| Symbol | Last | Change |
|---|---|---|
| ORE.TO | 3.70 | -0.16 |
Positive Infill Drilling Results to Date at Bomboré
April 12, 2010
Highlights Include 40m at 2.21 g/t and 33m at 1.94 g/t
Orezone Gold Corporation ( ORE : TSX ) is pleased to announce positive results from the first 85 holes of an ongoing 40,500m RC infill and expansion drilling program at its Bomboré Gold Project in Burkina Faso, West Africa. The program is designed to upgrade and expand the current oxide resources in order to complete a preliminary economic assessment of the project before the end of this year. Although a complete statistical comparison has not been performed, a comparison of all holes from section to section in the Maga deposit indicates that the depth of oxidation is about 5 to 10% greater than expected and that the mineralized width and grade is broadly in line with the model. A complete table of results can be found on the company’s website at www.orezone.com/bombore/infillresults. Of particular interest, the new infill holes contribute to clearly define discrete higher grade zones within the larger lower grade mineralized envelope. With the current resource averaging a grade of 0.6g/t, intersections that are above 0.8g/t are very important and can significantly improve the economics of the deposit. The fact that the higher grade zones display good continuity from section to section will result in improved mining sequencing and a quicker project payback.
Table 1: Highlights from Bomboré Infill RC Drilling
| ZONE | SECTION | HOLE ID | FROM | TO | LENGTH | Au g/t |
| Maga | 4350 | BBC0656 | 0.00 | 29.00 | 29.00 | 0.98 |
| Maga | 4350 | BBC0657 | 16.00 | 80.00 | 64.00 | 0.81 |
| Maga | 4075 | BBC0663 | 51.00 | 70.00 | 19.00 | 0.82 |
| Maga | 4025 | BBC0665 | 0.00 | 17.00 | 17.00 | 1.11 |
| Maga | 3950 | BBC0669 | 20.00 | 70.00 | 50.00 | 0.84 |
| Maga | 3900 | BBC0670 | 0.00 | 40.00 | 40.00 | 2.21 |
| Maga | 3900 | BBC0671 | 21.00 | 65.00 | 44.00 | 1.08 |
| Maga | 3800 | BBC0675 | 0.00 | 19.00 | 19.00 | 1.22 |
| Maga | 3575 | BBC0719 | 21.00 | 29.00 | 8.00 | 3.14 |
| Maga | 3575 | BBC0720 | 3.00 | 36.00 | 33.00 | 1.94 |
| Maga | 3575 | BBC0721 | 51.00 | 68.00 | 17.00 | 1.16 |
| Maga | 3150 | BBC0705 | 33.00 | 49.00 | 16.00 | 0.82 |
| Maga | 3100 | BBC0707 | 9.00 | 22.00 | 13.00 | 0.99 |
Orezone recently announced that the mineralization may extend for an additional 2.5km beyond the approximately 9km of mineralized strike length containing the current resource. Drilling is ongoing and will be completed by the end of April. To date, over 35,000m have been drilled, 44% of the samples have been prepared at the laboratory and 17% have been analyzed. The drilling program is on schedule and the laboratory turn around time for sample analysis has been approximately 5 days, with the main bottleneck being the sample preparation capacity.
“We are on track to expand 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 grade of 0.59g/t) and an Inferred resource of 1.78Moz (contained within 91.8Mt at a grade of 0.61g/t). The grade of the resource is based on approximately 65,000 assay results, including about 44,000 assays from bottle-roll cyanidation extraction (not a complete extraction), therefore understating the in-situ grade of the resource. 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 RC drilling 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 of 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, V.P. Exploration, pmarquis@orezone.com
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS AND FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION: This news release contains certain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking statements and forward-looking information are frequently characterized by words such as “plan,” “expect,” “project,” “intend,” “believe,” “anticipate”, “estimate” and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions “may” or “will” occur.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS are based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the statements are made, and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. These factors include the inherent risks involved in the exploration and development of mineral properties, the uncertainties involved in interpreting drilling results and other geological data, fluctuating metal prices, the possibility of project cost overruns or unanticipated costs and expenses, uncertainties relating to the availability and costs of financing needed in the future and other factors. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements if circumstances or management’s estimates or opinions should change. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.