Banro moves ahead with Bankable Feasibility Study of Twangiza and outlines intention to pursue a heap leach option at Namoya
July 16 2008 - 10:29AM
PR Newswire (US)
TORONTO, July 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Banro Corporation
("Banro" or the "Company") (AMEX - "BAA"; TSX - "BAA") is pleased
to announce that, based on the encouraging results of the
Pre-Feasibility Study of its wholly-owned Twangiza gold project as
announced on July 7, 2008, the Company plans to move aggressively
toward completion of a Bankable Feasibility Study of Twangiza by
December 2008. Twangiza is the most advanced of Banro's four
wholly-owned gold projects, which are located on the 210
kilometre-long Twangiza-Namoya gold belt in the Democratic Republic
of the Congo (the "DRC"). The Company is also pleased to report on
the ongoing Pre-Feasibility at its Namoya project. The
Pre-Feasibility Study of Namoya is being undertaken by SENET
Engineering, as well as a number of other independent consultants.
Based on recent positive, metallurgical testwork results undertaken
on Mwendamboko, the main Namoya deposit, the Company has decided to
undertake similar testwork on the other deposits of Namoya Summit,
Kakula and Muviringu to determine their suitability for heap
leaching. The Company has decided to pursue a study of the heap
leach option at Namoya since it could have a number of advantages
over the CIL option, including: - lower capital cost; - lower
operating cost profile, primarily as a function of lower power
requirements; - earlier delivery of gold production and cash flow
for the Company as compared with the conventional CIL option owing
largely to the much reduced lead time for construction and
infrastructure requirements; and - the Namoya topographical terrain
is well suited for a heap leach facility. The heap leach option
would also give the Company the flexibility to introduce a smaller
mill and a conventional CIL mill circuit after the open pit
resources have been exhausted in order to treat the higher grade
sulphide, underground resources. It is also the Company's view that
pursuing the heap leach option would help to de-risk the Company's
asset base through achieving early production status in the region.
The expected completion date for the bulk sampling metallurgical
testwork on the oxide and transitional material from the four ore
bodies at Namoya is the end of September 2008. The Company expects
to announce the results of the Pre-Feasibility Study for Namoya in
November 2008 and to then progress toward completion of a Bankable
Feasibility Study. The additional testwork at Namoya is not
expected to delay construction and commissioning of the Namoya
project from the original timetable as contemplated using the
conventional CIL approach, owing to the fact that the heap leach
option does not rely on the completion of the N2 highway upgrade
and other associated road access, which is critical for CIL, but
not so for a heap leach option. Additional information with respect
to the Namoya project is contained in the technical report dated
August 17, 2007 and entitled "Preliminary Assessment NI 43-101
Technical Report, Namoya Gold Project, Maniema Province, Democratic
Republic of Congo". A copy of this report can be obtained from
SEDAR at http://www.sedar.com/ and EDGAR at http://www.sec.gov/.
Qualified Person ---------------- The technical information in this
press release has been prepared under the supervision of Mr. Daniel
K. Bansah, who is a member of the Australasian Institute of Mining
and Metallurgy (Aus.I.M.M), the Company's Vice President,
Exploration and a "qualified person" (as such term is defined in
National Instrument 43-101). Banro is a Canadian-based gold
exploration company focused on the development of four major,
wholly-owned gold projects, each with mining licenses, 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 by the Company, 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 # 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. All statements,
other than statements of historical fact, that address activities,
events or developments that the Company believes, expects or
anticipates will or may occur in the future (including, without
limitation, statements relating to future production, revenue, cash
flow and costs, estimated project economics and the Company's
exploration and development plans and objectives with respect to
its projects) are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking
statements reflect the current expectations or beliefs of the
Company based on information currently available to the Company.
Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and
uncertainties that may cause the actual results of the Company to
differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking
statements, and even if such actual results are realized or
substantially realized, there can be no assurance that they will
have the expected consequences to, or effects on the Company.
Factors that could cause actual results or events to differ
materially from current expectations include, among other things:
uncertainty of estimates of capital and operating costs, production
estimates and estimated economic return; the possibility that
actual circumstances will differ from the estimates and assumptions
used in the Twangiza Pre-Feasibility Study and mine plan; failure
to establish estimated mineral resources or reserves; fluctuations
in gold prices and currency exchange rates; inflation; gold
recoveries being less than those indicated by the metallurgical
test work carried out to date (there can be no assurance that gold
recoveries in small scale laboratory tests will be duplicated in
large tests under on-site conditions or during production); changes
in equity markets; political developments in the DRC; the
possibility that future exploration results will not be consistent
with the Company's expectation; 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
geological data; and the other risks disclosed under the heading
"Risk Factors" and elsewhere in the Company's annual information
form dated March 28, 2008 filed on SEDAR at http://www.sedar.com/.
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. Although the Company
believes that the assumptions inherent in the forward-looking
statements are reasonable, 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. DATASOURCE: Banro Corporation CONTACT: please
visit our website at http://www.banro.com/, or contact: Mike
Prinsloo, President and C.E.O., South Africa, Tel: + 27 (0) 11
958-2885; 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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