19th Sep 2005 07:01
GMA Resources PLC18 September 2005 GMA RESOURCES Plc NEWS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE London, 19 September 2005 AMESMESSA GOLD PROJECT FEASIBILITY STUDY COMPLETE PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS KPIs Units Result Financial NPV US$m 50.6 IRR % 37 Av Cost US$/oz 200 Operating Surplus US$m 139 Capital Plant & Infrastructure US$m 28.3 Mining Fleet US$m 9.9 Physicals Mine Production ounces Au 640,000 GMA Resources Plc (the "Company"), the gold mining company, is pleased toannounce the completion of the Amesmessa Gold Project Feasibility Study (the "Study"). The Study confirmed the technical and commercial viability of a newprocessing plant at Amesmessa, and several open cut mines at both Amesmessa andTirek. The Study was completed by GRD Minproc Ltd and RSG Global Pty Ltd(RSGG), who were responsible for geological modeling and mine planning,including the presentation of Resource and Reserve Statements ("CompetentPerson's" report in terms of the JORC Code). The Study realized an Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 37% and a NPV ofUS$50.6m, based on a gold price of US$440/oz and Plant and Infrastructurecapital costs of US$28.3m. Cash operating costs are forecast to be as low as US$140/oz in the first year ofproduction, averaging just US$200/oz for the life of the project. The Study has been limited to mine schedules derived from the upper regions ofonly 17 of the 120 veins identified at Amesmessa and Tirek. The Company holds a controlling interest in the Algerian based company, ENOR,the owner of the Tirek-Amesmessa Gold Project in the Sahara of southern Algeria.The Amesmessa zone is located at the southern end of the 1,400 km2 exploitationpermit area, which covers an 80 kilometre mineralised corridor associated with amajor north-south deformation zone on which the Tirek and Amesmessa golddeposits are located. Mineralisation was originally discovered in the 1970s by the Algerian GovernmentAgency, ORGM, which undertook extensive surface sampling, trenching anddrilling. Further trench sampling and drilling has been undertaken by theCompany since 2002, focussing on establishing additional reserves on the mainveins at Amesmessa and Tirek. In total, ORGM estimated C1 and C2 Resources of 2,300,000 oz and P Resources of1,020,000 oz (using the classification system of the Russian State Committee forOre Reserves). Since commencing mining operations in mid 2001, ENOR hasproduced, in aggregate, over 60,000 oz from shallow open cast mines at Tirek,and to a lesser extent at Amesmessa, targeting shallow C1 resources. At Tirek, ENOR has developed open cut mines on 20 of the 70 quartz veinsidentified previously by ORGM. The Company has completed an extensive drillingprogram on 13 of the major vein swarms at Tirek and achieved reef intercepts ofgreater than 15 g/t Au in 40 out of the 179 holes drilled. At Amesmessa, ENOR has commenced surface mining three of the of the 50 quartzveins identified by ORGM. Whilst the Company's drilling campaign focused oninfill drilling at veins 8 and 9, an extra 19 exploratory holes were drilled toallow geological interpretation and modeling on further vein swarms. Of thetotal of 88 holes drilled within the Amesmessa zone, 11 holes achieved reefintercepts of greater than 15g/t Au. The Study has been based on a new 300,000 tpa processing plant at Amesmessa, andseveral large open pit mines at both Amesmessa (veins 8 & 9) and Tirek (veins II/III and XIV/XV). Mineral Resources established for the upper regions of theset of six veins studied by RSGG totalled 924,000 oz, whilst Ore Reserves were424,000 oz. In addition the Company initiated resource modelling and mineplanning on nine other near surface, veins at Amesmessa and two minor veins atTirek. The additional pit inventory total was 216,000 oz. This additional pitinventory is based on ORGM C1 inventories for the selected veins, andpreliminary pits have been designed to extract the majority of the selected C1polygons, with an average depth of generally less than 40m. In bringing the Study to a close with a mine schedule derived from only 17 ofthe 120 veins identified at Amesmessa and Tirek, the Company considers there tobe excellent potential to extend the mine life, by converting further shallow C1and C2 resources to Ore Reserves, through a cost effective combination ofsurface stripping and trench sampling, and where necessary further shallowdrilling. This is especially the case at the numerous mineralized zones ORGMidentified along the 60 km deformation zone between the Amesmessa and Tirek minesites, known as ZITA. ORGM have previously identified shallow C1 and C2resources totaling 328,000 oz within ZITA. It should also be noted that the Mineralised Resource estimated by RSGG forAmesmessa veins 8 & 9 has been determined to an approximate depth of 450 metres,whilst previous estimates reported by ORGM extended to approximately 537 metres.The majority (75%) of the infill drilling performed by the Company was confinedto the top 60 metres of the ore body. Previous drilling by ORGM extended wellbelow this, and in fact borehole S233, one of the deepest drilled by ORGM atAmesmessa vein 9 intersected the reef zone at a depth of approximately 420metres below surface with a value of 34.7g/t Au over 1.13 metres. Whilst themain objective of the Company's drilling program at Amesmessa and Tirek was toprove up sufficient open cut mine reserves to support the first five years ofgold production for the new Amesmessa plant, the Company considers vein 8 and 9to have potential to be a significant underground mine and believes there isexcellent exploration potential at depth. ENDS For further information contact:GMA Resources Tel: + 61 400 228 234Colin Ikin, Chief Executive 4C-Burvale Tel: + 44 (0)20 7907 4761Carina Corbett Website: www.gmaresources.plc.uk This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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