TIDMAVM
RNS Number : 5804P
Avocet Mining PLC
05 October 2011
5 October 2011
AVOCET MINING PLC
INATA MINERAL RESERVE INCREASED BY 40% TO 1.46 MILLION
OUNCES
Avocet Mining PLC ("Avocet" or "the Company") announces a new
Proven and Probable Ore Reserve ("Mineral Reserve") estimate at the
Inata mine of 23.6 Mt at a grade of 1.93 g/t Au for 1,462,500
ounces of gold as at 30 June 2011. This extends the mine life to
approximately 2020 at the current life of mine average annual
production of 2.7 Mt of ore processed.
The new Mineral Reserve represents an increase of 417,200 ounces
or 40 per cent since the last reported Mineral Reserve as at 31
December 2010 of 15.4 Mt at a grade of 2.11 g/t Au for 1,045,300
ounces, before taking into account depletion due to mining.
After allowing for depletion of 92,000 ounces between 31
December 2010 and 30 June 2011, the new Mineral Reserve represents
a gross increase of 509,200 ounces or 49 per cent.
The table below reports the Mineral Reserve beneath the 30 June
2011 topographic surface and above a 0.7 g/t Au economic cut off
grade. It reflects an open pit optimisation study based on revised
cash costs of US$1.51/t for mining and US$22.74/t for
administration and processing; and compared to previous cash costs
of US$1.20/t for mining and US$22.15/t for administration and
processing. The table below also uses a gold spot price of US$1,200
per ounce of gold, and compares with US$1,000 per ounce used for
the previous Mineral Reserve and current gold price of
approximately US$1,650.
Metric Grade Gold
tones (g/t Au) ounces Attributable ounces(1)
---------- ----------- ---------- ---------- -----------------------
In-pit Ore Reserves
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Proven 14,468,000 1.92 891,000 802,000
---------- ----------- ---------- ---------- -----------------------
Probable 8,596,000 1.98 547,600 492,800
---------- ----------- ---------- ---------- -----------------------
ROM Stockpiles
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Proven 494,000 1.50 23,900 21,500
---------- ----------- ---------- ---------- -----------------------
Total 23,557,000 1.93 1,462,500 1,316,200
---------- ----------- ---------- ---------- -----------------------
1) The government of Burkina Faso owns 10% of Societe des Mines
de Belahouro SA which owns and operates the Inata Gold Mine
2) Mineral Reserves are reported in compliance with Canadian
National Instrument 43-101
The new Mineral Reserve is the result of a thorough economic
analysis and revised pit design that is based on the recently
announced Mineral Resource for the Inata mine license area of 3.36
million ounces, including 2.54 million ounces of Measured and
Indicated Resources. This analysis and design has facilitated
extensions to all of the pits at Inata. The Inata North pit in
particular has increased in depth and now represents approximately
50 per cent of Inata's total Mineral Reserve. The other five pits,
where mineralisation is closer to surface, have extended along
strike and/or depth. The Minfo Trend in particular includes zones
of Inferred Mineral Resources, which cannot yet be used for open
pit designs or inclusion as Mineral Reserves.
As previously relayed, a further update on the Mineral Reserve
is expected in Q1 2012 following completion of outstanding drilling
in the fourth quarter of 2011 and the inclusion of approximately
16,000 assays from the 2010-2011 drilling programme that had not
been received at the time of the latest Mineral Resource
update.
The increase announced today supports management's objective of
further increasing the production at the Inata Mine from 165,000
ounces per annum to a preliminary target of 245,000 ounces per
annum through the construction of additional processing
capacity.
Commenting on the Mineral Reserve upgrade at Inata, Brett
Richards, Chief Executive Officer for Avocet, stated:
"The anticipated ongoing growth in Mineral Resources and Mineral
Reserves at Inata demonstrates the high quality of this asset and
provides Avocet with a solid cornerstone for our expansion plans
both within the Inata mining license area, as well as in the
greater Belahouro region."
The parts of this press release pertaining to the Mineral
Reserve estimate were reviewed by R. Dennis Bergen, P. Eng.,
Associate Principal Mining Engineer, Roscoe Postle Associates Inc,
a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101.
For further information please contact:
Avocet Buchanan Ambrian J.P. Morgan Arctic SEB Enskilda
Mining Partners Cazenove Securities
PLC Limited
Financial NOMAD & Lead Broker Financial Market Maker
PR Joint Adviser
Consultants Broker & Market
Maker
Brett Bobby Morse Samantha Michael Arne Fredrik
Richards, James Harrison Wentworth-Stanley Wenger Cappelen
CEO Mike Strong Jen Neil Passmore Petter
Norris, FD Boorer Bakken
Angela
Parr, IR
+44 20 7766 +44 20 7466 +44 20 +44 20 7588 +47 2101 +47 2100
7674 5000 +44 78 7634 2828 3100 8500
7260 4783 4700
www.avocet. www.buchana www.ambri www.jpmorgancazen www.arctic www.sebenskilda
co.uk n.uk.com an.com ove.com sec.no .no
Notes to Editors
Avocet Mining PLC ("Avocet" or "the Company") is a gold mining
and exploration company listed on the AIM market of the London
Stock Exchange (Ticker: AVM.L) and the Oslo Bors (Ticker: AVM.OL).
The Company's principal activities are gold mining and exploration
in Burkina Faso (as 90 per cent owner of the Inata gold mine and
100 per cent owner of 8 exploration licences in the Belahouro
region surrounding Inata) and exploration in Guinea.
In December 2010 Avocet announced that it had signed a binding
agreement for the conditional sale of its South East Asian assets
to J & Partners L.P., a private company, for US$200 million. To
date US$197 million of the total consideration has been
received.
The substantial completion of this transaction has left Avocet
as a West African gold producer and explorer, with a clear strategy
for growth in that region.
The Inata deposit presently comprises a Mineral Resource of 3.36
million ounces and a Mineral Reserve of 1.46 million ounces. Inata
poured its first gold in December 2009 and has now reached a
production rate in excess of 13,500 ounces per month. Other assets
in West Africa include exploration permits in Burkina Faso (the
most advanced prospect within Belahouro being the Souma trend, some
20 kilometres from Inata, with a Mineral Resource of 561,100
ounces), Guinea (the most advanced being the Tri-K gold exploration
project with a Mineral Resource of 1.10 million ounces) and
Mali.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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