More Gold At Chirano And Tasiast For Red Back

VANCOUVER — Red Back Mining (RBI-T, RBIFF-O) has boosted resources and reserves at both its operating open-pit gold mines in West Africa.

Red Back added 39% more proven and probable reserves and 32% more measured and indicated resources to its Tasiast mine, 300 km north of Nouakchott, Mauritania.

And at its Chirano mine, 100 km southwest of Kumasi, Ghana, Red Back estimated new inferred resources for two potential underground mineralized areas.

Proven and probable reserves at Tasiast now stand at 49 million tonnes grading 1.45 grams gold per tonne for a total of 2.3 million oz. contained gold.

Measured and indicated resources are 97.4 million tonnes at 1.19 grams gold for 3.7 million contained ounces gold.

The measured and indicated resource encompasses 6 km of strike length in two sub-parallel structures, Piment and West Branch, that Red Back has traced over 20 km on surface and 70 km through aerial geophysics.

Gold mineralization occurs within a banded iron formation and an adjacent vein-type greenstone belt. It dips 45 to 70, is 5- 30 metres in width and is oxidized over the first 40 metres of depth.

By and large Piment makes up the largest component of the resource estimate, with a narrow pit plan extending over a 4.5-km north-south distance.

The current drill program, Red Back says, focuses on a 2-km-long area south of the resource estimate’s limits.

At Chirano, as part of an ongoing drill campaign focusing on underground resources, Red Back has defined inferred resources at Paboase and Suraw beneath those deposits’ open-pit designs.

Paboase weighs in at 2.3 million tonnes grading 3.5 grams gold for 250,000 contained ounces gold and Suraw comes in at 1.9 million tonnes of 4.1 grams gold for 240,000 oz. gold.

Respectively, Paboase and Suraw are 1 and 3 km from the Chirano mine and mill, where an updated resource has pegged the open-pit resource at 32.5 million measured and indicated tonnes grading 1.78 grams gold for 1.85 million contained ounces gold.

Reserves are 24.1 million proven and probable tonnes of 1.5 grams gold for 1.2 million oz. contained gold.

Beneath the Chirano pit, Red Back says it is now extending a decline into the Akwaaba deeps, an underground zone from which it has begun to process ore.

The measured and indicated resource estimate at Akwaaba stands at 6.1 million tonnes of 6 grams gold for 1.2 million oz. gold. Proven and probable reserves are 8.2 million tonnes at 4.21 grams gold for 1.1 million oz. gold.

At Chirano, Red Back has defined 11 deposits and, beyond planned infill drilling at Paboase and Suraw, the company says it will test below its Tano, Akoti and Obra open pits.

In the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2008, Red Back produced 72,664 oz. gold from Tasiast and Chirano at a cash cost of US$393 per oz. gold.