Axmin (AXM-V, AXMIF-O) has been drilling non-stop at its Passendro gold project in the Central African Republic since the beginning of 2005 and its efforts are starting to pay off with a 17% boost in measured and indicated resources.
Results of infill drilling have raised measured and indicated resources to 23.2 million tonnes, or 1.8 million oz. gold, grading 2.4 grams gold per tonne.
The inferred resource remains unchanged at 16.7 million tonnes or 1 million oz. grading 1.9 grams gold.
The new in situ resource estimate was based on results from drilling up to June 2007 from two core rigs and two reverse-circulation rigs.
Axmin intends to build a substantial gold mine with a minimum production profile of 150,000- 200,000 oz. gold per year. A feasibility study is nearly completed.
Axmin says the Passendro area not only enjoys “exceptional prospectivity,” but also boasts discovery costs averaging only about US$6.50 per oz. all the way from grassroots level exploration to resource definition.
The new estimate was derived from the main zone at Passendro in addition to the Katsia, French Camp, Bacanga Head, Barbacoa, Baceta and Ngetepe prospects, all of which lie within a 3-km radius of each other.
Resources have not been calcu- lated for mineralized structures beyond the 3-km range, which are still undergoing exploration.
SRK Consulting applied a block cutoff grade of 1.2 grams gold per tonne for the French Camp, Katsia and Bacanga Head prospects; 0.8 gram gold for the main zone at Passendro; and 1 gram gold for the Baceta, Barbacoa and Ngetepe prospects.
High grades were capped at 17 grams gold at the main zone, 40 grams at Katsia and 20 grams at Barbacoa. Cutting was not required at the French Camp, Bacanga Head, Baceta or Ngetepe deposits.
“Although the resource increase has included some depth expansion, the mineralized structures still have only been tested to relatively shallow levels,” Axmin’s head of exploration, Jonathan Forster, said in a statement.
Forster said that only 23% of the resource lies within the sulphide zone, indicating substantial potential across the project area at slightly greater depths, particularly in view of high-grade assays reported from Katsia in 2005.
Axmin says its objective now is to add resources within 20 km of the Passendro project and to begin programs for more distant areas within the 140-km-long Bambari greenstone belt.
Axmin, a Toronto-based gold exploration and development company, also has gold exploration projects in other African countries, including the Kofiproject in Mali and Komahun in Sierra Leone.
With 205 million shares outstanding, the company has a 52- week trading range of 56-$1.09.
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