Fantastic news - GEOMAQUE INCREASES VUELTAS DEL RIO GOLD RESOURCE BY 84% TO 922,000 OUNCES
Attention Business Editors:
GEOMAQUE INCREASES VUELTAS DEL RIO GOLD RESOURCE BY 84% TO 922,000 OUNCES
PHASE TWO STEP-OUT AND INFILL DRILLING TO BEGIN IN MAY
TSE Symbol: GEO
TORONTO, April 15 /CNW/ - Geomaque Explorations Ltd. is pleased to report
a significant increase in the resource at its Vueltas del Rio deposit in
northwestern Honduras to 922,000 ounces of gold. This interim resource
estimate is based on results from drilling to January 31, 1998, and represents
an increase of 84% over the 500,000 ounce resource estimated prior to the
Company's acquisition of the property.
To date, the Company has drilled 294 holes. The majority of drilling has
been completed at an average spacing of 20 metres, resulting in 81% of the
922,000 ounce resource being classed as measured and indicated. Additional
step-out drilling to further increase the resource, and infill drilling to
upgrade the inferred resource is scheduled to begin in May.
The makeup of this internal resource estimate is as follows:
----------------------------------------
Uncut Cut(x)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Grade Contained Grade Contained
Class Tonnes (g/t) ounces (g/t) ounces
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Measured and
indicated 9,675,000 2.39 744,000 1.62 503,000
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Inferred 2,932,000 1.89 178,000 1.59 150,000
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total Resource 12,607,000 2.27 922,000 1.61 653,000
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
(x) High grades are cut to 20 g/t in the San Juan Zone and 25 g/t in the
Main Zone, based on a study by Roscoe Postle Associates.
Of the 744,000 ounces classed as measured and indicated, approximately
50% is contained in oxide mineralization and 50% in primary mineralization,
all of which is heap leachable with expected recoveries in excess of 70%.
Geomaque's drill program is focused on defining near-surface
mineralization to estimate mineable reserves for a feasibility study which is
expected to be completed before year end. The majority of this interim
resource lies within 100 metres of surface, with most of the measured and
indicated material within 50 metres of surface.
The Vueltas del Rio deposit remains open at depth and to the east and
west along strike. Exploration drilling in phase two of the drill program will
concentrate on defining mineralization in previously undrilled areas of the
deposit located between the Main and San Juan zones, and to the west of the
San Roberto zone.
''Using a tightly-spaced drill pattern from the outset has resulted in
the majority of the resource being classed as measured and indicated, which
will enable us to quickly upgrade resource ounces to reserves,'' said Phillip
Walford, Vice-President, Exploration. ''This resource confirms that Vueltas
del Rio is a very robust deposit with significant upside, which we expect to
be mining in 1999.''
''The results of this first phase of drilling have exceeded our
expectations,'' said John Paterson, President and Chief Executive Officer.
''When we acquired Vueltas del Rio, we were anticipating a 40,000 ounce per
year production rate; this interim resource justifies a production rate of
70,000 ounces per year at Vueltas del Rio.''
San Francisco Mine
Optimization of the San Francisco Mine is ongoing, and the Company
recently installed an additional secondary crusher and reconfigured its
crusher circuit to raise throughput to 300,000 tonnes per month. Since the
reconfiguration, the crusher has produced in excess of the budgeted rate of
10,000 tonnes per day.
Geomaque Explorations Ltd. is an international gold mining and
exploration company producing gold from its 100%-owned San Francisco Mine in
the State of Sonora, Mexico, and exploring for gold in Latin America.
-30-
For further information: please contact Sean Stokes, Manager, Investor
Relations, (416) 956-7470, e-mail:sstokes@geomaque.com,
geomaque.com
GEOMAQUE EXPLORATIONS LTD. has 18 releases in this database. |
