Romarco looks to bring another gold rush to the Carolinas

Romarco Minerals (R-V) says there’s still plenty of gold left in the hills of South Carolina.

Before California became the destination for 19th century prospectors all over North America, it was the Carolinas that were synonymous with the phrase “gold rush” in a young United States of America.

Romarco wants to bring some of the luster back and in the last two days it has released solid drill results from its Haile Gold Mine in South Carolina.

The project is currently made up of three proposed pits, Ledbetter, Snake and South.

On Aug. 31 results were released from the around the highest grade of the pits, Ledbetter.

The results were highlighted by 4.5 metres grading 8.2 grams gold, 10.7 metres grading 7.2 grams gold, and 39.6 metres grading 4.7 grams gold. Those results were from reverse circulation drills and occurred within a range of 58 and 185 metres below surface.

But high grade gold isn’t restricted to Ledbetter, as such zones have been found south of Ledbetter and also east of Snake – where an assay from July returned 34 meters grading 5.3 grams gold.

And perhaps more significantly, drilling hit on a mineralized zone east of Ledbetter and trending south toward Snake. The company says drilling will continue towards Snake with the expectation that the two deposits will connect.

As for Snake itself, results released on Sept. 1 weren’t as impressive as its neighbour Ledbetter. Assays were highlighted by 32 metres at 4 grams gold, 6.1 metres at 2.1 grams gold and 13.7 metres at 1.8 grams gold. Those results came from a depth range of 239 metres to 297 metres below surface and were also from reverse circulation drills.

With drilling indicating that mineralization extends between the three pits, the company believes all pits will be expanded thus bringing about a reduction in strip ratios if the project becomes a mine.

For the entire year, Romarco plans to drill 85,000 metres with four reverse circulation rigs. By combining step-out and infill drilling the company wants to add to its resources and convert current resources into proven and probable reserves.

So far this year, the company has drilled 38,000 metres.

A technical report issued in September of 2008 put measured and indicated resources at 25.8 million tonnes grading 1.66 grams gold per tonne for 1.4 million oz. of gold. Inferred resources came in at 16.2 million tonnes grading 1.04 grams gold for 544,000 oz. of gold.

By March of 2009, the company had managed to put 17.8 million tonnes into the proven and probable reserve category with an average grade of 2.24 grams gold for 1.3 million oz. of gold.

The technical report issued with the revised resource calculation put average annual production at a future mine at 128,000 oz. of gold and 289,000 oz. of silver.
Total production costs were estimated at US$450 per oz., and capital costs for construction of the mine at US$153 million

The Haile project lies in the Carolina Slate Belt of the Southeastern United States – a geologic feature that runs from Virginia to Alabama.

The project sits between two past producers – the Ridgeway Mine and the Brewer Mine.

In Toronto on Sept. 1, the company’s shares were off 2¢ on what was a bad day for gold miners across the board. Romarco shares closed at $1.03 on 808,000 shares traded.