Banro Commences 7,000 Metre Core Drilling Program on its Namoya Project
August 17 2005 - 9:01AM
PR Newswire (US)
TORONTO, Aug. 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Banro Corporation
("Banro" or the "Company") (AMEX - "BAA"; TSX Venture Exchange -
"BAA") is pleased to announce that it has commenced a 7,000 metre
core drilling program on its wholly-owned Namoya project located
along the Twangiza-Namoya gold belt in the Democratic Republic of
the Congo (the "DRC"). The objectives of this core drilling program
are to upgrade the remaining Inferred Mineral Resource of 657,000
ounces of gold (7.818 million tonnes grading 2.61 g/T Au) into the
Measured and Indicated categories and to delineate additional
resources. This program follows the previous adit sampling program
at Namoya, which resulted in the conversion of 436,000 ounces of
gold (4.560 million tonnes grading 2.97 g/T) from the Inferred to
the higher confidence Indicated Mineral Resource category. (See
Banro's press release dated 22 July 2005, which is filed on SEDAR).
Two core rigs have now commenced the 7,000 metre program, which
will consist of approximately 40 drill holes. These holes, which
are spaced at approximately 40 metre intervals along strike with an
average inclination of minus 50 degrees, are being undertaken in
areas where the previous adit sampling spacing was inadequate to
convert Inferred Mineral Resources into the Indicated and Measured
categories. The average length of these holes will be 110 metres,
with a maximum depth of 200 metres. It is estimated that this
initial drilling program on the Mwendamboko, Kakula and Namoya
prospects will be completed within the next two to three months.
The Company believes that this work, together with the addition of
new ounces, will support the commencement of scoping and
pre-feasibility studies at Namoya. Additional exploration is also
being undertaken at Namoya to locate new prospects within the
concession area. This is already proving successful, with
exploration now being focused to the northeast of the known
Mwendamboko-Kakula- Namoya mineralized trend on a new prospect
area. Commenting on the commencement of drilling, Peter Cowley,
President and C.E.O. of the Company, said: "We expect that this
core drilling program will verify the previous drilling at Namoya,
especially below the adits which were recently sampled, so that a
major portion of the remaining Inferred Resource of 657,000 ounces
can be upgraded into the Indicated Resource category. We are also
encouraged by the identification of a new mineralized zone within
the Namoya concession which could result in the delineation of
additional mineral resources." "Meanwhile, the Company is
accelerating its exploration activities along the Twangiza-Namoya
gold belt. Work is continuing at Lugushwa and we plan to begin
exploration at Twangiza by the end of September. Drilling is
expected to commence on both the Lugushwa and Twangiza projects
during the fourth quarter of 2005." 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. Qualified Person
Peter Cowley, F.I.M.M.M., Banro's President and C.E.O. and a
"qualified person" as defined in National instrument 43-101,
reviewed the technical information in this release. 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
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