Assays On Bre-X Mine's Gold Content Could Be Completed This Week
Dow Jones Online News, Wednesday, April 16, 1997 at 07:54
PERTH, Australia -(Dow Jones)- Testing in Australia of a drill core
from Bre-X Minerals Ltd.'s controversial Busang gold prospect in
Indonesia could be completed by the end of next week, according to a
person familiar with the test plans.
The testing will be conducted by Analabs Pty. Ltd., a unit of
Scientific Services Ltd. of Perth.
The person familiar with the process, who declined to be named, said
Wednesday that about 1,500 meters of diamond-drill core from Busang was
transported by aircraft to Perth last weekend, then moved to Analab's
assay laboratory in the suburbs of Welshpool.
Doug Parkin, general manager of Analab's minerals division in Western
Australia, wouldn't confirm or deny the test plans.
Bre-X, a Canadian exploration company, has estimated that between 71
million and 200 million ounces of gold are in the ground at Busang. But
recent drilling results by its prospective partner, Freeport-McMoRan
Copper & Gold Inc. of the U.S., found negligible gold deposits at the
site.
As a result, Bre-X has hired Canadian mining consultant Strathcona
Mineral Services to conduct an audit of the Busang drilling results.
The drill core in Perth likely will be split in half, crushed and
then divided into three separate parcels. One parcel will be analyzed at
Analabs in Perth, another sent to Indonesia and a third to Canada,
according to the industry source.
The Indonesian sampling will be carried out by PT Indo Assay, a 60%
owned subsidiary of Scientific Services based in Balikpapan.
He said the sample in Perth will be tested by two techniques - fire
assaying and bottle roll cyanide. Fire assaying is regarded as a more
definitive test for drill cores, but has a smaller sample size than
bottle roll cyanide testing, where a two-kilogram sample is leached in a
cyanide solution. The larger sample is important if the gold is
contained in nuggets rather than evenly distributed in fine grains
throughout the sample.
Preparation of the three parcels could be completed this week and the
Perth testing finished by the end of next week, the source said.
It isn't clear where or when results of the testing will be
announced.
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