Stratex International, the mineral exploration and development company with a focus on gold and base metal projects in Turkey, announced a 43% increase in its ‘in-house’ oxide resource at the Altintepe Project.
The increase in the resource estimate was completed after Stratex conducted additional channel sampling over 900 metre strike combined with re-logging 13 diamond drill holes completed by the previous operator at the Extension Ridge Zone, which is one of many mineralised zones that make up the Altintepe Gold Project. Stratex stated that it had now defined approximately 1.728 million tonnes grading 2.17 grams per tonne gold for 120,905 ounces of oxide inferred resource using a 0.2 grams per tonne gold cut-off.
This brings the company’s total in-house resource estimate to 472, 318 ounces of oxide gold, with the total cumulative in-house resource estimate in Turkey to “in excess of 1 million ounces”.
Stratex also reported on preliminary cyanide-leach test work on oxide ore samples taken from the five main zones at Altintepe. Carbon-in-leach results confirmed “the potential for high gold recoveries from all material”, though a lower recovery rate was recorded from coarse material leach tests at Extension Ridge. Overall, the results suggested the oxide ore is amenable to heap leach methods. The company now considering additional scoping studies and is seeking partner to take the project to feasibility and ultimately production.
Executive Chairman David Hall commented:
“We are now placing a high priority on putting the Altıntepe and Inlice projects into production, whilst continuing to evaluate and explore our excellent pipeline of new gold projects. We have developed the Altıntepe project in a short time and have defined a potentially excellent economic resource. The action of our strategic partner Teck Cominco shows their alignment with our strategy to advance projects for option or sale if they don't meet Teck Cominco's corporate criteria and thus allow Stratex to focus on the search for new gold targets with the ultimate aim of defining a major 2 million ounce discovery.