Cluff Gold PLC (LON:CLF, TSE:CFG) said an independent resource estimate for its Baomahun gold project in Sierra Leone has increased the total mineral resources to 2.1 million ounces in the indicated category and 0.9 million ounces in the inferred category.
The new figure for the indicated resources, contained in 25.6 million tonnes of material at 2.5 grammes gold per tonne, represents a 46 percent increase over the measured and indicated resources announced in June 2010.
These new NI43-101 compliant resource figures will be incorporated into the definitive feasibility study for Baomahun, which is progressing well and is expected to be completed during the fourth quarter of 2011, the group said in a statement. It will also incorporate a number of opportunities to save costs.
Chief executive Peter Spivey said: “The new resources underline the opportunity for Cluff Gold to achieve its objective of developing an open-pit gold mine at Baomahun, which has the potential to produce over 150,000 ounces of gold per annum.
“Furthermore, we believe that there is significant potential to further expand the resource base at Baomahun: within the existing open pittable areas, at depth accessible by underground mining methods, and within the remainder of our mining and exploration permits.
Cluff plans to resume its drilling programme at the main resource area following the end of the wet season in November 2011, focusing on further opportunities that have been identified to increase the resource base through converting inferred resources to the measured and indicated categories. Exploration drilling will also resume along trend.
The new resource estimate was undertaken by SRK Consulting (UK) Ltd.