Vancouver A recent drilling program by Eldorado Gold (ELD-T, EGO-X) has outlined an inferred resource of 8.7 million tonnes with an estimated iron content of 61.5% at the company’s 50%-held Vila Nova iron-ore project in Brazil’s Amapa State. The remaining interest is held by a local partner.
The inferred resource estimate is based on 19 holes drilled on section-lines 100-to-200 metres apart, over a strike length of 1,400 metres. The massive hematite forms a steeply dipping body 10-to-40 metres thick that trends roughly north-south, with a narrower fold limb extending to the northwest. Reconnaissance mapping and a recent airborne magnetic survey have shown potential to add resources to the north and west.
While the deposit’s geology and chemical composition have been sufficiently determined to allow for the calculation of indicated resources, the company says material analysis work is needed to define the iron mineral size-fraction thresholds. Accordingly, the 2006 program will consist of material analysis studies and infill drilling to get a better handle on the trace-element distribution and the potential to expand resources.
The nickel deposit is situated only 1 km from the company’s Vila Nova gold project, where exploration is focused on the search for deposits similar to those found in Venezuela (Las Cristinas) and the Guyanas (Omai). The company holds about 120,000 hectares in the prospective region, which lies within a Lower-Proterozoic mineralized corridor that starts in Venezuela and continues into West Africa.
Eldorado says the focus in Amapa state continues to be on gold projects, but adds that engineering studies to determine the viability of the iron-ore project are planned for the first half of next year. The company reports that it has already received “expressions of interest” to purchase potential future production from the project.
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