Increased ore reserves at Semafo’s Mana property

Drill results from the Wona deposit have helped to increase ore reserves at Semafo‘s (SMF-T) Mana property, 200 km west of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.

Total measured and indicated resources (including reserves) from the Nyafe and Wona deposits stand at 11.8 million tonnes grading 2.76 grams gold per tonne (equivalent to 1.046 million oz. gold). Contained gold has increased by 26,300 oz. from the previous estimate.

This resource was calculated using a gold price of US$380 per oz. and a cutoff grade of 0.5 gram gold per tonne.

Deep drilling at Wona has increased the inferred resource by about 250%, to 7.47 million tonnes at a grade of 2.3 grams gold per tonne.

The proven and probable reserve of the Wona deposit is 6.35 million tonnes grading 2.45 grams gold, whereas Nyafe has a probable reserve of 561,800 tonnes grading 6.09 grams gold per tonne. Total reserves (for the two deposits combined) are 6.92 million tonnes at a grade of 2.78 grams gold per tonne (542,400 oz. gold).

The Nyafe zone is hosted by basalt and mafic to intermediate volcaniclastic rock. Wona is within a series of deformed sedimentary and volcano-sedimentary, as well as meta-volcanic rock. The rock is folded, sheared and brecciated. Northwest-trending faults cut the area and shearing is generally northeasterly.

Gold is associated with silicification, sericitization, and quartz veining, primarily in mylonite, or breccias. Pyrite and minor arsenopyrite are present. Gold may be free within quartz, or within pyrite. It is also found in tellurides.

The company anticipates a 6.5-year mine-life, with production at a rate of 100,000 tonnes per month. Total cash costs have been estimated at US$256 per oz.