THE GLOBAL SEARCH FOR GOLD SPECIAL — Drilling resumes at Afema project

Drilling at the Afema gold project in Ivory Coast continues to produce solid results for Eden Roc Mineral (EDN-T).

Five drills are working on the property’s Ayame, Toliesso, Kadio and Aniuri zones to complete the program that began in May, and an additional drill has been ordered for delivery later this year.

The latest results from the second zone at Toliesso included an interval of 11 metres grading 2.36 grams gold per tonne in a drill hole, and 5 metres of 9.1 grams gold in a trench 50 metres from the drill hole.

Eden Roc’s recent private placement provided the necessary financing to expedite the drill program and lead the company to a feasibility study for gold production from sulphide material at Afema, expected sometime in 1997.

Meanwhile, gold production from heap-leaching oxide ore totalled 9,308 oz. over the first half of 1996, compared with 13,606 oz. for the same period in 1995. Eden Roc reports that exceptionally heavy rain during the second quarter resulted in production shutdowns and severe dilution of the gold-bearing solution from the heap-leach pads.

Eden Roc’s revenue totalled $4.6 million in the first half of 1996, compared with $7.3 million for the same period in 1995. The loss from operations was $2 million, compared with $500,000 a year earlier, while the net loss was $2.25 million (or 5.3 cents per share), compared with a profit in 1995 of $724,000 (1.8 cents per share).

Improved efficiency in the mining operations reduced operating costs to US$11 per tonne during the first six months of 1996, compared with US$32 per tonne a year earlier. Eden Roc officials expect gold recovery to improve in the second half of the year, and, by year-end, the new adsorption-desorption plant will double current capacity.