Crew ups reserves at Dinguiraye (July 10, 2006)

Drilling through the last half of 2005 increased reserves at the Dinguiraye (Lefa) gold project in Guinea, held by Crew Gold (CRU-T, CRUGF-O).

The reserves are up to 47.6 million tonnes grading 1.6 grams gold per tonne, up from 40.6 million tonnes at 1.7 grams in a previous estimate. The two main zones, Lero Karta and Fayalala, hold the bulk of the reserves; Lero Karta now has a proven and probable reserve of 21.3 million tonnes grading 1.9 grams gold per tonne. Fayalala has 19 million tonnes grading 1.4 grams per tonne. Five other zones hold 7.3 million tonnes grading an average 1.4 grams per tonne.

Crew acquired the project when it took over Guinor Gold late in 2005.

Exploration on the Dinguiraye concession (in which Crew owns an 85% interest and the government of Guinea the rest) has extended resources along the Fayalala and Kankarta zones both laterally and downdip. A 36-hole program of reverse-circulation drilling over another prospect, Siguirini, has estabished a near-surface zone of gold mineralization in saprolitically weathered rock.

Geochemical sampling defined two northwest-trending zones of gold in soils, Kobedara and Dala Oulen, and drilling and surface trenching on these zones is returning mineralization.

The Lefa mine produced 7,587 oz. gold in the first quarter of 2006, and Crew sold 9,319 oz. Cash production costs averaged US$516 per oz., largely because of the low rate of production. The heap-leach operation is expected to produce 50,000 oz. gold and Crew is predicting a cash cost around US$400 per oz.

Work is under way on construction of a carbon-in-pulp leach plant, with the equipment from the closed Kelian mine in Indonesia, which Guinor bought last year, being assembled. Once the plant is in place, full production, at about 300,000 oz. annually, should start in 2007.

Crew’s Nalunaq gold mine in southern Greenland produced 23,710 oz. in the first quarter, at an average US$289 per oz. The mine sent out just over 35,000 tonnes of ore for processing, with an average grade of 21.7 grams gold per tonne.