Cambior grows Rosebel reserves

Some 25,200 metres worth of development drilling has allowed Cambior (CBJ-T) to boost reserves by 11% at the Rosebel gold mine in Suriname.

During the first five months of the year drilling focussed on the project’s Royal Hill deposit resulted in the addition of 265,000 contained oz. of gold to the reserve base.

The 170-sq.-km Rosebel project comprises six deposits: Pay Caro, East Pay Caro, Kollhoven, Royal Hill, Mayo, and Rosebel. The deposits lie within 15 km of each other.

At the beginning of July, the deposits were home to reserves totalling 52.4 million tonnes grading 1.51 grams gold per tonne, for more than 2.5 million contained ounces of gold. More than half of the ounces are split between the Pay Caro and Royal Hill deposits. The reserve estimate is based on cut grades of 0.5 to 0.7 grams gold and a gold price of US$400 per oz.

Since the production began in mid-February of 2004, reserves at Rosebel have increased by 27% or 642,000 oz. via additional drilling and the conversion of resources to reserves owing to higher gold prices; reserves at the beginning of 2004 were estimated using a US$350-per-oz. gold price.

During the first half of 2005, Rosebel squeezed some 187,000 oz. of gold out of 3.6 million tonnes of ore averaging 1.61 grams gold. So far, the mine produced a total of 487,000 oz. of gold.

Cambior is in the midst of an 8,000-metree drill campaign on the Rosebel deposit, and plans 14,000-metre follow-up drilling program at Royal Hill during the second half of the year. Limited drilling will also target the Pay Caro and East Pay Caro deposits.

In all, the company plans to spend some $5.4 million on reserve development, including 52,000 metres of drilling in 2005. Another $2.8 million will go toward exploration on the Rosebel Concession, the surrounding Headley’s Reef and Thunder Mountain Exploration permits. Work is also planned on six exploration permits in the Sarakreek district south of the Brokopondo water reservoir where the company is joined by some local partners.

Meanwhile, in the boardroom, Kazuo Shuto has resigned from his seat on Cambior’s board of directors owing to increased involvement as a director of Jipangu.

Formerly a major shareholder, Japanese-based Jipangu sold off its stake in Cambior in early 2004.The private gold investment fund first took a 12.4% stake in Cambior in May 2000 after a hedge book gone wrong almost sank the miner. It stake had reached as high as 28%.