Category: Uncategorized
- Published: 29 November -0001
Etruscan\'s Youga Gold Mine recovers 7800 ounces in first three months of ramp up
Etruscan Resources Inc. (EET.TSX) reported today that its Youga Gold Mine, located in Burkina Faso, West Africa recovered approximately 7,800 ounces of gold and poured in excess of 6,200 ounces during the first three month ramp up period. Production statistics and solution grades are showing steady improvements and the gold recovery plant is operating at projected efficiency with an average gold recovery of over 92%. Gold production is scheduled to increase over the next 6-8 weeks as plant throughput and grades reach forecast levels. At design capacity the Youga Gold Mine will be processing 83,000 tonnes per month and recovering an average of 6,700 ounces of gold per month.
The following table summarizes the operating results during the initial three month ramp up period:
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March April May
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Tonnes Crushed 63,158 67,199 55,514
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Tonnes Milled 52,136 57,429 54,935
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Head Grade (g/t) 1.67 1.43 1.70
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Gold Poured (oz) 1,804 1,747 2,670
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Gold Recovered (oz)* 2,605 2,335 2,860
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* Gold poured plus gold in circuit.
Mill throughput for the three month ramp up period totaled 164,500 tonnes which was lower than forecast, primarily as a consequence of mill downtime due to power interruptions and related downtime on crushing. Both of these issues have been rectified as described below.
The power supply is currently provided by an on site diesel generation plant. Lower crushing and plant availability was experienced during April and May as a result of inferior grade diesel fuel coupled with technical difficulties with electronic control components of the generators. The quality of fuel has improved and a more effective fuel filtration system has been installed. The electronic control component difficulties have been rectified by on site supplier servicing and by replacing some of the components. The project is scheduled to convert to permanent grid power supply later in 2008.
The availability of the crushing plant was impacted in the first part of May due to problems with the hydraulics of the secondary and tertiary crushers. These problems have since been resolved and the crushing plant is operating at design capacity of 240 tonnes per hour.
Mining operations have ramped up during the initial three-month period and have provided for a run-of-mine ore stockpile at the end of May of 45,000 tonnes. Lower grades than the life-of-mine average forecast grade of 2.7 grams per tonne were experienced during the ramp up period due to a combination of the planned low grade feed during commissioning and subsequent dilution that occurred in the upper benches during development of the initial ore blocks. Mining has now progressed into full ore block faces and as of late May the feed grade has been steadily increasing to in excess of 2.0 grams per tonne and is expected to approach the life of mine average grade in the coming weeks.
Current mineable reserves at Youga are 6.6 million tonnes with an average grade of 2.7 grams per tonne containing 580,000 ounces of gold, which is contained in five separate pits. Current mining and production comes from the A2 Main pit which has mineable reserves of 4.1 million tonnes with an average grade of 3.1 grams per tonne and a strip ratio of 6.8 to 1. PW Mining has mobilized additional equipment, which is now on site, to allow mining of the A2 West Zone 1 pit to commence sooner than scheduled. Grade control drilling of the upper benches of the A2 West Zone 1 pit is almost completed and the pit will be opened up over July and August. Mineable reserves at A2 West Zone 1 are 0.5 million tonnes at an average grade of 3.0 grams per tonne with a very low strip ratio of 1.3 to 1. Gold production from Youga for the calendar year is now forecast at 50,000 to 60,000 ounces.
The official opening ceremony of the Youga Gold Mine was held on May 16th, 2008. The ceremony was presided over by His Excellency Tertius ZONGO, Prime Minister of Burkina Faso, with Mr. Abdoulaye Abdoulkader CISSE, Minister of Energy, Mines and Quarries, and various government officials and local authorities in attendance. Etruscan Resources Inc. and Burkina Mining Company were represented respectively by Gerald McConnell, President and CEO and Boubakar B. Zanga, President and Director General.
Robert Harris, P.Eng., Vice President of Operations of Etruscan, is the Qualified Person overseeing production and development in West Africa and has reviewed and approved this press release.
About Etruscan Resources Inc.
Etruscan Resources Inc. is a gold focused Canadian junior mining company with dominant land positions in district scale gold belts covering more than 13,000 square kilometers in West Africa. Its principal gold mine development projects include the Youga Gold Project in Burkina Faso, the Agbaou Gold Project in Côte d\'Ivoire (latest press release dated February 21, 2008), and the Finkolo Gold Project in Mali (latest press release dated January 7, 2008). Advanced and early stage exploration projects are on-going in Burkina Faso, Mali, Côte d\'Ivoire, Ghana and Namibia (see press dated May 6, 2008). Etruscan also has a 53.7% interest in Etruscan Diamonds Limited which has a dominant land position in the Ventersdorp Diamond District located in South Africa where it is developing the Blue Gum Diamond Project (press release dated March 12, 2008). The common shares of Etruscan are traded on The TSX Exchange under the symbol \"EET\". More extensive information on Etruscan can be found on its home page at http://www.etruscan.com.
This press release may contain certain forward-looking statements which involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements may include statements regarding exploration results and budgets, mineral reserve and resource estimates, work programs, capital expenditures, mine operating costs, production targets and timetables, future commercial production, strategic plans, market price of precious metals or other statements that are not statements of fact. Although the Company believes the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to have been correct. Various factors that may affect future results include, but are not limited to: fluctuations in market prices of precious metals; foreign currency exchange fluctuations; risks relating to mining exploration and development including reserve estimation and costs and timing of commercial production; requirements for additional financing; political and regulatory risks, and other risks and uncertainties described in the Company\'s annual information form filed with the Canadian Securities regulators on SEDAR (www.sedar.com). Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.
NO REGULATORY AUTHORITY HAS APPROVED OR DISAPPROVED THE CONTENT OF THIS RELEASE
SOURCE: ETRUSCAN RESOURCES INC.
Richard Gordon, Investor Relations, (877) 465-3674, Fax (902) 832-6702, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
