Engineering & Mining Journal

MAR 2014

Engineering and Mining Journal - Whether the market is copper, gold, nickel, iron ore, lead/zinc, PGM, diamonds or other commodities, E&MJ takes the lead in projecting trends, following development and reporting on the most efficient operating pr

Issue link: https://emj.epubxp.com/i/271090

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 23 of 83

22 E&MJ; • MARCH 2014 www.e-mj.com Yorbeau Resources reported in late January that Gold Fields Sudbury Exploration Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of Gold Fields Ltd., has initiated the 2014 explo- ration program at Yorbeau's Rouyn proper- ty 4 km south of Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec. The 2014 program is being undertaken pursuant to an option and joint-venture agreement and represents the balance of a $4 million exploration commitment made by Gold Fields to be spent during the first 18 months of the agreement. Gold Fields is required to spend $19 million on explo- ration over a 4.5-year period to earn a 51% joint-venture interest in the project. The 2014 program is budgeted at $2.2 million and consists mostly of surface dia- mond drilling and completion of a high-res- olution magnetic survey initiated in 2013. Drilling will total approximately 14,000 m, mostly targeting either the extension at depth of known gold mineralization or potential new zones in the eastern half of the property. The drilling for extension at depth of known mineralization will be focused on the Augmitto, Gamble Lake, and Astoria blocks of the property. More specifically, additional follow-up drilling will be done at Gamble Lake to further define a new sector develop- ing at depth in the west boundary of the Gamble Lake zone. A number of targets also will be tested at shallow depth in the east- ern half of the property, which is largely underexplored, according to the company. Yorbeau's 100% controlled Rouyn property contains four known gold deposits in the 6-km-long Augmitto-Astoria corridor. Two of the four deposits, Astoria and Augmitto, have substantial underground infrastructure and have been the focus of NI 43-101 technical reports. ( www.yorbeauresources.com ) Exploration Briefs Golden Star Resources reports that ongo- ing exploration activity at its Wassa gold mine in southwest Ghana is producing encouraging results, both from step-out and infill drilling. Step-out drilling has confirmed that the Wassa orebody is open down plunge. Significant widths and grades intercepted up to 250 m south of previously known min- eralization include 18.5 m grading 6.8 g/mt gold and 20.3 m grading 3.5 g/mt gold. Infill drilling shows wide zones of sig- nificant grades between existing high- grade drill intercepts, including 19.9 m grading 15.3 g/mt gold and 58.6 m grad- ing 4 g/mt gold. Golden Star president and CEO Sam Coetzer said, "Both the step-out and infill drill results continue to indicate that signifi- cant additional resources exist to the south of the current Wassa Main pit, where a high- grade underground mine could be devel- oped. Our current resource of 2.6 million oz is over a strike length of 1,050 m. "A conceptual study, completed in 2013, found underground mining of this high-grade deposit to be economically viable, and these drill results further sup- port these findings. We expect to complete this phase of drilling by mid-2014, and the results of the drilling program combined with the planned preliminary economic assessment will allow us to make a deci- sion on a full feasibility study." The current drilling program at Wassa is focused on two goals: approximately 20,000 m of infill drilling of the current resource to further define grades and con- tinuity and step-out drilling on 200-m drill fences to the south to determine the exten- sion of the high-grade mineralization below the current Wassa Main pit design. ( www.gsr.com ) Coeur Mining has reported year-end con- tained ounces of proven and probable min- eral reserves totaling approximately 255.4 million oz of silver and 2.2 million oz of gold, representing increases of 15.9% and 12.3%, respectively, compared to year-end 2012. The gains are net of the 17 million oz of silver and 262,217 oz of gold pro- duced during 2013. In addition to these reserves, Coeur announced measured and indicated miner- al resources of approximately 386.3 mil- lion oz of silver and 2.5 million oz of gold, up 26.6% and 1.4%, respectively, from year-end 2012. Coeur president and CEO Mitchell J. Krebs said, "For the past several years, our main focus has been to get all four of our mines up and running consistently. 2012 was the first year we devoted significant capital to exploration, and we are starting to see the fruits of these efforts. We have spent $74 million in exploration expenditures over the past two years and will continue to fund exploration activities using a success-based approach focused on resource conversion. "In 2014, we plan to invest $23 mil- lion to $28 million for exploration, includ- ing approximately $10 million in capital- ized drilling, but may increase this budget if we receive positive drill results that war- rant further exploration activity. We are continuing a targeted focus on resource conversion at Palmarejo in Mexico, which we believe holds considerable opportunity for new sources of production," Krebs said. ( www.coeur.com ) Hecla Mining had another year of explo- ration success in 2013, achieving record year-end levels of silver and gold reserves and gold resources at its properties despite using reduced metals prices of $20/oz sil- ver and $1,300/oz gold. The gains in gold and silver reserves are net of the 8.9 mil- lion oz of silver and 120,000 oz of gold produced in 2013. Hecla's year-end proven and probable sil- ver reserves reached the highest level in com- pany history, up 13% over December 31, 2012, to 170 million oz. In addition, meas- ured and indicated resources increased by 18% over December 31, 2012, to 149 mil- lion oz of silver, while inferred resources decreased by 17% to 143 million oz of silver. Proven and probable gold reserves increased by 190% to 2.1 million oz, also a record level for the company, primarily due to the acquisition of Aurizon Mines com- pleted on June 1, 2013. Measured and indi- cated resources increased 3,610% to 4.7 million oz of gold, and inferred resources increased 148% to 1.8 million oz of gold. Hecla's definition and exploration drilling programs were very successful in upgrading resources to reserves and in identifying new resources outside of established mine plans to replace those upgraded ounces. The company's exploration and pre- development expenditures in 2014 are projected to be a combined $18 million, a reduction of 51% from 2013 levels. ( www.hecla-mining.com ) REGIONAL NEWS - EXPLORATION ROUNDUP Gold Fields Pursuing Earn-in on Yorbeau's Rouyn Property EMJ_pg04-27_EMJ_pg04-27 3/3/14 10:32 AM Page 22

Articles in this issue

Links on this page

Archives of this issue

view archives of Engineering & Mining Journal - MAR 2014