New drilling suggests Essakan grade may rise

A ten-hole reverse-circulation drilling program at the Essakan gold deposit in northeastern Burkina Faso has confirmed grades in quartz veins that crosscut the known gold structures.

Operator Orezone Resources (ORZ-T) drilled the holes parallel to the north-striking Essakan structure to assess the grades of the east-striking quartz veins. All ten holes encountered gold mineralization, with grades ranging from 0.9 to 17.9 grams per tonne.

The best intersection was a 31-metre zone that graded 17.9 grams gold per tonne, or 7.3 grams per tonne after individual sample grades were cut to 30 grams per tonne. More typical were very long intersections, generally 20 to 50 metres, with grades of 1 to 1.7 grams per tonne.

The results suggest that present resource estimates at Essakan may understate the grade of the deposit, because holes drilled across the strike of the main structure may have missed the cross-cutting veins. In particular, the area tested by hole ERC-545 (the 31 metres of 17.9 grams per tonne) had been assigned grades of 2.4 to 2.8 grams per tonne based on earlier drilling.

Orezone plans a new resource estimate before the end of March. Earlier estimates put the resource at Essakan at 18.9 million tonnes grading 2.1 grams gold per tonne, in measured and indicated categories, plus an additional 295,000 tonnes grading 1.8 grams per tonne in inferred resources.

The company also tested three prospects 10 km west of the Essakan deposit, following up on soil geochemistry surveys that defined an 8-km-long corridor of surface gold showings and geochemical anomalies.

Five drill holes at the Gossey prospect returned intersections ranging from 2 to 14 metres in length. Two holes returned high grades over narrow widths (10 grams gold per tonne over 2 metres and 10.1 grams per tonne over 5 metres). Three others returned gold grades of 1 to 1.5 grams per tonne aover lengths of 6 to 14 metres.

Drill holes at the Korizena and Taradat prospects also picked up gold mineralization over 3- to 4-metre widths.

Gold Fields (GFI-N) is earning a 50% interest in the Essakan property from Orezone by funding the junior’s exploration program. The joint venture agreement obliges Gold Fields to fund the first US$2 million in exploration, then to take over operation and fund a further US$6 million. Gold Fields can increase its interest to 60% by providing a bankable feasibility study.