Bitech ups Nugget Pond gold reserves

This represents the second reserve increase the company has announced since it completed a 16-hole drill program last December.

No new drill results were disclosed with the recent announcement, so it’s difficult to determine whether the impressive intersections Bitech encountered last year have been found elsewhere on the property.

The company attracted considerable attention after it pulled 20.4m grading 15.8 g (0.46 oz) gold per tonne in hole 16 last December.

The first reserve increase, announced in March, was based on the results of holes 21 to 31 inclusive, which were made public in a news release. This time, the company hasn’t given out any specific drill results, but says its new geological reserve estimate currently stands at 505,000 tonnes grading 12.0 g (0.35 oz).

The new figure is based on drilling up to hole 56 and represents a 25% improvement on the 395,000 tonnes grading 12.5 g reported in March. In December, Bitech estimated Nugget Pond reserves at 227,000 tonnes grading 13.7 g.

Bitech management has said they won’t release drill results on a hole-by-hole basis, but will make monthly progress reports instead.

Two machines are drilling the Nugget Pond zone, while a third explores the favorable volcano- sedimentary horizon along strike. The 20,000-m phase II drilling program began in February and is being funded by Equity Silver Mines (TSE), which is 58.8%-owned by Placer Dome (TSE) — Canada’s largest gold producer. Based on a joint venture agreement signed in March, Equity can earn up to 50% of Bitech’s undivided interest in the Nugget Pond project by making option payments totalling $12.3 million over four years and making exploration expenditures of $12.2 million.

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