Head grades fall at Orvana’s Don Mario (December 02, 2003)

Rookie junior miner Orvana Minerals (ORV-T) is reporting that head grades at its new Don Mario gold mine in eastern Bolivia have been well below expectations.

During October and November 2003, Don Mario processed 40,230 tonnes of ore with a head grade of 5.31 grams gold per tonne, off from an expected 6.83 grams gold.

With a below-plan mill recovery rate of 83.7%, the mine produced 5,750 oz. gold in the two-month period, or an annualized rate of 34,500 oz.

Having poured its first gold in July, Orvana continues to make progress in its underground mine development, and has boosted the throughput rate by 100 tonnes to 700 tonnes per day. This has resulted in a reduction in cash costs, which averaged $21.35 per tonne during the recent two-month period.

Management says it is taking steps to increase the head grade by: working to reduce ore dilution and minimize waste rock; creating access to additional ore faces; acquiring additional mining equipment; and completing a backfill plant.

As of June 30, Don Mario held open-pit and underground reserves of 1.47 million tonnes grading 8.74 grams gold per tonne, or 413,329 contained oz., using a US$330 per oz. gold price and a cut-off grade of 3.0 grams gold.

After a tumultuous uprising in Bolivia in October that resulted in the ousting of the country’s pro-mining president, Orvana is anxious to portray the project as being not directly affected by the unrest in the capital. The company describes the mood in Bolivia as one of “general calm.”

“I am confident that we will accomplish our business goals for fiscal 2004, which are to record positive net income and cash flow from operations through improvements of head ore grades, additional throughput in the processing plant and better recoveries and costs, assuming that gold prices remain at current levels,” said Orvana President and CEO Jaime Urjel in a release.