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Exploration and Production Update

11 Mar 2011 07:00

RNS Number : 7451C
GMA Resources PLC
11 March 2011
 

AIM: GMA

11 March 2011

 

GMA Resources plc

("GMA" or the "Company")

 

Exploration and Production Update

 

GMA announces an update on its exploration activities at the Amesmessa Gold Mine within the Tirek - Amesmessa Concession in South West Algeria and production results for January and February.

 

Highlights

 

·; New drill results have confirmed wide mineralized zones running parallel with the existing mined quartz veins, as anticipated.

 

·; Results to date include;

 

o ARC 67- from 0m, 28m at 0.74 g/t

o ARC 74- from 0m, 27m at 0.62 g/t (hole ended whilst still in mineralized zone)

o ARC 91- from 0m, 53m at 0.49 g/t

o ARC 127- from 8m, 20m at 1.01 g/t

o ARC 140- from 26m, 24m at 0.50 g/t (hole ended whilst still in mineralized zone)

 

·; Five new potential mineralized zones drilled to date totaling 95 holes; 38 holes sent for assay, 57 being prepared and awaiting approval for export from Algeria.

 

·; Gold production of 1,399 oz (January) and 1,043 oz (February).

Exploration Update

The results shown in Table 1 below demonstrate a continuing trend of a wide, low grade mineralised zone running parallel with the known narrow quartz vein system. The results shown below include both new drill holes (being reported as part of this update) and those drill holes reported previously, in respect of drilling of the coincident soil in gold anomalies in the three Aster anomalies completed to date (TA 47, 52 and 54).

Table 1- Significant Mineralised "Alteration" Intercepts

 

Aster Target ID

SECTION ID

Hole ID

Total Depth

(m)

Significant Mineralized Intercepts

(cut off grade 0.1 g/t)

From

(m)

To

(m)

Int

(m)

Grade

(g/t)

TA54*

2338375N

ARC67

28

0

28eoh

28

0.74

TA54*

2338325N

ARC69

34

2

34eoh**

32+

0.42

TA54*

2338275N

ARC71

29

0

29eoh

29+

0.41

TA54*

2338275N

ARC73

61

34

61eoh

27+

0.62

TA54*

2338175N

ARC76

60

3

33

30

0.58

TA52*

2339600N

ARC82

55

1

48

47

0.40

TA52*

2339700N

ARC91

57

0

53

53

0.49

TA52*

2339700N

ARC92

58

25

58eoh

33+

0.36

TA52*

2339400N

ARC96

50

2

32

30

0.34

TA52

2339400N

ARC98

66

0

26

26

0.64

TA52

2339400N

ARC99

65

40

65eoh

25+

0.56

TA52

2339800N

ARC120

63

20

63eoh

43+

0.44

TA52

2340200N

ARC127

63

8

28

20

1.01

TA47

2344400N

ARC128

54.5

0

30

30

0.46

TA47

2344600N

ARC140

50

26

50eoh

24+

0.50

TA47

2344600N

ARC142

76

0

65eoh

65+

0.35

TA47

2344800N

ARC149

50

0

28

28

0.41

TA47

2344800N

ARC152

83

0

46

46

0.40

TA47

2345000N

ARC154

64

26

64eoh

28+

0.36

TA47

2345000N

ARC155

57

0

57eoh

57+

0.36

Note 1) * Previously Reported

Note 2) ** eoh= end of hole, the point where drilling stopped

Note 3) only holes with an average of >0.3g/t Au over 20m are reported in Table 1.

 

After reviewing the 105 holes that have been drilled in these three Aster anomalies, the Board believes that the Tirek - Amessmessa Concession remains an attractive exploration opportunity. The results in Table 1 demonstrate that 20 holes returned intercepts measuring wider than 20 metres and at grades greater than 0.3 g/t (using a cut off grade of 0.1 g/t). Although these results are encouraging, they do not yet represent economically viable grades for commercial production. The next step is to use modern exploration techniques and geology systematically to identify those zones where mineralisation may be concentrated at economic grades and in large tonnages. To date, five new Aster anomalies with strong coincident gold in soil anomalies (identified from the soil geochemistry program) have been drilled (TA 48, 49, 55, 58, and 59), including the northern and southern extensions of TA 47 and western side of TA 54.

In addition, a secondary strategy of drilling the area around Vein 7 South is ongoing. Exploration from previous drilling campaigns by the Algerian government, and subsequent drilling by GMA, has identified a potentially very prospective zone which is hoped will provide potential near term ore for the existing mining operation, depending on exploration success. The best results to date in this region include the following, as previously reported:

·; ARC 23 from 11m, 16m at 3.89 g/t

·; ARC 37 from 71m, 11m at 13.25 g/t

·; ARC 61 from 61m, 7m at 18.48 g/t

In the last few months an additional 29 holes have been drilled in the Vein 7 area, with more planned, depending on assay results expected in March and April.

On 8 March 2011, GMA completed 304 RC drill holes totalling more than 17,000m. The drill holes provide samples (typically taken at 1m intervals) which are sent to the ORGM Laboratory in Algeria where fine grinding occurs. A 150g pulp sample representative of each drill sample is then sent to Genalysis in Perth, Australia for assay to determine the gold values. Genalysis have previously visited and inspected the ORGM Laboratory and confirmed its suitability for sample preparation for the drilling program.

 

The location of the RC drill holes being reported in this update are detailed in Table 2. Complete results and more detailed information is set out in Appendix 1, which can be found on the GMA website (www.gmaresources.co.uk).

 

Table 2 - Drilling Locations

Drill Location

Holes Reported

Vein 18

ARC 150-151

Vein 12

ARC 162

TA 52

ARC 98-127

TA 48

ARC 163-165

TA 47

ARC 128-161

 

Now that this new wide mineralised zone has been confirmed with confidence, the Board has made it a priority to rapidly drill test the most promising coincident Aster and gold in soil anomalies. The economic viability of the Amesmessa mine relies on new exploration success to provide an alternative source of ore to the deepening, narrow quartz veins currently being mined.

Table 3 highlights the drilling locations beyond ARC 165, which combine exploration drilling in the best Aster anomalies with known veins of the highest potential to provide near term ore for the existing mining operation.

 

Table 3- Drill Holes Completed & Planned Beyond ARC 165

Location

Holes

TA 48

ARC 166-168 & ARC 170-179

Vein 12

ARC 169 & ARC 179-180

TA 55

ARC 181-199 & 204-205 & 218-231

Vein 17

ARC 200-203

Vein 4

ARC 206-208

Vein 7

ARC 209-217,239, 286-304

TA 47

ARC 232-238 240-243

TA 49

ARC 258-267

TA 58

ARC 268-277

TA 54

ARC 244-257

TA 59

ARC 278-285

Vein 7, TA 20, 21, 44, 65, 66, 68, 71

ARC 305- ongoing (planned)

 

Production Update

Gold production for January was 1,399 oz. and for February was 1,043 oz. Overall production is summarized in Table 4.

Table 4- Amesmessa Production

Unit

Jan '11

Feb '11

Total Gold Bars Poured

oz

1,399

1,043

High Grade Ore Tonnes ex-Mine

dmt

1,560

915

High Grade Ore Grade ex-Mine

g/t Au

9.61

13.87

Heap Leach Ore Tonnes ex-Mine

dmt

28,065

23,070

Heap Leach Ore Tonnes ex-Mine

g/t Au

1.83

1.40

Waste Tonnes Mined

dmt

263,460

216,975

Total Mined Ex-Pit

dmt

293,085

240,960

Strip Ratio

8.89

9.05

Ore Processed CIL Plant

dmt

3,530

2,322

Ore Grade CIL Process Plant Feed

g/t Au

5.01

1.48

Gold Recovery CIL Process

%

91.31

77.71

Ore Crushed

dmt

19,634

26,439

Ore Stacked to Heap Leach Pad

dmt

16,884

24,122

Crushed Ore Grade

g/t Au

3.25

1.62

Stacked Ore Grade

g/t Au

2.61

1.63

 

The primary reasons for the continuing low production results is the lack of high grade ore feed for the Tirek CIL and crushing performance.

ENOR has taken the following actions to help improve production;

·; hiring of an additional excavator to assist with mining production which is now on site and operating;

·; calling for tenders for a short term waste mining contract of 1.2 million tonnes, with some interested parties already having completed site visits;

·; finalising an arrangement for extended parts and maintenance support from the mining equipment supplier, on which discussions are well progressed;

·; planned maintenance of the Amesmessa crusher now that spare parts are arriving and that the manufacturers support-supplier's representative arrived on site on 7 March; and

·; repair of the former Tirek crushing plant to increase capacity (now that parts have arrived) which was commenced mid-February and is near completion.

The Board is fully supportive of the actions which ENOR's management has taken to date and is encouraged that suppliers are extending their service to assist ENOR at the mine site level. The implementation of these actions is unlikely to start positively impacting gold production until Q2.

ENOR Financial Position

Due to the lower than forecasted gold production from October 2010 to February 2011, ENOR, with the joint support and guidance of GMA and Sonatrach, has initiated preemptive discussions with the Bank Exterieure d'Algerie (BEA), ENOR's primary lending institution. The focus of these talks is to renegotiate and extend the term and principal repayments of all short and medium term loan facilities. This will allow ENOR to inject any surplus cash flow generated from operations directly into the mining operation.

 

Qualified Person

Information in this announcement relating to the Company's exploration activities is based on data reviewed by Mr Geoff Blackburn AOM BSc FAusIMM(CP), who has been engaged as Consulting Geologist to the Company. Mr Blackburn is a member of The Australasian Institute of Mining & Metallurgy and has 40 years' experience in mineral exploration and is a Qualified Person under the AIM Rules. Mr Blackburn consents to the inclusion of the information in the form and context in which it appears.

 

Enquiries:

 

GMA Resources Plc

 

Ken Crichton

+20 (0)10766 6118

Merchant Securities Limited (Nomad)

 

Bidhi Bhoma

+44 (0) 20 7628 2200

 

Notes to Editors:

 

GMA owns a controlling 52% stake in ENOR spa ("ENOR"), the Algerian based operating company for the Tirek-Amesmessa project, with the remainder owned by Sonatrach, the Algerian state-owned oil and gas company.

 

ENOR holds the exploitation authorisation to the Tirek-Amesmessa property, an area of some 1,417 km2, located approximately 450km south west of the city, Tamanrasset, in southern Algeria. Amesmessa is an open pit heap leach gold mine located in the extreme south of the permit area. The Tirek gold mine is located centrally in the northern third of the exploration permit area, some 60 km north of Amesmessa. Research to date suggests that the Zita Zone, which lies between Tirek and Amesmessa, offers considerable potential for the development of additional prospects amenable to open-pit mining. GMA plans to quickly expand upon resources outside of the major 80km Tirek-Amesmessa fault north/south of the concession.

 

GMA's shares are traded on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange (AIM: GMA).

 

For further information on the Company, please visit: www.gmaresources.co.uk

 

 

 

 

This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
 
END
 
 
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