Etruscan cuts new gold at Youga (June 20, 2005)

Trenching by Etruscan Resources (EET-T) has uncovered a fifth zone of gold mineralization on the Youga project in Burkina Faso.

So far, the new zone has been confirmed in seven trenches over a strike length of 400 metres. The zone is 25 metres wide on average.

The discovery was made in outcroppings in a river bed 300 metres south of the Tail zone. Rock sampling returned 0.5-1.9 grams gold per tonne.

Trench results include: 22 metres grading 0.98 gram gold per tonne; 17 metres of 1.2 grams gold and 18 metres of 0.8 gram gold; 6 metres of 1.4 grams gold and 24 metres of 1.5 grams gold, including 4 metres of 5.6 grams; 18 metres of 2 grams, including 6 metres of 4.1 grams; 36 metres of 1.9 grams gold, including 7 metres of 6 grams; 96.7 metres of 1.6 grams gold, including 12 metres of 4.1 grams; and 26 metres of 2.4 grams gold, including 18 metres of 3.1 grams.

Gold mineralization is associated with foliated arkose and intense silicification, similar to the A2 Main zone, which is home to around 70% of Youga’s existing gold reserves.

Meanwhile, drilling on the A2 West zones 2 and 3 has boosted minable reserves to 6.6 million tonnes grading 2.7 grams gold per tonne, equivalent to 573,000 oz. That’s up from the 515,000 oz. reported in a previous feasibility study.

In all, Youga’s five known zones — A2 Main, A2 East, and A2 West zones 1, 2 and 3 — are home to a measured resource of 4.1 million tonnes grading 3.2 grams gold. The indicated figure stands at 5.2 million tonnes grading 2.3 grams, and there are also 1.7 million tonnes grading 1.7 grams gold in the inferred category. The estimates are based on a cutoff grade of 1 gram gold.