Bre-X drills zones while waiting for update

An updated resource calculation is expected shortly for the Central zone at the Busang gold project in East Kalimantan. In the meantime, operator Bre-X Minerals (ASE) continues to drill two other zones on its Indonesian land package.

Drilling on the 80%-owned Central zone began over a year ago, and included 105 holes totalling 18,444 meters. Those holes were drilled on 50-metre centres and covered the zone, which has surface dimensions of about 200 metres by 900 metres. More infill drilling was completed on 25-metre centres, in areas where more detailed information was required.

Armed with these data, independent consultants are preparing a potentially open-pit resource calculation for the Central zone. Bre-X expects to have the figure in hand by the middle of this month.

Elsewhere at Busang, work is continuing on the company’s 90%-held Southeast zone. Bre-X is using four rigs to test for mineralization found in one of two splays that make up the Southeast zone. The company is drilling holes at 50-metre spacings, in fences situated at 250-metre intervals.

The two splays were outlined during a mapping program carried out over a 3.5-km portion of the 6.5-km-long Southeast zone. The drilling will attempt to determine whether mineralization found at surface extends to a depth of 200 to 300 metres.

The company has released results from seven holes completed on the east splay. Grades of the 22 reported assays range between 1.43 grams and 17.97 grams gold per tonne, over widths varying from 4 to 58 metres. Some of the better intersections averaged: 3.96 grams over 42 metres in BSSE-21; 17.97 grams over 6 metres and 15.75 grams over 20 metres in BSSE-9; as well as 3.72 grams over 54 metres in BSSE-30.

Drilling on the west splay proper has not yet begun, although a fence of holes completed 2.5 km south of the Central zone did cross a portion of this west splay. Assay results from these three holes, along with 11 others, are still pending.

After completing a deal earlier this fall, exploration has started once again on Bre-X’s second Indonesian property known as the Sangihe copper-gold project in North Sulawesi. Bre-X holds a 60% interest while Bresea Resources (ME), a company that owns 24% of Bre-X, can earn a 30% stake in the project.

A bulldozer side-cutting program completed on the Red Hill copper-gold porphyry target has exposed a prospective area, measuring roughly 350 by 800 metres. Drilling is currently testing this target area, and the first assay results are expected by the end of October.