Westfield on tract at Choquelimpie mine

By the end of the second quarter, an expansion to 6,000 tons per day had been completed. The mine is currently operating at a rate which will produce about 100,000 oz of gold equivalent annually.

Second-quarter production amounted to 22,000 oz of gold and 130,000 oz of silver, compared with 15,000 oz gold and 84,000 oz silver produced in the first quarter. Operating costs averaged $145(US) per oz gold (including silver credits) during the second quarter and total cash costs averaged $225 per oz.

Westfield said second-quarter production rates will be maintained for the remainder of the year and plans to increase annual production rates and reduce operating costs are under consideration.

Exploration work on the Choquelimpie property during the quarter concentrated on six known oxide zones, two of which are northern extensions to the main deposit. Five of the zones gave intersections of economic grade, including 165 ft averaging 0.13 oz gold per ton.

All the zones require further drilling and are expected to add significant additional tonnages to the overall reserves.

At the end of May, ore reserves in the main deposit stood at 7.7 million tons grading 0.058 oz gold and 1.75 oz silver per ton.

Exploration drilling on the property will continue during the remainder of the year, the company said. Westfield is 45.6%-owned by American Resource Corp. of Bermuda which is part of the Bronf man-controlled Hees International Bancorp.

]]>