3 Nov 2008 07:00
3rd November 2008
Cluff Gold plc
("Cluff" or the "Company")
Cluff Gold Announces First Gold Pour At Its Kalsaka Project
Mr Tertius Zongo, Prime Minister of Burkina Faso Formally Opens The Kalsaka Mine
Cluff Gold (AIM-"CLF"), the West African gold mining company, has poured its first gold at its Kalsaka Gold Project ("Kalsaka") in Burkina Faso, making it the first British Company to do so in the country. The Prime Minister of Burkina Faso, Mr Tertius Zongo, formally opened the mine on 30th October 2008 and witnessed the first gold production.
Kalsaka is the second Gold Project that Cluff Gold has put into production this year. The first was its Angovia Gold Mine in Cote d'Ivoire. The two projects are expected to produce 100,000 ounces of gold on an annualised basis from 2009. The Company is in the process of consolidating and extending the production of both mines through a systematic evaluation of known satellite deposits.
Douglas Chikohora, Technical Director of Cluff Gold plc, commented:"We are delighted to announce that the first gold pour has taken place at our Kalsaka Project. We are honoured that the Prime Minister has chosen to officially open the mine. It shows that the Government is fully supportive of what Cluff is trying to achieve in Burkina Faso."
"The formal opening of the mine is a further milestone for the Company because it is confirmation that we have achieved our objective of bringing these two mines into production. We are optimistic that we will be able to achieve a production rate of 100,000 ounces of gold in 2009 and will generate cash flow.
Mr Tertius Zongo, Prime Minister of Burkina Faso, commented: "We are delighted to have Cluff Gold in Burkina Faso and the Kalsaka Gold Mine will bring significant benefits to our country through providing jobs that will help to boost our economy."
Ends
For further information, please contact:
Cluff Gold plc
J.G. Cluff/Douglas Chikohora
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7340 9790
W H Ireland
David Youngman
Tel: +44 (0) 161 832 6644
Farm Street Communications
Simon Robinson/Ana Ribeiro
Tel: +44 (0) 7953340107 / +44 (0) 7980321505
Notes to Editors:
About Cluff Gold
Cluff Gold plc is focused on the identification, acquisition and development of gold deposits in West Africa that are amenable to open-pit mining and low cost production techniques.
The Company has made significant progress since its admission to AIM in December 2004, increasing gold resources across its projects, expanding the project portfolio and broadening the investor base to an increasingly international audience.
Mt. Yaoure, Cote d'Ivoire
The Mt. Yaoure permit is located 40km northwest of Yamoussoukro, the political capital of Cote d'Ivoire, and covers a surface area of 417km(2) including a 50
km2 mining permit. The licence area includes the Angovia gold mine which operated between 1998 and 2003. The mine reportedly produced over 180,000 ounces of gold during this period by heap leaching some 2 million tonnes of oxide material. The infrastructure in the area is good and includes a hydroelectric dam six kilometres from the Angovia mine site. A measured and indicated JORC resource of 451 000 ounces and an inferred JORC resource of 44 000 ounces has so far been delineated.
Recently, the company announced the commencement of gold production at Angovia at an annualized rate of 40 000 ounces of gold by the end of this year.
Kalsaka, Burkina Faso
Kalsaka is located approximately 150km north west of Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso. A measured and indicated JORC resource of 634 000 ounces and inferred JORC resource of 157 000 ounces has been delineated so far. The resource has been demonstrated, by a feasibility study, to be technically amenable to open-pit mining and processing via heap leaching. Water, environmental and mining permits for the project have been granted. The mining permit is valid for twenty years.
Construction has commenced at Kalsaka and commissioning is expected to commence in Q3, 2008 with production estimated to reach 60 000 ounces on an annualized rate by the end of this year.
BAOMAHUN, SIERRA LEONE
The Baomahun Gold Project covers an area of about 137 km2 and is located about 180 kilometres east of Freetown, in the Southern Province of Sierra Leone. The geological setting is similar to the Lake Victoria goldfields in Tanzania.
The Baomahun licence area covers more than 12 kilometres of prospective strike along the Kangari Hills which is composed of Archaean greenstone belt terrain consisting of banded iron formation (BIF) Gold mineralisation in the drilled areas is intimately associated with the BIF and other lithologies in close proximity to the BIF. Accordingly, future exploration and drilling will continue to use the BIF as a marker horizon for auriferous zones along the belt.
A measured and indicated JORC compliant mineral resource of 867,000 ounces of gold (8,933,000 tonnes grading 2.9 g/t Au) and inferred JORC compliant mineral resource of 486,000 ounces of gold (5,083,000 tonnes grading 3.0 g/t Au). A total JORC compliant mineral resource (measured, indicated and inferred) of 1,353,000 ounces of gold (14,016,000 tonnes grading 3.0 g/t Au) has so far been delineated.
On 17 July 2008, the Company announced that the Government of Sierra Leone had granted Baomahun Gold Limited, a 100 per cent owned subsidiary of the Company, a Mining Lease for 25 years over an area of 59.85sq kilometres.
Cluff Gold now holds 100 per cent of the Baomahun Gold Project. Cluff Gold announced on 4 August 2008 that it had acquired the outstanding 40 per cent interest in the project for US$21.8 million which was satisfied by the issue of 12,390,909 ordinary shares in the Company.