Orezone defines resources at Bondi, Bombore

Vancouver – Orezone Resources (OZN-T) is a busy company these days. With four advanced stage gold projects on the go in Burkina Faso, news keeps on coming.

The latest news out of the junior was an updated resource estimate for Bondi, which lies in the southeast of Burkina Faso. The new estimate pegs measured and indicated resources at 4.14 million tonnes grading 2.12 grams gold per tonne; inferred resources add 2.54 million tonnes grading 1.84 grams gold.

The new estimate boosts Bondi’s measured and indicated resources by 73% and ups inferred resources by 333%, compared to the last estimate from November 2004. At Bondi, mineralization extends to an average depth of 125 metres and is contained within three contiguous zones: Zone 2, Zone 2 North, and Zone 2 South. The zones lie on a 5-km long, north-south striking corridor; Orezone continues to explore along strike and at depth, where several of the zones remain open.

The 924 sq. km project is located in Burkina Faso’s Hound greenstone belt some 275 km southwest of the national capital, Ouagadougou.

The company’s flagship project, Essakane, sits in the northern tip of Burkina Faso. It took a significant step forward on the last day of February when the federal government passed a law granting Orezone an industrial mining permit for the project.

Orezone CEO Ron Little says that, with the mine permit in hand, the company can now focus on completing the due diligence for its US$250-million project loan facility and move towards beginning construction. The company hopes to achieve production by 2010.

Orezone completed a definitive feasibility study for Essakane in August. The study envisioned an 18-month construction period for a mine built to mill 5.4 million tonnes a year to produce 292,000 oz. gold annually. Capital cost is estimated at US$346 million. Essakane hosts 2.65 million oz. of gold within a US$500 gold price mine plan.

An updated version of the feasibility study expected in the next few weeks will include revised reserve estimates at higher gold prices, an increased plant throughput plan for the earlier years of production, and recent capital cost adjustments. In addition, the government of Burkina Faso recently reduced its corporate tax rate for mining companies to 20% from 25%.

And the company is not yet finished drilling at Essakane. A 5,000-metre infill and deep drilling program recently got underway, focused on upgrading inferred resources and testing the depth potential of the deposit. At present the primary limit in optimizing the pit bottom, given the current price of gold, is the depth of drilling; Orezone hopes to increase resources by going deeper.

And in mid-February Orezone released an updated resource estimate for another of its advanced exploration-stage projects, Bombore. The 250 sq. km project sits 80 km east of Ouagadougou, encompassing a southwest-northeast striking greenstone belt. In the mid-1990s, Channel Resources (CHU-V) and Solomon Resources (SRB-V) spent $2.5 million to define an historic, 1-million oz. gold resource.

Orezone’s recent report, the first National Instrument 43-101-compliant estimate for the project, pegs indicated resources at 29.6 million tonnes grading 0.61 gram gold and inferred resources at 23.8 million tonnes grading 0.66 gram gold. Mineralization extends to an average depth of 60 metres.

The resources are contained in five zones that lie within the Bombore geochemical anomaly. The gold-in-soil anomaly extends for more than 14 km averaging 0.1 gram gold, making it the largest gold anomaly in the country.

The company commenced a 6,000-metre core drilling program in December and plans to follow it immediately with a 20,000-metre reverse-circulation drilling program in the second quarter of 2008. Orezone holds a 50% interest in Bombore and can increase its interest to 100%, minus a 1% net smelter royalty, by completing a feasibility study and making a $1-million cash payment.

And at Sega, Orezone’s scoping study-stage gold project 200 km north of Ouagadougou, drill results out in late December attested to the project’s continued growth potential. A 6,500-metre drill program confirmed or enhanced previous results and produced new discoveries at two of the project’s four zones.

Drilling in the Bakou zone intersected several high-grade zones downdip from the boundary of known mineralization, including hole 46 that returned 24 metres of 3.11 grams gold from 159 metres depth and hole 47 that hit 21 metres grading 2.29 grams gold from 107 metres depth.

At the Gambo zones the better results included 9 metres of 3.22 grams gold from 36 metres depth in hole GRC911 and several mineralized intervals in hole G2D052, including 9 metres grading 2.45 grams gold from 115 metres downhole. At Tiba hole TID058 returned 29.5 metres grading 3.31 grams gold from 14 metres depth followed by 11 metres grading 2.42 grams gold from 46.5 metres depth.

All zones remain open at depth.

Sega currently hosts 7.15 million indicated tonnes grading 1.94 grams gold and 1.32 inferred tonnes grading 1.5 grams gold. A technical scoping study recommended a heap leach operation with a throughput of 3,000 tonnes per day. An initial capital cost estimate came in at US$12.7 million.

As though gold exploration wasn’t keeping the company busy enough, in early February Orezone announced that it has joined forces with North Atlantic Resources (NAC-T) to form a new uranium exploration company focused in on Niger.

The new entity, named Brighton Energy, will take on Orezone’s wholly-owned subsidiary Niger Resources, which hold two permits near to Areva’s exploration permits and operational uranium mines. North Atlantic will transfer to Brighton its wholly-owned subsidiary Selier Energy Niger, which holds three permits in the same area. All together the new company will control 4,000 sq. km in the centre of Niger’s uranium production region.

Orezone fell slightly on news of the Bondi resource estimate, closing down 9 at $1.56. The company has a 52-week trading range of $1.10 to $2.29 and has 356 million shares issued.