Bre-X says Busang may hold 30 million oz.

Continued drilling by Bre-X Minerals (ASE) on its 90%-owned Southeast zone at the Busang gold project has prompted a company official to speculate the property may hold more gold than originally thought.

“Based on the drilling to date, we think the whole project could hold a resource of at least 30 million oz.,” says Bre-X spokesman Steven McAnulty.

The latest results, from five holes drilled on lines SEZ-49 and SEZ-54, continue to cut wide intersections and return assays ranging up to 5.6 grams gold per tonne.

The two best intersections were from BSSE-65 and BSSE-66 on SEZ-49, and averaged 2.47 grams over 497 metres and 3.68 grams over 477 metres, respectively.

In total, the company has drilled 39 holes in the Southeast zone, 10 of which were drilled on SEZ-54, while 11 were drilled on SEZ-49. Many assays are still pending.

Many of the visually identified mineralized samples have yet to be assayed, owing to a large backlog. As a result, the much-anticipated resource calculation (part of a prefeasibility study under way) will be delayed. The estimate is now expected in early February.

Drilling resumed on lines SEZ-44 and SEZ-59 following the Christmas break. Two rigs are being used on each line to complete holes spaced at 250-metre intervals. The company hopes to have more than half of the 7-km-long Southeast zone drilled off by April. It will then shift its focus to the 6-km-long Southeast Zone No. 2 (previously known as the North zone).

The following is a list of results from the Southeast zone at Busang: All assays are cut to 1 gram gold per tonne.

LineDrill HoleInterval(m)Assay(g/t)

SEZ-49 BSSE-65 497 2.47

incl. 152 2.99

incl. 116 3.27

BSSE-66 477 3.68

incl. 114 5.62

SEZ-70 BSSE-70 242 2.13

SEZ-54 BSSE-73 15 2.44

142 3.13

42 3.59

12 1.35

16 1.80

127 2.84

BSSE-77 225 5.00

94 2.77

14 1.66