications. There exists opportunities to expand production beyond the current production capacity of ~50,000 ounces of gold per year; the Bachelor mine sourced rock is 'hard', making it a limiting factor in-part, however this can overcome with a nominal capital outlay to move to higher capacity.

Bachelor Mine

Bachelor is a rich underground mine with grades upwards of 26 g/t gold with an average grade of 7.38 g/t gold (fully diluted using long hole). Recent drilling results continue to demonstrate, in-part, Metanor's ability to readily extend the mineable life of Bachelor, similar to how other successful area miners have operated (and several continue to this date) -- typically lining up a couple years of initial quality mineralized material but remaining operational for many decades, adding as they go.

New South Zone/Moroy High-Grade Gold Deposit Adjacent Bachelor Mill

Also this week Metanor announced it has designed a 60,000-metre surface diamond-drilling campaign to test the new mineralized zone underlying the South Zone/Moroy property. Over the last few months Metanor has released a series of stellar drill results from its new South Zone/Moroy Property located south of the pluton, only ~900 meters south of the headframe at Bachelor (e.g. 10.1 g/T Gold over 26.2 m, 6.7 g/t Au over 38.4 m, 18.9 g/t Au over 5.6 m, 15.3 g/t Au over 6.6 m). This new South Zone system appears to be huge and to be of higher average grade and thicker structure than the Bachelor/Hewfran sections. New in-hole geophysics reveal high-priority target anomalies of conductors that have correlated well with high-grade gold found to date, and are highly perspective for large gold values Metanor will be targeting in the months ahead with this newly announced program. This South Zone is expected to contribute towards adding numerous years of additional mine life and is a game-changer that takes Metanor's future prospects to a whole new level, dramatically increasing the attractiveness of MTO.V for shareholders and for potential suitors looking to acquire/buy-out.

Barry Mine - (located ~65 km from Bachelor Mill)

The 100% owned Barry property is neighbor to Oban Mining's Windfall Lake Deposit (formerly owned by Eagle Hill). The resource estimate at Barry now sits at 309,500 oz Gold of Indicated Resources (7,701,000 t at 1.25 g/t Au) and 471,950 oz gold of Inferred Resources (10,411,000 t at 1.41 g/t Au) and is wide open for large resource growth expansion. The current 1km strike at Barry is potentially 13km, there are in excess of 150 anomalies outside the pit area. The Barry deposit is a potential multimillion ounce target; the independent international professional geological firm SGS Geostat has identified Metanor’s Barry deposit as comparable in potential to rival other multi-million ounce deposits such as Canadian Malartic gold deposit (formerly owned by Osisko, now owned by Yamana and Agnico-Eagle) & Detour Gold's Detour deposit. Metanor is not currently mining from Barry, however one option is to put a concentrator on site and transport material to its Bachelor Mill. The Barry deposit is open in all directions, and Metanor is currently looking at it with consultants with the aim of targeting 2+ g/T gold material for new potential mining scenario. Important to note is that Osisko Gold Royalties has recently orchestrated acquisitions near Metanor's Barry deposit (via Oban Mining).

Noteworthy Endorsements

Over the last couple weeks Metanor has been the subject of two newly released analyst advisory reports; one from mining analyst Jay Taylor of Hard Money Advisors Inc., upgrading MTO.V from 'Watch list' to 'Buy', and one from mining analyst Mr. Thibaut Lepouttre, Managing Director at Belgium-based mining and commodity research BVBA firm Caesar (managers of Caesars Report mining newsletter), in the BVBA report the analyst extrapolates results to date and sees potential* for 1,000,000+ new high-grade gold ounces from the South Zone. 

Trading with a market cap of ~$21 - ~$25 million Gold producer Metanor is a bargain, healthy operationally & balance sheet-wise, and in the process of building serious new ounces;

Assets-wise:

 Liabilities-wise:

Mining analyst Jay Taylor of Hard Money Advisors released an advisory to his paid subscriber base on the merits of establishing a long position in MTO.V and recommended with a US$0.15/share price target for MEAOF (~$0.20 Canadian on the TSX Venture Exchange for MTO.V; MTO.V is currently trading ~5 cents CDN).  Mr. Taylor has a business MBA in Finance & Investment, in-depth accredited studies in geology, has decades of mining sector analysis under his belt, and is known for being reserved in his advice. Full copy of Mr. Taylor's advisory along with chart and additional insight may be viewed at http://sectornewswire.com/MTOJayTaylor-Feb-2016.pdf online.

"...given the positives noted above, combined with a gold price that may indeed be ready to resume its secular bull market that was interrupted in 2011, I think it is highly likely we will see at least a double from the current price and a distinct possibility of a rise upward to and beyond US$0.10, which would provide more than a triple for those who buy these shares now. Longer term, if management can start to grow this company with internally generated cash funds and increase production from Barry, an upside considerably beyond US$0.10 is possible. However, given the company’s current assets, plus all it has going for it in terms of its exploration potential and the potential to combine its assets more efficiently under a well capitalized company, my view is that Metanor will become a takeover candidate by Osisko Gold Royalties or another major operating in Canada, and a sweetener for a suitor would be a tax loss of $15 million. If I’m right and gold is now starting out its next leg up in this secular bull market, a move upward into the US$0.06 to US$0.15 range could come sooner rather than later."

- J. Taylor February 5, 2016