The company sank 28,272 metres in a first phase of work consisting of 1,089 rotary-air-blast holes plus some reverse-circulation holes. The drilling is designed to test the northern half of the anomaly, which parallels the Ashanti gold belt.
The holes generally returned 1-3 grams gold over widths of 2-10 metres. A few holes returned higher grades, such as the following:
— hole 288 — 6.3 metres (true width) grading 6.4 grams gold per tonne;
— hole 374 — 12.7 metres grading 9.25 grams gold;
— hole 393 — 4.5 metres of 13.3 grams; and
— hole 459 — 21.7 metres of 11.2 grams.
The new zones are near the site of a proposed processing plant, which would be the second.
A reverse-circulation program is testing the downdip extension of the shallow holes; the RAB drill rigs have moved and will test the southern half of the anomaly over the balance of the year.
“We are excited about the relatively high-grade drill results from this extensive mineralization,” says Golden Star CEO Peter Bradford. “The potential for increasing our already-significant gold reserves and resources at Bogoso-Prestea brings a whole new dimension to the possible size of the property.”
At the end of 2003, proven and probable reserves at Bogoso-Prestea stood at 27.3 million tonnes grading 3.3 grams gold, or 2.9 million contained ounces gold.
In 2003, the operation produced 174,315 oz. gold at an average cash operating cost of US$166 per oz. The company expects to crank out 185,000-210,000 oz. at US$200-225 per oz. in 2004.
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