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22 SEG NEWSLETTER No 65 • APRIL 2006... from 21Exploration Reviews (Continued)EXPLORATION REVIEWSdriving routes around the site to a minimum.There are a number of challengesassociated with completing this fast-trackproject, one of which is the remote locationof the site. The dirt road to the site is85 km long and corrugated, there is nowater immediately available on site, andgetting water to site is an ongoing logisticalchallenge as some of the water has tobe trucked in from Swakopmund.NIGEROrezone Resources Inc. andGreencastle Resources have formed agold exploration joint venture. Underthe terms of the agreement Orezone canearn a 50% interest in Greencastle’sNamaga and Koyria properties in differentgreenstone belts. Orezone mustspend USS1 M on each property overthe next three years and can raise itsinterest to 75% in either property bycompleting a bankable feasibility studyon the property.NIGERIAAlthough Nigeria is not one of the topdestinations for mining investment inAfrica and mining contributes just 1% tothe country’s GDP, under the presentleadership of General Olusegun Obesanjo,the federal government has refocused itsattention on the mining sector under theproject entitled “Accelerated developmentof Nigeria’s solid mineral potential.”In spite of this, artisanal and smallscalemining continues to constitute over90% of the nation’s mining activities. Inearly 2005, the World Bank approvedUS$120 M for a project to integrate theartisanal sector into the formal economy.The World Bank report on Nigeriain 2005 reports the percentage of firmsreporting bribery has declined significantly.ignificant interest is thereforenow focussing on alluvial and eluvialgold in schist belts in northwest andsouthwest Nigeria, particularly in theAnka, Maru, Tsohon Birnin Gwari,Gurmana, and Bin Yauri areas. Coltanbearingpegmatites are widespread inthe Pan-African basement and cassiteritedeposits associated with the Jurassic ringcomplex granites has been worked sincethe 1920s.SIERRA LEONETitanium Group Resources Ltd, anAIM-listed company, has resumeddredging after an 11-year break. SierraLeone was once a major producer ofrutile, accounting for 75% of the country’sexports but the site was overrun byrebels in 1995. The company’s initialproduction plans are 100,000/yr ofrutile and 15,000 tpa of ilmenite. A seconddredge planned for commissioningin 2007 will double rutile output.Meanwhile, TRG has rehabilitated itsbauxite mining operations with productionplanned at 1.2 Mt/yr and with firstshipments about to made.SOUTH AFRICAAnooraq Resources, the Canadianbasedcompany, reports significant platinumgroup metal mineralization onthe farm Cyferkuil 1 JQ, one of threefarms on the eastern Bushveld underthe Thusong joint venture with AngloPlats. More than 700 m of drilling onfour vertical holes has been completed.In TH002, weathered Merensky reefwas intersected between 23.3–24.2 mwith upper and lower chromitite bandsat the contacts. The underlying UG2was intersected at 46.4–47.3 m depthdipping westward at 26°.Canadian-based Platinum GroupMetals Ltd. has announced increasedresources on its Western Bushveld jointventure. (37% PTM, 37% AngloPlatinum, 26% Africa Wide) Theupdated independent resource calculationshows an increase in indicatedplatinum, palladium, rhodium, andgold resources for the project of 96%from 1.31 to 2.57 Moz. In addition,inferred four-element resources havegrown by 32% from 3.91 to 5.14 Moz.About 40% of the prospective projectarea has now been classified as aresource by the drilling to date. Drillingis planned to continue as the prefeasibilityadvances.Recent drilling confirms increasedresources are accessible with lower capitalcost declines rather than the moreexpensive vertical shaft option that wasinvestigated in previous studies. Theprefeasibility study now underway isconcentrating on the decline option.With these results the project team continuesto target the prefeasibility studyfor summer 2006 and full feasibilitystudy by December 2006.First Uranium, a subsidiary ofSimmer and Jack Mines, has completeda SAMREC-compliant mineral resourceestimate for all surface tailings dams atSimmers Buffelsfontein as the firststeps in a feasibility study to determinethe viability of uranium extraction. Thedams are estimated to contain measuredand indicated resources of 43.6Mlb of U 3 O 8 grading at 0.15 lb/t and 2.8Moz of gold grading at 0.3 g/t.Harmony Gold Mining Companyhas announced that ih has acquired atotal of 44.99 million shares in westernareas on the Witwatersrand goldfield.Lonmin, the third largest producer ofplatinum, has increased output by 31.5%in the December quarter to 196,045 ozcompared to 149,066 oz for the sameperiod in 2004. Palladium output alsorose from 64,615 oz in the Decemberquarter 2004 to 68,452 oz in 2005 andrhodium production similarly increasedfrom 16,141 to 18,641 oz. They expectto produce 1 Moz of platinum in theyear ending September 2006.Sasol, the world’s biggest producer ofsynthetic fuel from coal, has invested 46million rand to form a joint coal-miningventure with Eyesizwe Coal. Sasol,which will own 65% of Igoda Coal, willprovide 46 million rand in equity, andEyesizwe, which will own the rest, willprovide 25 million rand. The companywill mine, market, and supply utilitycoal for the international export market.Igoda will produce a minimumexport production of 3.6 M tpa and willsupply about 4 M tpa of middlings coalto Sasol. Igoda Coal has coal reservesfor around 30 years.ZAMBIAThe substantial improvement in basemetal prices since the end of 2003 hasled to increased production followingprivatization of the larger copper-miningcompanies in 2000. In order toreduce dependency on copper, theChamber of Mines has proposed thatgovernment reduces withholding tax onmining operations conducted outsidethe country from 15% to 10%. Thiswould encourage mining operations inneighboring countries to process theiroutput in Zambia, which has some ofthe most efficient smelters and refineriesin the world. This, coupled with the centrallocation, makes it an attractivefocus for processing especially for neighboringcountries such as the Republic ofthe Congo, which have infrastructureconstraints.
APRIL 2006 • No 65 SEG NEWSLETTER 23Outukumpo of Finland has beenawarded a contract to design anddeliver a new copper flash smelter forKonkola Copper Mines. This followsthe decision by Vedanta Resources,which has a controlling stake in KCM,to invest US$ 125 M in expanding theNkana smelter. It is anticipated that itwill be commissioned in 2007. Copperconcentrate will be sourced largely fromKCM’s mines to produce 300,000 tpacopper.Gemfields Resources, the newlyAIM-listed company is reevaluating theemerald production. Zambia alreadyproduces up to US$100 M worth of goodquality rough emeralds annually, but itis a highly fragmented industry.Gemfields assets include 50% of theLivingstone amethyst mine KaribaMinerals—the largest in Africa, and theMbuva-Chibolele emerald projectsouth of Kitwe, which covers a kilometeralong the strike of the Purala belt in theNdola Rural Emerald restricted area. Amineral resource of 18 Mt has beenidentified to a depth of 150 m, giving a10-year life of project. Working costs of$15–17/t compare with an expected revenueaveraging $42/t.ZIMBABWEZimbabwe Platinum Mines Limited(Zimplats) is not closing despite anongoing problem sparked by governmentplans to amend the Mines andMinerals Bill to enable a 51% statetakeover of foreign owned mines. ASouth African platinum mining giant,Implats has a controlling stake of 86%in Zimplats and has indicated its intentionto invest $US2 billion as part of anexpansion drive.ALASKARegional Correspondent:Curtis J. Freeman (SEG 1996)Avalon Development Corp.P.O. Box 80268Fairbanks, AK 99708Tel. 1.907.457.5159, Fax 1.907.455.8069E-mail: avalon@alaska.netWebsite: www.avalonalaska.comAlaska is off to a fast start in 2006: ithas already seen start-up of its firstmajor gold mine in 5 years (Pogo) andapproval of permits for the Nixon Forkcopper–gold mine. We also sawannouncement of substantial increasesin copper, gold, and molybdenumresources at two advanced exploration/development projects (Donlin Creekand Pebble). New development planswere offered for heap leaching at theFort Knox gold mine and initial fundingwas approved for evaluation of a coalto-liquidsfacility at the Beluga coaldeposits. Red Dog and Greens Creekreported stellar operating results, inpart due to robust metals prices. As forexploration plans, there are dozens ofprograms in the offing. All in all, not abad way to start off a year that promisesto be very busy. So, as the old cowboysaid, “When the pony runs, you ride.”WESTERN ALASKATeck Cominco American announced a$325 M operating profit for the year atits Red Dog mine. The mine produced568,000 tonnes (t) of zinc in concentratefrom ore averaging 22.3%. The minealso produced 102,000 t lead in concentratefrom ore averaging 6.6% whilemill recoveries decreased to 55.7%.NovaGold Resources and new partnerBarrick Gold (which took overPlacer Dome in late January)announced increased resources at theDonlin Creek deposit in southwesternAlaska. Measured and indicatedresource categories increased by 3.7Moz or 33% to 14.8 Moz of gold grading2.76 gpt gold using a 1.2 gpt cutoffgrade. Inferred resources decreased by0.7 Moz to 13.6 Moz grading 2.72 gptgold through conversion of thoseounces to the measured and indicatedcategory. Total gold resource is now28.4 Moz in all categories.Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltdannounced new resource estimates at itsEast zone at the Pebble deposit nearIliamna. At a 1.00% Cu equiv cutoff,the inferred mineral resources are estimatedat 947 Mt grading 0.77% copper,0.48 gpt gold and 0.040% molybdenum(1.28% Cu equiv), containing 16.0 billionlb of copper, 14.5 Moz of gold, and830 Mlb of molybdenum. The PebbleEast deposit is open to expansion in alldirections. Plans for 2006 include30,500 m of drilling at a budgeted costof US$20 M.St. Andrew Goldfields announcedthat all permits have been approved forthe operation of the Nixon Fork goldcoppermine near McGrath. Plansinclude upgrading and refurbishing theexisting gold mill, including the installationof a cyanide leach circuit. Inaddition, facilities will be installed toextract and retreat the existing tailingsfrom the previous operation whichcontain an estimated 30,000-oz goldresource. Retreatment of the existingtailings is expected to begin in July withprocessing of underground ore expectedin the early fall.Full Metal Minerals Ltd. and TriexMinerals Corporation announced thatseveral new geochemical anomalieshave been identified at their BoulderCreek uranium prospect on the SewardPeninsula. These results suggest potentialextensions along strike to the existingdeposit, as well as potential newdeposits along the same granite-sandstonecontact. Additionally, four newareas with multi-element geochemicalanomalies covering a strike length ofapproximately 9 km were identified.Several of the anomalies are larger inarea and stronger in terms of elementabundances than the baseline data collectedover the known extent of the currentresources at Boulder Creek.Planning is currently underway for a3,000-m drill program including downholegeophysical surveys.Liberty Star Gold Corp. announcedpreliminary results from its Big Chunkcopper-gold project near Iliamna. TheBaltusrol project is hosted by felsic porphyryintrusives, intrusive breccias, andporphyry-style alteration and mineralizationand returned 50 ft grading 1033ppm copper and 0.0018 gpt gold. A singledrill hole at the Point Grey prospectintercepted 0.0078 gpt gold over 177 ftincluding 10 ft of 0.059 gpt gold. At theAugusta prospect on the western side ofthe claim block the company has outlineda 5.7 × 2 mile area of anomalousgold and molybdenum in vegetationsamples.INTERIOR ALASKAKinross Gold is currently conductingpreliminary feasibility-level work on thepossibility of adding a heap leachingcircuit to its Fort Knox mine operationsnear Fairbanks. The company indicatedthat evaluations are on-going ona possible 160-million-ton valley-leachoperation in the Walter Creek drainageabove the current tailings impoundment.Geotechnical studies identifiedWalter Creek as a suitable site for thevalley leach, which the company hopeswill operate at approximately one-thirdthe cost of it current 40,000-tpd millingoperation. If economic evaluations arepositive, initial ground work for the projectcould occur asto pagesoon as late 2006.24 ...EXPLORATION REVIEWS
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