Orezone Gold to update Bombore resource by Q4

Infill drilling at Bombore, the largest undeveloped gold project in Burkina Faso, has yielded some positive results with grades about 65% higher than the resource model, Orezone Gold (ORE-T) reports.

Ron Little, president and chief executive of the company, believes that “if the trend continues we can expect an increase in the size and grade of the oxide resources, with the potential to lower strip ratios and improved economics.”

The latest results from the $24 million 170,000 metre drill program include 27 core holes (4,303 metres) and 204 reverse circulation holes (10,450 metres), mostly from the project’s Siga South area, where the last resource estimate, published in October 2010, was based only on widely spaced RC holes.

Highlights of expansion core holes from Siga South include 10.50 metres of 1.17 grams gold in hole BBD0166; 10.50 metres of 2.02 grams in BBD0163; and 15 metres of 1.08 grams in BBD0154.

Highlights of infill RC drilling include 25 metres of 1.91 grams in hole BBC1407; 17 metres of 2.09 grams in hole BBC1393; and 16 metres of 1.15 grams in hole BBC1430.

Orezone has completed 17,700 metres of core drilling and 26,500 metres of RC drilling, or about 50% of the total it has planned for this year. Two more core drills will arrive at site in June for a total of five core rigs and one RC rig for the remainder of the drill program. A resource update is expected in the second quarter of this year and a second update in the second quarter of 2012.

Bombore has indicated resources of 1.6 million ounces of gold and inferred resources of 1.9 million ounces of gold within Whittle pit shells. More than 80% of the resource occurs above a depth of 80 metres with an average depth of drilling of 60 metres.

Bombore is about 85 km from the capital, Ouagadougou, and is next to a paved highway. It also has access to power and water.

A preliminary economic assessment is expected in the second quarter and a prefeasibility study before the end of the year. If the prefeasibility is positive, the company says it will complete a full feasibility study next year on a large tonnage open-pit carbon in leach operation.

At presstime in Toronto Orezone was trading at $4.08 per share. Over the last year it has traded between a low of 70¢ ( August 2010 ) and a high of $5.26 (April 2011).