Banro boosts measured and indicated gold resources by 21 percent to 2,450,000 ounces
July 22 2005 - 9:00AM
PR Newswire (US)
Banro boosts measured and indicated gold resources by 21 percent to
2,450,000 ounces TORONTO, July 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Banro
Corporation ("Banro" or the "Company") (AMEX - "BAA"; TSX Venture
Exchange - "BAA") is pleased to announce that it has increased its
total gold resources in the Measured and Indicated category to 2.45
million ounces, an increase of 21 percent or 436,000 ounces. The
Company also has total Inferred resources of 5.56 million ounces of
gold. This resource base is located at the Company's four, wholly-
owned gold projects located on the Twangiza-Namoya gold belt in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo (the "DRC"). This upgrade in
Banro's Measured and Indicated Resource category results from
exploration work recently conducted at the Company's Namoya
project. A total of 436,000 ounces of gold (4,560,400 tonnes
grading 2.97 g/t Au) has been upgraded to the higher confidence
Indicated Mineral Resource category. In addition there are also
Inferred Mineral Resources of 657,000 ounces of gold (7,818,700
tonnes grading 2.61 g/t Au) at Namoya. Today's announcement follows
the Company's strategy of unlocking value by delineating
potentially low cost, open-pit ounces at a cost significantly below
that of the industry. It is also in line with Banro's objective of
attaining Measured and Indicated resources of 4 million ounces by
the end of 2005 and 6 million ounces by the end of 2006. The
Company plans to continuously replace resources in the Inferred
category by delineating additional resources along the known strike
of existing deposits. Namoya Mineral Resource Estimate
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Indicated Inferred
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPOSIT Tonnes Au Ounces(x) Tonnes Au Ounces(x) (g/t) (g/t)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mwendamboko 2154100 3.84 266000 3836300 2.91 359000
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kakula 1936300 2.11 131000 2915900 1.94 182000
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Namoya Summit 470000 2.58 39000 356500 2.53 29000
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Muviringu 710000 3.80 87000
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Totals 4560400 2.97 436000 7818700 2.61 657000
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ounces(x) rounded to the nearest '000 (using a 1.0 g/t Au cut-off)
The above Mineral Resource estimates come at the end of the
Company's first phase of exploration completed in June along the
Mwendamboko-Kakula- Namoya Summit-Muviringu mineralized trend at
the Namoya project. The exploration objective was to upgrade a
proportion of the previously outlined Inferred Resource by
accessing and re-sampling the extensive development of historical
adits and confirming the previous grades and thicknesses. Over 40
percent of the historical adits and trenches have been sampled with
results verifying the historical data, with little variability and
with no evidence of bias between the historical data and the
sampling and analytical methods undertaken by Banro in its
evaluation program. The Company therefore considers the historical
channel sampling, geological mapping and assaying results to have
been adequately correlated, allowing these results to be employed
in the estimation of Indicated Mineral Resources in areas where
close-spaced adits have influenced the modelling and estimation
processes. The above adit and trench sampling was undertaken at
approximately one metre intervals and the samples analysed for gold
by fire assay using a 50g sample at S.G.S.'s accredited Mwanza
Geochemical Laboratory in Tanzania. Internationally recognised
standards and blanks were inserted as part of the Company's QA/QC
analytical procedures. Gold grades have been determined using
ordinary kriging into a 3-Dimensional block model constrained by
wireframes in areas where historical adits have influenced the
modelling and estimation processes. The ore body models were
constrained within the wireframe with primary block dimensions of
10 metres along the strike and cross structure directions, and 5
metres in the vertical direction. Higher grade values for the
various mineral domains have been statistically cut in a range from
10 to 85 g/t Au with their spatial occurrence verified in relation
to the surrounding samples. Tonnages and grades are reported using
a 1.0 g/t Au cut-off. The upgrade announced today is the first in a
two-stage process of converting Inferred resource ounces at Namoya
to the Indicated category by November 2005. Banro plans to commence
a core drilling program in early August to verify the previous
drilling at Namoya with the goal of upgrading a major portion of
the remaining Inferred Resource of 657,000 ounces into the
Indicated Resource category. The Cardiff, United Kingdom office of
independent geological consultants Steffen, Robertson and Kirsten
(UK) Ltd ("S.R.K"), who undertook the previous resource
determinations for Namoya (see the Company's press release dated
February 28, 2005), has reviewed this report and concurs with its
findings. The detailed mineral resource report on Namoya will be
filed on Sedar and on the Company website within 30 days of this
release. The Mineral Resource estimates have been prepared in
accordance with the Canadian National Instrument 43-101 based on
information compiled by Banro's Mineral Resources Manager, Dan
Bansah, who is a Member of The Australasian Institute of Mining and
Metallurgy (Aus.I.M.M). Mr. Bansah has over 16 years experience in
the determination of gold mineral resources and is a Qualified
Person as defined in Canadian National Instrument 43-101.
Commenting on these results at Namoya, Peter Cowley, President and
C.E.O. of the Company, said: "It is very encouraging that the adit
sampling results at Namoya confirm the previous historical data for
the mineralization sampled by the close spaced, adit sampling
program. A core drilling program is now planned to verify the
previous drilling at Namoya, especially below the adits and for
infilling, so that a major proportion of the remaining Inferred
Resource of 657,000 ounces can be upgraded into the Indicated
Resource category. "The Company has now increased its Measured and
Indicated Resource categories by 21% to 2.45 million ounces at its
four projects in the Maniema and South Kivu Provinces. The
verification of the historical data at Namoya bodes well for the
future upgrading of the current 5.48 million ounces of Inferred
Resources on our four gold projects. Moving forward, we plan to
progressively verify the historical data, as well as locate new
zones of mineralization as we proceed with our exploration programs
outside of the known deposits." Qualified Person ----------------
The exploration results disclosed by this press release have been
reviewed, verified (including sampling, analytical and test data)
and compiled by the Company's geological staff, which includes a
"qualified person" (as such term is defined in National Instrument
43-101), Peter Cowley, F.I.M.M.M., the Company's President and
C.E.O. Banro is a Canadian-based gold exploration company focused
on the development of four major, wholly-owned gold projects along
the 210 kilometre- long Twangiza-Namoya gold belt in the South Kivu
and Maniema provinces of the DRC. Led by a proven management team
with extensive gold and African experience, Banro's strategy is to
unlock shareholder value by increasing and developing its
significant gold assets in a socially and environmentally
responsible manner. Cautionary Note to U.S. Investors: The United
States Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") permits U.S.
mining companies, in their filings with the SEC, to disclose only
those mineral deposits that a company can economically and legally
extract or produce. Certain terms are used in this press release,
such as "measured" "indicated" and "inferred resources", that the
SEC guidelines strictly prohibit U.S. registered companies from
including in their filings with the SEC. U.S. Investors are urged
to consider closely the disclosure in the Company's Form 40-F
Registration Statement, File No. 001-32399, which may be secured
from the Company, or from the SEC's website at
http://www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml. Forward-Looking Statements: This
press release contains forward-looking statements that are based on
the Company's current expectations and estimates. Forward-looking
statements 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, and include, without limitation,
statements regarding potential mineralization and resources,
exploration results and future plans and objectives of the Company.
Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks,
uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or
results to differ materially from estimated or anticipated events
or results implied or expressed in such forward-looking statements.
Factors that could cause such differences include changes in world
gold markets and equity markets, political developments in the DRC,
changes to regulations affecting the Company's activities,
uncertainties relating to the availability and costs of financing
needed in the future, the uncertainties involved in interpreting
drilling results and other ecological data and the other risks
involved in the gold exploration and development industry. Any
forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is
made and, except as may be required by applicable securities laws,
the Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update any
forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information,
future events or results or otherwise. Forward-looking statements
are not guarantees of future performance and accordingly undue
reliance should not be put on such statements due to the inherent
uncertainty therein. The TSX Venture Exchange does not accept
responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release.
DATASOURCE: Banro Corporation CONTACT: please visit our website at
http://www.banro.com/, or contact: Peter Cowley, President and
C.E.O., United Kingdom, Tel: (44) 790-454-0856; Arnold T. Kondrat,
Executive Vice-President, Toronto, Ontario, or Martin Jones,
Vice-President, Corporate Development, Toronto, Ontario, Tel: (416)
366-2221 or 1-800-714-7938.
Copyright