Avesoro Resources Inc., (“Avesoro” or the “Company”), the TSX and AIM listed West African gold producer, is pleased to announce that it has successfully increased the Measured and Indicated Mineral Resource at its New Liberty Gold Mine (“New Liberty”) in Liberia to more than 1.1Moz.
Highlights:
- Total open-pittable and underground Measured and Indicated (“M&I”) Mineral Resources have increased by 12% to 11.5Mt containing 1,105,000 ounces of gold grading 3.0 g/t Au;
- Open-pittable M&I Mineral Resources have increased by 2.4Mt (+28%) for an increase of 150,000 ounces of gold (+17 %) to 11Mt containing 1,055,000 ounces of gold grading 2.97 g/t Au;
- Infill drilling has confirmed continuity of previously Inferred Mineral Resources below the current production pit shell;
- 33,000 metre 83-hole underground diamond drill program now commenced targeting the upgrade of 409koz of Inferred Mineral Resources located below the previously reported Proven and Probable Mineral Reserve to higher levels of confidence;
- Management is now examining open pit and underground mining options to determine the most economically optimal way of exploiting the improved resources, including a Pre-Feasibility Study (“PFS”) level underground mining study; and
- 4,200 metre 22-hole diamond infill drilling ongoing at the Ndablama deposit, while a PFS level study has commenced to determine the economic viability of transporting material to New Liberty for processing.
Serhan Umurhan, Chief Executive Officer of Avesoro, commented: “The completion of the infill drilling campaign at New Liberty has improved the confidence in the estimated tonnes and grade of a portion of Inferred material located below the current designed pit floor and within a US$1,300/oz pit shell. The intercepts encountered during the drill campaign have either met or exceeded our expectations and we have been able to successfully convert 241koz ounces of Inferred material into the Indicated Mineral Resource category.
This significant improvement in the confidence level of resources at New Liberty has led us to look at options for how best to maximise the project economics at the mine. These options include the possible transitioning from the current open pit only mine plan to a smaller open pit combined with an underground operation.
We are now commencing PFS level geotechnical and hydrological studies to confirm the assumptions used in our internal study and anticipate that we will have a full PFS level underground mining study completed during Q1 2019.
In addition to evaluating underground mining of the existing Indicated Mineral Resources, we have also mobilised 6 diamond drill rigs and commenced an underground focused drill programme of 33,000 metres and 83 holes targeting the plunging high-grade ore shoots, focused on the higher grade, higher margin underground ounces with a view to converting further resources into the Indicated category in support of an underground mining scenario.”
New Liberty Infill Drilling Program
As previously announced, an infill drilling programme was completed at New Liberty in H1 2018, with the objective of upgrading a portion of the existing Inferred resources located below the current planned open-pit floor but within a US$1,300/oz pit shell, to the Indicated Mineral Resource category. The program comprised of 55 inclined diamond drill holes averaging 350 metres in length and totalling 19,500 metres. This program has resulted in the conversion of a substantial proportion of existing Inferred Resources to the Indicated Mineral Resource category. An updated Mineral Reserve for New Liberty is pending the results of the recently commissioned PFS which will evaluate both open pit and underground exploitation options.
New Liberty Upgraded Mineral Resource – June 30, 2018
The updated Mineral Resource estimate for the New Liberty Gold Mine was produced by CSA Global (UK) Ltd and has been prepared in accordance with the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM) “Estimation of Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves Best Practice Guidelines”. The effective date of this Mineral Resource estimate is June 30, 2018, with a comparison over the previous estimate provided in Table 2 below.
SOURCE: AVESORO RESOURCES
DATE: SEPTEMBER 19, 2018