TIDMNGL
RNS Number : 1528X
Norseman Gold PLC
02 December 2010
Norseman Gold Plc. / Epic: NGL / Index: AIM / Sector: Mining & Exploration
2 December 2010
NORSEMAN GOLD PLC
('Norseman Gold' or 'the Company')
Development Update
Norseman Gold, the AIM-listed and ASX-listed Australian gold production and
exploration company, is pleased to announce an update on the progress of its
development projects at the Norseman Gold Project.
North Royal Open Pit
Dewatering of the North Royal Open Pit, the Company's fourth mine, has continued
with the pit now 67% dewatered. As expected, as the pit has deepened the rate
of vertical drawdown of the water has accelerated. The pumps will soon be
positioned onto a floating platform to reduce the need for frequent pump moves.
Following an extensive tendering process, a preferred contractor has been
identified and the earthmoving contract is currently being compiled and will be
executed shortly. The drill and blast contract has been awarded to Wallis
Drilling, a well-known and respected contractor, and the contract for this part
of the operation has been executed. A drill rig for the grade control in the
open pit has been mobilised to site and is drilling a programme on the surface
at the northern end of the pit.
Mobilisation of the equipment fleet and work force to site is expected in
December 2010 with first excavation to commence in the same month and first ore
hauled to the treatment plant expected in February 2010.
Recruitment of a new site based management for the North Royal Open Pit has
commenced with most positions now filled.
Surface drilling at Tiara, a potential extension to the current pit located
immediately to the east, and the follow-up to the sterilisation drilling have
been completed with assay results still to be received.
A reclassification of the North Royal Open Pit resource contained within the
Stage 1 pit shell has been undertaken. Resource estimation work was updated
with results from drilling undertaken during August and September 2010.
Drilling and resource estimation continues on areas outside the initial Stage 1
pit shell.
A further 230,000 tonnes of the inferred resource could be converted to
indicated resource, and hence probable reserve, once dewatering is complete and
when access is available to the pit floor to allow the drilling of a number of
holes on the resource to finalise the knowledge of the orebody and gain final
resource estimations.
There are some areas within the pit shell that cannot be converted due to the
difficulties of accessing appropriate drill positions around the historical pit
location.
The results of this work is summarised in the table below. Figures have been
rounded down when converting to two significant figures to prevent
overstatement.
Note:
1. Intersection selection was carried out using a 4m minimum mining width
and 0.5m edge dilution either side. Up to 2m of internal dilution was carried
within the intersections. A 0.75g/t cut-off grade was used to interpret
mineralised shapes.
2. The total resource includes 88kt at 0.42g/t for 1.2koz (64kt at 0.41g/t
for 0.9koz in reserve) of internal and edge dilution. For the purposes of
estimating total costs all mineralised material in shapes above a 0.75g/t
cut-off grade is considered as being treated due to the very high nugget effect
at North Royal.
3. This resource and reserve is only that contained within the current pit
shell as further resource estimation work continues on areas currently outside
the pit shell.
Competent Persons Statements
The compilation of information in this report, and calculation, or review, of
Reserves in this report, along with supervision of the calculation of Resources
at the Bullen and Harlequin Mines, has been undertaken by Mr Russell McBeath
BEng (Mining), who is a Member of the Australasian Institute of Mining and
Metallurgy, and the Principal Mining Engineer of the Company. Mr McBeath has
over 19 years of mining and evaluation experience in a variety of mineral
deposit styles and has sufficient experience which is relevant to the style of
mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity which
he is undertaking to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2004
Edition of the "Australasian Code for reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral
Resources and Ore Reserves". Mr McBeath, is accepting overall responsibility for
this estimate and is satisfied that the work of other contributors is
acceptable. Mr McBeath consents to the information in this report being used and
quoted by the company for reporting and other purposes in the context in which
it appears.
Resources other than those at the Bullen and Harlequin mines included in this
report were either calculated by or reviewed by Mr Jonathan Sharp BSc. MSc.
(hons), who is a Member of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy,
and the Resource Geologist for the Company. Mr Sharp has over 15 years of
Mining experience in a variety of mineral deposit styles and has sufficient
experience which is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit
under consideration and to the activity which he is undertaking to qualify as a
Competent Person as defined in the 2004 Edition of the "Australasian Code for
reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves". Mr Sharp
consents to the information in this report being used and quoted by the company
for reporting and other purposes in the context in which it appears.
Independent Reviewer
The Mineral Resource inventory and Reserves statement included in this report
has been independently reviewed and audited by Dr Spero Carras of Carras Mining
Pty Ltd, an acknowledged expert with 35 years experience in the field of vein
gold evaluation and gold within banded iron formations. Dr Carras's association
with the Norseman orebodies began in 1976.
Dr Carras is a fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and
qualifies as a Competent Person as defined in the 2004 edition of the
"Australian Code for Reporting Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore
Reserves" and consents to the inclusion of the information in the form and
context in which it appears.
OK Decline
Stoping has commenced at OK Decline, the Company's third mine, with the firing
of the first blast taking place at the end of October 2010. The ore has been
remote loaded out of the stope, hauled to the surface and treated through the
Phoenix treatment plant. The stoping production is expected to increase
steadily after December 2010 once further infrastructure installations are
complete at the mine.
Drilling has continued into the Star of Erin reef with intersections showing
mineralisation in the target zones. Assay results are still pending.
Summary
The OK Decline and North Royal Open Pit have both been advanced over the last
few months. Providing the current rate of progress continues, both mines should
supply an increasing amount of ore feed to the treatment plant.
The Company expects that once the mining and treatment of the ore from the North
Royal Open Pit has commenced that a review of the mine forecast will be
undertaken to determine the accuracy of the current forecasts.
As a result of the Company continuing to focus on implementing its long term
strategy as well as on short term production issues, it is expected that by the
June quarter 2011 the ore will be produced at such a rate that it will fill the
treatment plant to capacity. This will realise the Company's medium term goal.
Competent Persons - Consent for Release
The information in this report that relates to Exploration Results, Mineral
Resources and Ore Reserves is based on data generated by employees of Central
Norseman Gold Corporation Limited who have the relevant experience and
qualifications to qualify as competent persons.
The parts of this report that relate to Exploration Results, Mineral Resources
and Ore Reserves were compiled by Barry Cahill using that data. He is a Member
of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and has sufficient
experience which is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit
under consideration and to the activity which they are undertaking to qualify as
a Competent Person as defined in the 2004 Edition of the "Australasian Code for
Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves". He has
consented to the inclusion in the report of the matters based on this
information in the form and context in which it appears.
Significant results for drill-hole intercepts contained in this report are
considered significant because the grade by width total is equal to or greater
than 5.0 gram metres per tonne. That is if the intercept is 1.0 g/t gold over
5.0 m, 5.0 g/t gold over 1.0 m, 50 g/t gold over 0.1 m etc. it is considered
significant.
Quoted resources and reserves are as per the Company's market release of 25
August 2010 and as tabulated below.
TABLE 1: March 2010 Open Pit & Underground Resource and Reserve Summary
+-----------+------------+-------+-----------+-----------+-------+-----------+------------+-------+-----------+
| Summary | Open Pit - 31 Mar | Underground - 31 | Total |
| for | 2010 | Mar 2010 | |
| Norseman | | | |
+ +--------------------------------+-------------------------------+--------------------------------+
| | Tonnes |Grade | Ounces | Tonnes |Grade | Ounces | Tonnes |Grade | Ounces |
| | | g/t | gold | | g/t | gold | | | gold |
| | | gold | | | gold | | | g/t | |
| | | | | | | | | gold | |
+-----------+------------+-------+-----------+-----------+-------+-----------+------------+-------+-----------+
| Reserve - | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 230,000 | 12.0 | 89,000 | 230,000 | 12.0 | 89,000 |
| Proved | | | | | | | | | |
+-----------+------------+-------+-----------+-----------+-------+-----------+------------+-------+-----------+
| Reserve - | 440,000 | 3.2 | 45,000 | 1,100,000 | 7.9 | 280,000 | 1,500,000 | 6.8 | 330,000 |
| Probable | | | | | | | | | |
+-----------+------------+-------+-----------+-----------+-------+-----------+------------+-------+-----------+
| Total | 440,000 | 3.2 | 45,000 | 1,300,000 | 8.9 | 370,000 | 1,700,000 | 7.7 | 420,000 |
| Reserve | | | | | | | | | |
+-----------+------------+-------+-----------+-----------+-------+-----------+------------+-------+-----------+
| Resource | 5,000,000 | 0.7 | 110,000 | 410,000 | 14.4 | 190,000 | 5,400,000 | 1.7 | 300,000 |
| - | | | | | | | | | |
| Measured | | | | | | | | | |
+-----------+------------+-------+-----------+-----------+-------+-----------+------------+-------+-----------+
| Resource | 3,600,000 | 2.6 | 300,000 | 2,200,000 | 10.9 | 770,000 | 5,800,000 | 5.9 | 1,100,000 |
| - | | | | | | | | | |
| Indicated | | | | | | | | | |
+-----------+------------+-------+-----------+-----------+-------+-----------+------------+-------+-----------+
| Resource | 4,100,000 | 5.8 | 760,000 | 6,200,000 | 8.0 | 1,600,000 | 10,000,000 | 7.5 | 2,400,000 |
| - | | | | | | | | | |
| Inferred | | | | | | | | | |
+-----------+------------+-------+-----------+-----------+-------+-----------+------------+-------+-----------+
| Total | 13,000,000 | 2.9 | 1,200,000 | 8,800,000 | 8.9 | 2,600,000 | 21,000,000 | 5.3 | 3,800,000 |
| Resource | | | | | | | | | |
+-----------+------------+-------+-----------+-----------+-------+-----------+------------+-------+-----------+
Notes:
1. As is required the Resources and Reserves are calculated and reported in
accordance with the Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results,
Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves, The JORC Code, 2004 Edition.
2. Resources are inclusive of reserves.
3. Resources and reserves are quoted to two significant figures so
inconsistencies may exist within the table.
Forward-Looking Statements
This regulatory news release contains certain forward-looking statements, which
include assumptions with respect to future plans, results and capital
expenditures. The reader is cautioned that assumptions used in the preparation
of such information may prove to be incorrect. All such forward-looking
statements involve substantial known and unknown risks and uncertainties,
certain of which are beyond the Company's control. Please refer to the
Company's Admission Document available from the Company's web site for a list of
risk factors. The Company's actual results could differ materially from those
expressed in, or implied by, these forward-looking statements and, accordingly,
no assurances can be given that any of the events anticipated by the
forward-looking statements will transpire or occur, or if any of them do so,
what benefits the Company will derive there from. All subsequent
forward-looking statements, whether written or oral, attributable to the Company
or persons acting on its behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by
these cautionary statements. Furthermore, the forward-looking statements
contained in this news release are made as at the date of this news release.
* * ENDS * *
For further information visit www.norsemangoldplc.com or contact:
Barry Cahill Norseman Gold Plc.
Tel: +61 (0) 8 9473 2200
Guy Wilkes Ocean Equities Ltd
Tel: 020 7786 4370
Nandita Sahgal Seymour Pierce Ltd Tel:
020 7107 8000
Jeremy Stephenson Seymour Pierce Ltd Tel: 020
7107 8000
Hugo de Salis St Brides Media & Finance Ltd Tel: 020
7236 1177
E-mail investors@ngold.com.au
Note to editors:
Norseman Gold plc. is an AIM listed and ASX listed Australian gold production
company, which acquired the Norseman Gold Project in May 2007, Australia's
longest continually running gold operation. The Norseman Gold Project is
located in the Eastern Goldfields of Western Australia in the highly prospective
Norseman-Wiluna greenstone belt, 725km east of Perth and 186km from Kalgoorlie.
Gold was first found on the Norseman field in 1894 and over the last 65 years,
it has produced over 5.5 million oz of gold. The project is currently producing
from three high-grade narrow-vein underground mines - the Bullen, the Harlequin
and the OK Declines. The Company has also commenced development of its fourth
mine, the North Royal Open Pit. Currently, it has a total resource inventory of
3.8 million oz of gold at an average grade of 5.3 g/t.
The tenements cover a 2,180 sq km area centred on the Norseman Township. The
landholding comprises 221 tenements consisting of 16 Exploration Licences, 107
Mining Licences, 64 Prospecting Licences, 15 Miscellaneous Licences, 5
Exploration Licence Applications, 13 Prospecting Licence Applications and 1
Mining Lease Application.
The Company's strategy is focused on extending the mine life through the
conversion of resources into reserves and identifying additional resources and
obtaining additional ore for the operating mill through the development of a
fourth and subsequent mines.
The current mill capacity is 720,000 tonnes per annum and, at capacity, the
treatment plant can produce up to 140,000 ounces of recovered gold.
The Company has fifteen advanced resource projects under review of which three
have pre-development work being undertaken on them. It is anticipated that at
least one if not all the pre-development projects will develop into mining
propositions.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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