SearchGold Resources Inc. (TSXV: RSG)(Frankfurt:S1O.F - News)("SearchGold") is pleased to announce it has received an independent, 43-101 compliant, Mineral Resource and Mineral Reserve estimate for Zone A on its Bakoudou-Magnima Gold Project located in Gabon, Africa. The estimates were prepared as part of the bankable feasibility study completed by Managem, SearchGold's majority partner on the project.
The Bakoudou's Zone A mining project foresees the construction of an open pit gold mine with a projected mine life of 3.5 years. It will produce approximately 40,000 ounces of gold per year over the life of the project from a gravity concentrating plant processing near surface saprolite gold mineralization.
According to the feasibility study, Bakoudou's Zone A holds a Measured and Indicated Resource of 230,000 ounces of gold including a Proven and Probable Reserve of 150,000 ounces of gold. These reported figures represent total reserves and resources contained in Zone A owned by Ressources Golden Gram Gabon SARL ("REG"). As of today, SearchGold owns 36% of REG and as part of the Managem-SearchGold Joint Venture Agreement, SearchGold's ownership of REG will stand at 27% once regulatory documentation following the acceptance the bankable feasibility study is completed.
The Mineral Reserve estimate was prepared by Reminex, an independent Moroccan Engineering Firm, and is based on a Mineral Resource estimate audited by Systemes Geostat International Inc. ("Geostat") of Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Highlights of the Managem Feasibility Study
Mineral Reserve Estimate:
- Proven Mineral Reserve:
- 0.58 million tonnes grading 2.54 g/t gold (47,600 ounces)
- Probable Mineral Reserve:
- 1.12 million tonnes grading 2.98 g/t gold (107,100 ounces)
Mineral Resource Estimate :
- Measured Mineral Resource:
- 0.53 million tonnes grading 2.84 g/t gold (48,400 ounces)
- Indicated Mineral Resource:
- 1.87 million tonnes grading 3.06 g/t gold (184,000 ounces)
Commenting on the results of the Managem feasibility study, Philippe Giaro, President and CEO stated: "The development objective for Bakoudou-Magnima has always been to establish the potential of the property well beyond what Zone A can deliver. This revised resource estimate enables us to confirm the presence of a critical mass of metal that we intend to use as a starting point to mine the area. Recent surface results validate our initial theory that there should be additional gold zones within a 10 km radius of Bakoudou's Zone A and the newly defined Lekodo anomaly, located south of Zone A increases the length of the Bakoudou Gold Corridor to 6 km."
Bakoudou Zone A Mineral Reserve and Mineral Resource Estimate Summary
The April 30, 2008 Mineral Resource and Mineral Reserve Statement for Bakoudou's Zone A is summarized in the following table :
(i) Notes: Reported figures represent total reserves and resources
contained in Zone A owned by Ressources Golden Gram Gabon SARL ("REG").
SearchGold owns 36% of REG. Mineral resources include mineral reserves.
Mineral reserves are reported at a cut-off of 0.55 g/t gold within a
pit shell optimized using a gold price of US$700 per ounce and
metallurgical recovery of 88 percent. Mineral resources are reported at
a cut-off of 0.5 g/t gold. All figures have been rounded to reflect the
relative accuracy of the estimates. Mineral resources are not reserves
and do not have demonstrated economic viability.
Methodology
In June 2007, Reminex engaged Geostat to Audit the Mineral Resource estimate prepared by Reminex on Bakoudou's Zone A in the context of the bankable feasibility study.
The independent Mineral Resource and Reserves estimates are reported in accordance with Canadian Securities Administrator's National Instrument 43-101 and conforms to generally accepted Canadian Institute of Mining ("CIM") "Estimation of Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves Best Practices" Guidelines. A complete National Instrument 43-101 Technical Report will be filed on Sedar within 45 days of release of this press release.
The audited Mineral Resource statement is based on a total of 184 HQ-NQ diameter core holes (for a total of 11 659m) drilled over an area of 350x500m over the southern part of the Bakoudou soil anomaly in 2004-05 and 2006-08. The Mineral Resource model was constructed in Datamine Studio. A total of 4 main gold zones wireframes were constructed from interpretation of the drilling data and subdivided into two weathering profiles (saprolite and fresh rock). After geostatistical analysis and variography, gold grades were interpolated into a partial block model (parent block size of 5x5x2.5m) using ordinary kriging. An average tonnage factor of 2.28 and 2.63 was used to convert volumes into tonnages for the saprolite and hard rock, respectively. The gold mineralization is known to extend at depth beyond the drilling data.
The Mineral Reserve estimate was prepared by Reminex using Whittle Pit Optimization software to model conceptual pit shells using the following assumptions: pit wall average angles of 35 degrees for the saprolite and 50 degrees for the hard rock, 12% mining dilution, a gold price of US$700 per ounce, a gold recovery of 88.2%, mining costs of US$5.44 per tonne of ore and of US$2.06 per tonne of waste and processing costs of US$8.86 per tonne. Based on these parameters the economic cut-off was estimated at 0.55 g/t gold.
The capital expenditures (CAPEX) are estimated at US$30 million while the operating expenditures (OPEX) used in the financial model includes refinery costs, reclamation costs, withholding tax, government royalties and operator management fee. Operating costs are estimated at US$380 per ounce of gold.