Drilling campaign29 Oct 2013 07:19
has commenced underground diamond drilling at its Namib Lead Zinc Silver Project in Namibia. The initial campaign, involving approximately 5,000m of drilling, is designed to upgrade and expand the Project's compliant resources. The Namib mine currently has JORC compliant inferred and indicated resources of 668,000 tonnes @ 6.6% zinc ('Zn'), 2.5% lead ('Pb') and 46g/t silver ('Ag').
To control and secure its schedules, North River has purchased a Kempe pneumatic U3-9B diamond drill, which is capable of drilling holes to a maximum length of 300m. An extensive drill campaign has been designed for beneath and within the historic South and Junction mine workings, and also at the un-mined North ore body resources area. A Kempe specialist is on site to train North River staff as drillers as part of this process.
North River is also mobilising a second diamond drill, an Atlas Copco 262, to expedite the drilling. This drill is a larger and more powerful diamond drill and, as a result, some excavations are required to prepare its drill pads. The planning and preparation for this drill campaign is well advanced, with mining equipment onsite, and the installation of explosives magazines, ventilation and water systems already constructed underground to facilitate operations. The drill is expected on site in mid November 2013.
Both initial drill campaigns are expected to take several months to complete.
In addition to both drilling campaigns, the Company's technical consultants are conducting further geological reviews, in conjunction with the re-testing of historic assays, re-interpretation of historic down-hole electromagnetic surveys, and mine planning. It is hoped that this process will also upgrade existing resources and potentially prove maiden reserves. The results of this, along with the two drilling campaigns, will form part of the Definitive Feasibility Study on the Namib Project that is currently underway and targeted for completion in March 2014.
North River Managing Director, Martin French, said, "The Namib project is moving forward with a new stage of works and the mine site becoming increasingly active. We anticipate good news flow over coming months."