Study delayed at Guyana bet as Placer drills new zone

Having increased its preliminary reserve figures by 30% to 53 million tonnes of grade 1.35 g (0.038 oz) per tonne, operator Placer Dome expects the Omai project to churn out around 200,000 oz gold annually at a cost of $217(US) per oz.

In light of results on the new Wenot Lake zone, the joint venture may also elect to increase the size of a future processing plant to five from three million tonnes annually, according to Richard Fraser, Golden Star’s vice-president of finance.

Because the new zone could have a significant impact on the economics of the project, the joint venture has elected to wait for more drill results before tabling the feasibility study. The study was to be completed by the end of this month.

Golden Star says drilling on the higher-grade Wenot Lake zone shows that the potential exists for additional ore reserves underneath Wenot Lake and along strike.

The prediction is based on intersections from a number of holes drilled underneath and 1.4 km east of the zone’s western edge. Results include eight metres (true thickness) of 2.8 g in the weathered material, 20 m of grade 3.4 g and 38.7 m of grade 2.5 g.

Additional geochemistry has identified anomalous gold mineralization along most of the margin of Wenot Lake itself, the company said. As reported (N.M., April 10/89), the stake held by each of the joint venture partners depends on how quickly the Omai project is mined. At a rate of 8,200 tonnes per day, Placer Dome would hold 71.25%, with Golden Star retaining 23.75%. The Guyanese government would also be carried for a 5% net profits interest.

In the event that throughput is fewer than one million tonnes annually, Placer Dome and Golden star would each hold a 47.5% working interest.

“The beauty of the weathered material that they (Placer Dome) are drilling is that it is relatively easier to mine than underlying, harder, fresh rock,” said Fraser. The weathered rock consists of both alluvial and saprolite material.

According to Fraser, Placer Dome is hoping to prove up enough ore in the Wenot Lake zone to pay off a plant within two years. As a result, no new deadline has been announced for completion of the feasibility study.

Elsewhere, Golden Star has been granted the option to explore three properties for alluvial gold, diamonds and alluvial columbite in Guyana’s Middle Mazaruni region.

Situated 250 km south west of Guyana’s capital city, the area is well known for alluvial diamond and gold deposits, which occur in the large tributaries of the Mazaruni River.

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