ALLIED GOLD ORE RESERVES EXCEED 1 MILLION OUNCES
AN INCREASE OF 437,000 OUNCES EXTENDS MINE LIFE TO 10 YEARS
Highlights
- Simberi Ore Reserves increased by 437,000 contained ounces of gold including
o Sorowar oxide Ore Reserves have increased by 76,000 contained ounces of gold
o Pigiput Ore Reserves have increased by 361,000 contained ounces of gold of which approximately 185,000 contained ounces occur in oxide and transitional material - The Ore Reserves has contributed approximately 2 additional year’s production, resulting in a total remaining mine life of 10 years
- GR Engineering Services has been appointed to undertake a study to increase plant throughput to 3 million tonnes per annum.
- This Ore Reserve estimation at Pigiput resulted in the inclusion of sulphide ores, which are currently being infill drilled to expand the reserves as part of the sulphide development program.
Sorowar
Reverse circulation and diamond core drilling carried out in 2008 at the Sorowar deposit identified additional gold mineralisation to the north west, west and south east of the existing 2008 Ore Reserve pit. The results of this drilling were reported as a resource update in a release dated 24th October 2008. The drilling resulted in an increase in the Sorowar Measured, Indicated and Inferred Resources of 611,000 contained ounces of gold.
An updated Ore Reserve estimate for the Sorowar deposit has recently been completed by Golder Associates and resulted in an additional Proved and Probable Ore Reserves of 76,000 contained ounces of gold.
Additionally, in-pit Inferred Resources were estimated to be approximately 18koz of contained gold from 610kt at a grade of 0.92g/t.
Although the new Ore Reserves represent a modest increase, the expansion of the pit footprint will allow easier access for future near-pit exploration. Previous exploration drilling has been restricted by the very steep terrain at Sorowar and this has resulted in some areas being untested by drilling, including the North-West and South-East areas.