High River hits new gold zone at Taparko

A drill program to test for buried mineralization at the Taparko property in northeastern Burkina Faso has paid off for High River Gold (HRG-T).

Thick lateritic cover had previously prevented exploration in the area, immediately north of the Zone 3-5 gold deposit which is being evaluated for production. Now six rotary air blast (RAB) drill holes have outlined more gold mineralization along a 500-metre strike length of the same structure.

The mineralized intervals were 6-18 metres long, including an 18-metre intersection grading 4.2 grams gold per tonne. Other gold grades ranged from 1.3 to 2.7 grams per tonne. The intersections confirm that the mineralization in Zone 3-5 continues northward along strike, thus accounting for gold concentrations of 20-100 parts per billion in soils over the newly discovered mineralization.

A second phase of RAB drilling is under way, with 18 shallow holes planned along a 680-metre fence.

Infill drilling on Zone 3-5 continues, and results for the last six holes show intersections of 7.9-23.1 metres on the mineralized structure. The intersections included 16.2 metres grading 14.3 grams gold, 23.1 metres of 3.7 grams, and 22.2 metres of 8.5 grams. Another 15 holes have yet to be drilled before the 6,500-metre program is completed.

Once the next RAB program on the new zone north of Zone 3-5 is complete, High River expects to pull one drill from the infill program and test for targets.

High River’s Russian mining interests continue to perform well.

Buryatzoloto, the Russian operator of the Zun-Holba and Irokinda gold mines in the Buryatia region of eastern Russia, earned US$1.1 million in 1997. The company, which is 23%-owned by High River, reported annual production of 89,869 oz. in 1997, up 16% from the previous year. Production reached 19,439 oz. in the first quarter of 1998, during a period when the Irokinda mill was idle. Buryatzoloto is expecting to produce 94,000 oz. this year.

Cash operating costs were US$193 per oz., and total cash costs US$235 per oz., in 1997, and in the first three months of 1998 operating costs were US$173 per oz. and total cash costs, US$216 per oz. Buryatzoloto, which has an active hedging program, realized an average of US$345 per oz. in 1997 and an average of US$360 per oz. in the first quarter of this year.

A carbon-in-pulp plant is under construction at Zun-Holba and headed toward a startup date of mid-September, and a project study recently investigated the possibility of increasing annual production to 200,000 from 150,000 oz.

Drilling is expected to test open extensions of the gold deposit, with a final feasibility on the expansion due to follow.