sonaresources.com
Sona Resources Corp. is a junior resource company based in Vancouver, British Columbia, specializing in gold exploration, development and mining in North America. The Sona board of directors and management have decades of combined experience in the mineral exploration and mining industry, and in managing and financing junior exploration companies.
Since its inception in 1990, Sona has engaged in exploration activities at its 100 percent owned mineral properties in Canada and the United States, as well as small-scale gold production at its flagship property, the Blackdome Gold Mine, in south-central B.C. Since 2002 at its Elizabeth Gold Property, 220 kilometres north of Vancouver, Sona has completed four diamond drill programs that have outlined a 206,000-ounce inferred gold resource.
Sona Resources takes two big steps at Blackdome
Sona Resources (TSX-V:SYS) fired out two updates for investors this week, updating resource estimates for the Blackdome Gold Mine and the Blackdome Mine tailings.
The 18,500‐hectare Blackdome Gold Mine is located in the Clinton Mining District in British Columbia, Canada. The site contains a fully permitted flotation and gravity mill. From 1986 to 1991, it treated 340,000 tonnes of ore at a mill head grade of 20 grams per tonne gold, producing 225,000 ounces of gold over five years. The flotation and gravity mill have a current design capacity of 200 tonnes per day.
Sona reported this week an updated (NI43-101 compliant) indicated resource estimate at the historical mine of 144,500 tonnes at an average grade of 11 grams per tonne gold and 50 grams per tonne silver, plus an additional inferred resource of 90,600 tonnes @ 8.8 grams per tonne gold and 18.8 grams per tonne silver.
The combined inferred and indicated resource contains 78,500 ounces of gold and 286,700 ounces of silver.
The mineral resource was based on a a cut‐off grade of 5 grams per tonne gold, assuming an underground mining scenario, a gold price of US$1,000 per ounce, and 100% metallurgical recovery.
In addition to the Blackdome Mine resource, Sona also reported a new NI43-101 compliant inferred resource estimate for the tailings impoundment at the project of 298,389 tonnes of tailings, grading 1.47 grams gold per tonne, containing 14,145 ounces of gold at a cut-off grade of 0.5g/t Au. Preliminary metallurgical testwork on the tailings by SGS Lakefield suggest recoveries of 90% are achievable.
“This is one more important step toward achieving our goal of commencing full-scale production at the Blackdome Mill by 2013,” John Thompson, Sona’s President and CEO said this week in response to the update.
Looking forward, the junior exploration and development company said it was planning a 5,000 meter diamond drill program to target extensions of the known veins with the expectation of adding further ounces of the resource. Drilling will commence this summer.
Beyond Blackdome, Sona Resources controls 100% of the Elizabeth Gold Property where the company has outlined an inferred gold resource of 522,900 tonnes grading 12.3g Au/t, containing 206,100 ounces of gold. Thanks to the Elizabeth Gold Property’s close proximity to Blackdome (approx. 30 kilometres) the company is looking to use ore from both properties to feed the Blackdome mill.
Sona also controls the Callaghan Project in Nevada and Montgolfier Project in Quebec.
