Taparko drilling confirms size of zone — Full feasibility study expected by year-end

Infill drilling at the Taparko property of High River Gold (HRG-T) has confirmed the structural continuity of the gold deposit in zones 3 and 5.

The recently completed 21-hole drilling program forms part of the feasibility study now under way at the property, 180 km northeast of Ouagadougou in northeastern Burkina Faso. The infill holes were drilled on sections along 960 metres of strike, stretching from the southern end of zone 3 to the northern end of zone 5.

The drilling was intended to intersect the two zones (now known to be a single gold deposit) at vertical depths of around 40 to 50 metres. In most parts of the property, rocks at depths of 40 to 50 metres would be in the transition zone between oxidized lateritic material and fresh rock.

Cores from two of the holes in zone 5 carried visible gold, including one at the northern end of the drill fence, TP-205, which ran 9 grams gold per tonne over a length of 19 metres. TP-203, collared 200 metres to the south, carried 3 grams per tonne over 28.4 metres and also contained visible gold.

Drill hole TP-199, 360 metres south of TP-205, showed no visible gold, but the 13.1-metre mineralized zone it intersected graded 4.9 grams gold.

In zone 3, four more holes showed visible gold with grades ranging from 2 grams over 7.7 metres to 4.1 grams over 19.6 metres. Other intersections in zone 3 ranged from 1.6 to 13.8 metres in length, with gold grades of between 0.8 and 3.2 grams.

In , grades are lower and the mineralized structures narrower in zone 3, widening northward in zone 5. However, the infill drilling has verified that the two zones form a single deposit, a picture that had been building at Taparko since an earlier phase of drilling. That earlier drill program delineated a resource of 4.8 million tonnes grading 3.2 grams gold on zone 5, and 2.8 million tonnes grading 2.9 grams on zone 3.

The property’s GT zone, about 2.5 km south of zones 3 and 5, holds a resource of 2.2 million tonnes grading 4.6 grams gold per tonne. Because substantially more of the GT’s resource is in the “indicated” category, no more delineation drilling is planned there.

A further 1,300 metres of drilling has also been done to provide large samples for metallurgical testing. Kappes, Cassiday and Associates of Reno, Nev., has been engaged for the metallurgical work, which will determine whether the gold can be extracted by heap leaching.

The metallurgical report is scheduled to be ready in September and a new reserve estimate will be published some time after that. The feasibility study, which will also include hydrogeological and geotechnical assessments of the proposed open pits, is on schedule for completion before the end of the year.

The resource drilling at Taparko is continuing, with a further seven holes to be completed in this phase of work.