Cluff Gold plc
("Cluff" or the "Company")
Baomahun Resource Update
CLUFF
GOLD INCREASES MEASURED/INDICATED MINERAL RESOURCES
AT BAOMAHUN, SIERRA LEONE, BY 21% TO OVER 1,000,000 OUNCES
OF GOLD; TOTAL MINERAL RESOURCES INCLUDING INFERRED
INCREASE TO 1,460,000 OUNCES OF GOLD
Cluff Gold (AIM - "CLF"), the
West African Gold Mining Company, is pleased to announce the following
updated JORC compliant Mineral Resource estimates at its Baomahun
Gold Project in Sierra Leone:
·
Measured
and Indicated Mineral Resources have increased by
21% to more than one million ounces of gold (10.50 million
tonnes grading 3.1 g/t Au)
·
Total
Measured, Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resources have increased to 1,460,000 ounces
of gold (14,640,000 tonnes grading 3.1 g/t Au)
·
Due
to the encouraging higher grade deeper drilling results, a combined open pit
and underground scoping study is to be undertaken
·
Longer
mine life expected from the planned larger combined open pit and underground
operation
·
Metallurgical
testwork now completed to feasibility stage level,
indicates high gold recoveries using conventional milling processes with
no adverse characteristics
This increase
in the Mineral Resources at Baomahun results
from analysis of an
additional 55 diamond drill core holes that has been
completed since the previous Baomahun mineral
resource determination (see the Company's press release
dated 25 June 2008).
Commenting on
these results, Mr. Douglas Chikohora,
Technical Director of Cluff Gold plc said, "We
are encouraged with the progress at Baomahun. The
higher confidence Measured and Indicated Resource categories have increased
by 21% and now account for over 70% of the total resources. The higher
grade mineralisation intersected at depth in holes such as DDH 228A which
intersected 48 metres
grading at 5.52 g/t Au from a vertical depth from surface of about
350m which was announced on 17th July 2008 have
given an underground dimension to Baomahun. We have
therefore decided to evaluate the potential of a combined open pit and
underground operation with a much longer life. "
Table I below summarises the current Mineral Resource estimates at Baomahun, using a 1g/t Au cut off:
Baomahun Gold Project JORC Resource,
November 2008
Resource
|
Resource
|
Tonnage
|
Grade
|
Gold Content
|
Category
|
Area
|
(t)
|
(g/t Au)
|
(Oz)
|
Measured
|
EASTERN
|
1,630,000
|
3.6
|
191,000
|
FOLD
|
136,000
|
2.2
|
9,000
|
CENTRAL
|
408,000
|
3.7
|
49,000
|
WESTERN1
|
222,000
|
2.5
|
18,000
|
WESTERN2
|
777,000
|
3.2
|
79,000
|
|
3,173,000
|
3.4
|
346,000
|
|
|
|
|
|
Indicated
|
EASTERN
|
2,483,000
|
3.0
|
237,000
|
FOLD
|
657,000
|
2.9
|
62,000
|
CENTRAL
|
1,403,000
|
3.7
|
166,000
|
WESTERN1
|
873,000
|
2.9
|
82,000
|
WESTERN2
|
1,900,000
|
2.5
|
153,000
|
|
|
7,316,000
|
3.00
|
700,000
|
|
|
|
|
|
Inferred
|
EASTERN
|
1,890,000
|
3.5
|
212,000
|
FOLD
|
555,000
|
2.9
|
52,000
|
CENTRAL
|
677,000
|
2.9
|
63,000
|
WESTERN1
|
229,000
|
2.7
|
20,000
|
WESTERN2
|
791,000
|
2.4
|
62,000
|
|
|
4,142,000
|
3.0
|
409,000
|
|
|
|
|
|
All categories
|
All Areas
|
14,631,000
|
3.01
|
1,455,000
|
(Using a 1.0 g/t Au cut-off.
Tonnes and
Ounces rounded to the nearest '000 )
Metallurgical
testwork, which included recovery and comminution tests, has now been completed to feasibility
stage level. Results obtained from these tests have confirmed preliminary
earlier findings that high gold recoveries can be achieved using a
conventional direct cyanidation processing
method. Comminution test results
show that the mineralised material at Baomahun
to require conventional milling with only medium energy requirements.
The Baomahun Gold Project covers an area of about 137
km sq and is located 180 kilometres east of Freetown, in the Southern
Province of Sierra Leone. The Baomahun licence
area covers more than 12
kilometres of prospective strike along the Kangari Hills which is composed of Archaean greenstone belt terrain consisting
of banded iron formation (BIF) Gold mineralisation in the
drilled areas is intimately associated with the BIF and other lithologies in close proximity to the BIF. Accordingly,
future exploration and drilling will continue to use the BIF as a marker
horizon for auriferous zones along the belt.
Gold
grades were estimated using ordinary kriging.
The mineralisation models were constrained within the wireframe with primary
block dimensions of 10
metres along the strike and cross structure directions,
and 10 metres
in the vertical direction. Higher-grade values have been statistically capped
to between 20 g/t Au and 40 g/t Au based on the mineralized domain. The
improved geological knowledge, coupled with the increased data density, the
continuity of the mineralisation and the increased reliability of the database,
have allowed resources to be classified with higher confidence. Tonnages and
grades are reported using a 1.0 g/t Au cut-off.
Drill cores used for assaying
were sampled at a maximum of one metre intervals and were cut with a
diamond saw with one-half of the core placed in sealed bags and sent to Alex
Stuart preparation facility in Baomahun, Sierra
Leone. The core samples were then crushed
with half the sample then being pulverised down to minus 75 microns. A portion
of the pulverised sample was then shipped to the SGS Laboratory (which is
independent of the Company) in Guenea where the
samples were analysed for gold by fire assay using a 50 g sample. As part of the
Company's QA/QC procedures, internationally recognized standards, duplicates
and blanks were inserted into the sample batches.
The Mineral Resource estimates disclosed in this announcement
have been prepared in accordance with the 2004 edition of the
"Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources
and Ore Reserves (JORC Code)" and have been carried out on behalf of the
Company by Andrew Owusu Asante who is a Member of
Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM).
Mr Asante has reviewed and approved the contents of this announcement.
Douglas D Chikohora has reviewed and approved the
information contained in this announcement. Douglas D Chikohora, Msc, (MIMMM,
CEng) is Technical Director of the Company.
For
further information, please contact:
Cluff Gold plc
J.G. Cluff/Douglas Chikohora
Tel: +44 (0)
20 7340 9790
W H Ireland
David
Youngman/Katy Mitchell
Tel: +44 (0)
161 832 6644
Farm Street
Communications
Simon
Robinson / Ana Ribeiro
Tel: +44 (0)
7887985671 / +44 (0) 07980 321505
Notes
to Editors:
About
Cluff Gold
Cluff Gold plc is focused on the
identification, acquisition and development of gold deposits in West Africa that are amenable to open-pit mining and
low cost production techniques.
The
Company has made significant progress since its admission to AIM in December
2004, increasing gold resources across its projects, expanding the project
portfolio and broadening the investor base to an increasingly international
audience.
BAOMAHUN,
SIERRA LEONE
The
Baomahun Gold Project covers an area of about 137 km2 and is located
about 180 kilometres
east of Freetown,
in the Southern Province of Sierra Leone. The geological setting is similar to
the Lake Victoria goldfields in Tanzania.
The
Baomahun licence area covers more than 12 kilometres of
prospective strike along the Kangari Hills which is
composed of Archaean greenstone belt terrain
consisting of banded iron formation (BIF) Gold mineralisation in the drilled
areas is intimately associated with the BIF and other lithologies
in close proximity to the BIF. Accordingly, future exploration and drilling
will continue to use the BIF as a marker horizon for auriferous zones along the
belt.
A
measured and indicated JORC compliant mineral resource of 867,000 ounces of
gold (8,933,000 tonnes grading 2.9 g/t Au) and inferred JORC compliant
mineral resource of 486,000
ounces of gold (5,083,000 tonnes grading 3.0 g/t
Au). A total JORC compliant mineral resource (measured,
indicated and inferred) of 1,353,000 ounces
of gold (14,016,000 tonnes grading 3.0 g/t Au) has so far been delineated.
On
17 July 2008, the Company announced that the Government of
Sierra Leone had granted Baomahun Gold
Limited, a 100 per cent owned subsidiary of the Company, a Mining Lease
for 25 years over an area of 59.85sq kilometres.
Cluff Gold now holds 100 per cent of the Baomahun Gold Project. Cluff
Gold announced on 4 August 2008 that it had acquired the
outstanding 40 per cent interest in the project for US$21.8 million which was
satisfied by the issue of 12,390,909 ordinary shares in the Company.
Mt. Yaoure, Cote d'Ivoire
The
Mt. Yaoure permit is located 40km northwest of
Yamoussoukro, the political capital of Cote d'Ivoire, and covers a surface area
of 417km(2) including a 50
km2 mining permit. The licence area
includes the Angovia gold mine which operated between
1998 and 2003. The mine reportedly produced over 180,000 ounces of
gold during this period by heap leaching some 2 million tonnes of oxide
material. The infrastructure in the area is good and includes a hydroelectric
dam six kilometres from the Angovia mine site.. A measured and indicated JORC resource of 451 000 ounces and
an inferred JORC resource of 44 000 ounces has so far been delineated.
Recently,
the company announced the commencement of gold production at Angovia at an annualized rate of 40 000 ounces of gold
by the end of this year.
Kalsaka, Burkina Faso
Kalsaka is located approximately 150km
north west of Ouagadougou, the capital
of Burkina Faso.
A measured and indicated JORC resource of 634 000 ounces and
inferred JORC resource of 157 000 ounces has been delineated so far. The
resource has been demonstrated, by a feasibility study, to be technically
amenable to open-pit mining and processing via heap leaching. Water,
environmental and mining permits for the project have been granted. The mining
permit is valid for twenty years.
Recently,
the company announced the commencement of gold production at Kalsaka at an annualized rate of 60 000 ounces of gold
by the end of this year.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock
Exchange