Resource Infill drilling extends depth of oxidation
Orezone Gold Corporation ( ORE : TSX ) is pleased to announce positive results from a 3,000m, 489-hole auger drilling program on its Bomboré project in Burkina Faso, West Africa. The program was designed to investigate the gold-in-soil anomalies that occur along the trend of the qualified resource at Bomboré. South of the Siga deposit (see location map), 35% of the saprolite samples returned gold assays in excess of 0.2g/t and 9% in excess of 0.5g/t. These results define a new RC drilling target that could extend the Siga deposit by 1.5km further south. The gap between the P8/P9 deposit and the P11 deposit also returned similar values that are coincident with a high-resolution resistivity survey lithological domain, and clearly defines a second 1km RC drilling target. Approximately 300 of the auger holes were drilled in these two areas.
The 2.5km of potential deposit extension will be followed up immediately with a 5,000m, 79-hole RC drill program that will be completed in addition to the ongoing 35,500m RC infill and expansion drilling program. To date, 29,000m have been drilled, one third of the samples have been prepared at the laboratory and 10% have been analyzed. Announcement of infill results for the Maga deposit are expected in April, followed by P8/P9 and Siga. The drilling program is on schedule and the laboratory turn around time for sample analysis has been approximately 20 days.
“The Infill drilling results to date indicate that the depth of oxidation is about 5 to 10% greater than expected. This combined with the possible strike extensions as indicated by the auger drilling will undoubtedly result in expanding the current near surface oxide resource” said Pascal Marquis, Vice President of Exploration. With over 40,000m of additional RC drilling, the Bomboré resource will be updated in Q3 and a preliminary assessment released in Q4.
The Bomboré Project is located 85km east of the capital city of Ouagadougou along a major national highway. The deposit has a total Indicated resource of 0.93Moz (contained in 49.4Mt at a recoverable grade of 0.59g/t) and an Inferred resource of 1.78Moz (contained within 91.8Mt at a recoverable grade of 0.61g/t). Approximately one half of the current resource is oxidized and occurs essentially within 50m from surface. The above mentioned drill programs are designed to upgrade and expand the oxidized resource in order to complete a preliminary assessment for a heap leach operation. Detailed metallurgical results to date indicate average heap leach recoveries of 80%, with an average consumption of 0.25kg/t of cyanide and 6kg/t of cement. The topography, drainage and rainfall are suitable to construct a large water reservoir without negatively impacting those down stream. The project footprint is in an area of low population density and an international power grid is expected to be constructed in the near future. These infrastructure advantages will translate into reduced project development and operating costs.
Orezone is a gold exploration and development company with more than 15 years experience in West Africa, one of the world’s fastest growing gold producing regions. Orezone delineated, permitted, and developed Burkina Faso’s largest gold deposit (Essakane) before it was bought by IAMGOLD for $350M. Orezone continues to focus on developing the rest of its pipeline of advanced gold projects including Bomboré, one of the largest undeveloped gold deposits in Burkina Faso. Orezone’s mission is to create wealth by discovering and developing gold resources in an efficient and responsible manner for the benefit of its shareholders and other stakeholders.
The auger samples were collected by Coffey Mining Pty Limited at the overburden-saprolite interface and if possible a second sample was collected in the underlying saprolite zone. The samples were prepared by Abilab Burkina s.a.r.l. (a subsidiary of ALS-Chemex) and SGS Burkina Faso s.a.r.l. and a 1kg aliquot was analyzed for leachable gold at BIGS Global Burkina s.a.r.l in Ouagadougou, by bottle-roll using a LeachWellTM catalyst. Orezone employs a rigorous Quality Control Program (QCP) employing a minimum 15% standards, blanks and duplicates. This program was executed under the supervision of Dr. Pascal Marquis, V.P. Exploration for Orezone, who is a Qualified Persons under National Instrument 43-101 and approved the technical information in this release.
For further information please contact Orezone at (613) 241-3699 or Toll Free (888) 673-0663
Ron Little, CEO, rlittle@orezone.com Pascal Marquis, VP Exploration, pmarquis@orezone.com
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