Sinivit Project
The Sinivit Gold Project is located 50 kilometres south-southwest of Rabaul in the Baining Mountains of the Gazelle Peninsula, East New Britain Province, Papua New Guinea. It can be accessed by road from the town of Kokopo (one hour drive) and port of Rabaul. A jet airport at Kokopo has several daily flights to Port Moresby and Lae.
Commercial production commenced in April 2008.
NGG is mining the oxide cap of a quartz, telluride, copper and gold system. Although the initial project has a relatively short life, New Guinea Gold has an active exploration/development program with the objective of defining additional gold mineralization. The known mineralization is open at depth and there are numerous other, as yet unexplored, targets within the Sinivit properties. The potential to increase mineralization at the project is described in the Independent Technical Reports. The Company cautions, however, that there is no certainty that further mineralization will be defined.
Sinivit Exploration for 2010 includes
Sinivit Oxide - drilling at the northern extension of the northern oxide zone. This will be additional mineralisation to the original resource. A second phase of 30m deep RC drilling from the base of the pit is planned for when the pit reaches a depth equivalent to the limit of the former RC drilling. This work will be carried out over the next 12 months, and will define oxide, transitional and sulphide mineralisation directly below the pit.
Sinivit Sulphide - Copper, gold, tellurium mineralisation extends to depth over a known strike length in excess of a kilometre. To better target significant major sulphide concentrations we intend to complete a 3D Induced Polarisation (IP) grid survey in April. Drilling would then test the anomalies that have been defined.
IP is a method whereby conductivity and resistivity of the sub-surface rock can be recorded. Sulphides will normally have a higher conductivity than surrounding wall rocks and can then be located by this method.
Trenching is well underway to expose the surface of this zone over its entire 900m length. RC drilling will follow in April and May.
Tellurium
Tellurium has an attractive theoretical in ground, or in vat value at Sinivit, both in the crushed oxide mineralisation presently in vats and in the mineralisation yet to be mined.
An extensive sampling program of material in vats, previously drilled RC drill holes, diamond core holes and channel sampling in the pits is underway to provide a better understanding of the overall tellurium content of the system.
Samples were dispatched to an interested buyer in the USA in early March for metallurgical testing to determine if the tellurium can be economically recovered.
Other Exploration outside Sinivit and Kavarsuki
The Sinivit or Wild Dog structure can be traced for plus 10 km with anomalous gold/copper/tellurium.
The IP survey will cover the area immediately south of the mine. Excavator trenching will also be completed over this zone during the next half year.
Sinivit can be summarized as follows:
• The Sinivit resources have been defined near surface over a one-kilometre length of a ten kilometre long structural zone. This structural zone is known to contain sporadic, largely untested or unexplored gold mineralization over its entire length.
• The primary mineralization is gold/copper/telluride and the initial mine will process the oxide cap of this mineralization. Mineralization is open both along strike and to depth.
• Head grade for the oxide mineralization is projected at 5g/t gold, with open pit mining and vat leach processing. Mining and processing are relatively simple.
• Average grade of the unoxidised gold/telluride mineralization, from drilling completed to date, is expected to average between 10 and 14g/t gold.
It is expected that mining of oxide mineralisation will continue until 2011, although if present exploration is successful this time frame could be extended. Drilling to increase Resources, particularly the underlying gold-sulphide will continue in 2009.
Mining the gold copper telluride (sulphide) mineralisation is dependent on the results of ongoing exploration and a positive outcome from a Preliminary Assessment to be completed by early 2010. In that event, in the second half of 2010, or 2011, a mill and concentrating plant would be added to the processing circuit to recover the sulphide mineralisation (gold, copper, silver and tellurium).
The Sinivit resources have been defined near surface within a one kilometer length of a ten kilometer long structural zone. This structural zone is known to contain sporadic, largely untested or unexplored gold mineralisation over its entire length. Excavator trenching is presently in progress to test this zone to the south of the mine, while two drills are operating within the mine area to define additional resources
These evaluations are preliminary in nature and are based entirely on indicated mineral resources which have not been categorized as mineral reserves. There is no assurance that the operating and financial projections in the preliminary assessment will be realized. Mineral resources that are not reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. Measured and indicated mineral resources are that part of a mineral resource of which quantity and grade can be estimated with a level of confidence sufficient to allow the application of technical and economic parametres to support mine planning and evaluation of the economic viability of the deposit. An inferred mineral resource for which quantity and grade can be estimated on the basis of geological evidence and limited sampling and reasonably assumed, but not verified.
Readers are advised to refer to the Press Release and Technical Report Sections of this web-site for complete information including detailed drill and trench results.
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