LONDON (Alliance News) - Metminco Ltd on Thursday said the mineral resource at the Miraflores gold deposit in Colombia has been updated to allow the miner to fast track the completion of the feasibility study for the development.
Metminco acquired the project in March. Miraflores already had a mineral resource estimate, but that needed to be upgraded so it could be of a higher standard. Metminco also wanted to have a higher cut-off grade so it could consider moving underground.
Overall, the new measured and indicated resource estimates Miraflores has 832,000 ounces of gold and 817,000 ounces of silver - considerably less than the previous estimate of 1.7 million ounces of gold and 1.8 million ounces of silver.
The new measured and indicated mineral resource, estimated by US-based Metal Mining Consultants, now stands at 9.2 million tonnes of ore graded at 2.81 grammes of gold and 2.76 grammes of silver per tonne of ore.
The amount of ore within the resource has dropped considerably, but the grades are substantially higher after the new estimate was made with a much higher cut-off grade of 1.2 grammes of gold per tonne and because, unlike the old estimate, it is JORC-compliant, meaning it is of a globally acceptable standard.
The old measured and indicated mineral resource estimate was 72.6 million tonnes of ore graded at 0.78 grammes of gold and 1.52 grammes of silver per tonne of ore, based on a cut-off grade of 0.27 grammes.
The new estimate, which is for both the open pit and underground operation, took into account the most recent drilling that has been conducted on the asset, comprised of 25,884 metres over 73 diamond drill holes and 236 metres of underground channel samples.
Breaking the new estimate down, measured mineral resources are estimated at 3.0 million tonnes graded at 2.98 grammes of gold and 2.50 grammes of silver per tonne of ore, whilst the indicated mineral resource is thought to be 6.3 million tonnes of ore graded at 2.74 grammes of gold and 2.89 grammes of silver per tonne of ore.
The inferred mineral resource stands at 180,000 tonnes of ore at 1.44 grammes gold and 5.49 grammes silver per tonne.
Metminco said a revised mine plan and schedule for the underground mining option is being developed which will be available shortly.
"This resource statement and the pending mine plan will allow the company to fast track the completion of the feasibility study. A final decision on whether the mine will be developed as a stand-alone underground operation or a combination of an open pit and underground mine as previously contemplated, will be taken once the revised underground mine plan has been completed," said Managing Director William Howe.
"The decision on the development option will take cognisance of community and environmental factors, as well as financial factors. The smaller surface footprint of the underground only mining option remains a very attractive option," he added.
Metminco shares were down 7.4% to 0.162 pence per share on Thursday morning.
By Joshua Warner; joshuawarner@alliancenews.com; @JoshAlliance
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