Gold Fields bumps reserve at Tarkwa-Damang

Conversion of resources to reserves and revision of economic cutoff grades has boosted reserves at the Tarkwa-Damang gold operation in Ghana.

Operator Gold Fields (GFI-N) reported proven and probable reserves of 351.6 million tonnes at an average grade of 1.3 grams gold per tonne at Tarkwa, at the end of June 2004. That figure was up from 232 million tonnes at 1.3 grams per tonne at the end of June 2003. At the Damang pit, Gold Fields reported 20.2 million tonnes, proven and probable, at 1.3 grams gold per tonne, down from 17.3 million tonnes grading 1.7 grams a year before.

The increase in resources at Tarkwa amounts to 4.9 million oz., with about 4 million oz. entering reserves as a result of reinterpretations of existing data, or conversion of resources to reserves. About 1.5 million oz. came into reserves through increasing the assumed gold price to US$350 from US$325 the year before, and 707,000 oz. were mined from reserves between June 2003 and June 2004.

Measured and indicated resources at Tarkwa fell to 392.1 million tonnes grading 1.4 grams per tonne, from 421.5 million tonnes at 1.3 grams the year before. At Damang, some new resources were drilled off, bringing its total measured and indicated resource to 31.3 million tonnes at 1.5 grams per tonne. (Gold Fields includes reserves in its measured and indicated resource figure.)

Gold Fields, which owns a 71.1% interest in Tarkwa and Damang, and Iamgold (IMG-T), which owns 18.9%, are merging to form Gold Fields International, a transaction scheduled to close at year-end. The government of Ghana holds the remaining 10% of Tarkwa-Damang.