Tork, major update. New oxide zone with major upside.
Company Press Release
Source: IAMGOLD
Correction -- IAMGOLD/ In to007 sent at 12:23e today,
the headline should have read ``IAMGOLD -
ADDITIONAL DRILLING CONFIRMS RESOURCES
NORTH OF SADIOLA HILL'S OPEN PIT'' instead of
``INTERNATIONAL AFRICAN MINING GOLD
CORPORATION - ADDITIONAL DRILLING
CONFIRMS RESOURCES NORTH OF SADIOLA
HILL'S OPEN PIT''. Corrected copy follows:
IAMGOLD - Additional Drilling Confirms Resources North of Sadiola Hill's
Open Pit
MARKHAM, Ont., June 2 /CNW-PRN/ - IAMGOLD (TSE-IMG) is pleased to announce that
its partner at the Sadiola Hill gold mine in Mali, West Africa, Anglo American Corporation of
South Africa, has now estimated inferred resources of 5.07 tonnes (173,833 ounces) of gold,
located immediately to the north of the Sadiola open pit, near the small village of Farabakouta. This
gold is contained in 2.30 million tonnes of near-surface soft oxide ore averaging 2.2 g/t gold at a
cut-off of 1 g/t.
The Farabakouta drilling consisted of 105 reverse circulation holes totalling 3,184 metres drilled on
lines 100 metres apart. The drilling was carried out to determine whether sufficient soft oxide ore
exists to require the relocation of the Farabakouta village, located 600 metres to the north of the
Sadiola Hill open pit. For this purpose it was necessary to do only shallow drilling and the holes
averaged 30 metres in length. Consequently, the resources of 5.07 tonnes of gold do not take into
account any mineralization beyond such depths. In light of the positive results, SEMOS has
concluded that these resources will be mined eventually and that SEMOS, the Government of Mali,
and the village of Farabakouta have all agreed on the need to relocate the village.
The drill program was carried out in an area immediately north of the planned limits of the Sadiola
open pit over a strike length of 700 metres and a maximum width of about 650 metres. Previously,
14 widely-spaced diamond drill holes had been put down in this area showing a preliminary
inferred oxide resource of 4.5 million tonnes of ore averaging 2.0 g/t Au estimated for the 300
metre strike length north of the pit.
It is important to note that the new resource figure of five tonnes of gold within the 600 metres
north of the Sadiola pit comprises soft oxides only. It contains no estimate for hard oxide
resources, although such mineralization was encountered at the bottom of many of the holes.
Other mineralization intersected by this recent drilling but not included in the new resource estimate
consists of some higher grade material intersected by three holes at the west end and by one hole
towards the east end of the most northerly drill line. These results were not included because they
represented higher grade zones outside the main mineralized envelope and therefore their continuity
could not be confirmed. However, these good intersections combined with the northward
continuation of a gold soil anomaly, indicate a strong possibility of further mineralization to the
north.
A drilling program of deep holes will be required to outline any resources of hard oxide or sulphide
mineralization that might underlie the Farabakouta soft oxides. No timing on this program has been
fixed. Consideration will obviously also be given to further drilling to the north of Farabakouta to
test out the possible extensions to the mineralization detected in some of the northern-most holes of
the recent drilling.
Alamoutala Satellite Deposit Remodelled
Fifteen kilometres north of the Sadiola open pit, Alamoutala, a satellite deposit whose resources
had previously been calculated by Anglo American and included within Sadiola's eight million
ounce resource base, has been remodelled.
Alamoutala's inferred oxide gold resources have been revised on the basis of a better
understanding of the geology following further drilling and geophysical surveys.
The remodelled resources are contained in three discreet blocks totalling 2.5 million tonnes of
oxide ore at an average grade of 2.35 g/t Au for a gold content of six tonnes. This has been
calculated with a 0.8 g/t Au cut-off grade. The resource figures previously reported were 2.06
million tonnes at a grade of 3 g/t Au at a cut-off grade of 1 g/t Au for a gold content of
approximately six tonnes. The differences in the two estimates are due to the exclusion of sulphide
mineralization in the new estimate, to the use of geostatistics compared to the previous method of
inverse distance weighting, and to a different cut-off grade.
Four other isolated lenses of mineralization at Alamoutala have been identified but they have not
been incorporated into the resource figures because of the erratic nature of the mineralization.
The gold in the Alamoutala area is closely associated with granodiorite intrusives in marbles. Recent
geophysical surveys have successfully mapped various non-outcropping granodiorite intrusions in
the area which represent potential sites for ``blind'' gold mineralization. A program of reverse
circulation drilling is being conducted to test the best of these targets.
IAMGOLD is the premier gold exploration and development company in West Africa. Its principal
asset is a 38 percent stake in SEMOS, the company that owns the Sadiola Hill gold mine. Sadiola
Hill is a world class deposit containing approximately eight million ounces of gold reserves and
resources. Through separate joint ventures with Anglo American and Ashanti Goldfields of Ghana,
IAMGOLD is actively exploring more than 10,000 square kilometres of highly prospective ground
in four West African countries. In South America, IAMGOLD is exploring 12 concessions
covering more than 24,500 hectares in Ecuador and has established offices in Argentina and Brazil.
TSE Trading Symbol: IMG
52 Week Trading Range: Cdn. $4.75 - $8.00
Total Shares Outstanding: 64,558,818
Fully Diluted: 69,538,798
SOURCE: IAMGOLD |
