TIDMSHG
RNS Number : 1384J
Shanta Gold Limited
07 September 2016
7 September 2016
Shanta Gold Limited
("Shanta Gold", "Shanta" or the "Company")
Ilunga Resource Upgrade
Shanta Gold (AIM: SHG), the East Africa-focused gold producer,
developer and explorer, is pleased to announce an upgraded JORC
Code compliant (2012) resource estimate at the Ilunga satellite
deposit at the New Luika Gold Mine ("NLGM" or "the Mine") located
in the Lupa Goldfields, southwest Tanzania. Ilunga is located 2.5km
northeast of the NLGM central processing facility with access
already developed as part of the current open pit mining
operation.
Ilunga highlights:
-- Significant increase in resource and gold grade at Ilunga;
-- Indicated Resources increase 409% from 40,352 ounces gold ("oz Au") to 205,347 oz Au;
-- Indicated Resource tonnage increases 336% from 311,355 tonnes to 1,356,054 tonnes;
-- Indicated Resource gold grade rises 17% from 4.03 grams per
tonne ("g/t") Au to 4.71 g/t Au; and
-- Total Ilunga resources (Indicated and Inferred categories)
upgraded from 73,940 oz at 3.51 g/t to 257,965 oz at 4.55 g/t.
The updated resource will be fast-tracked for engineering
studies with a view to define an underground reserve during Q1
2017. The underground material from Ilunga was not included within
the Base Case Mine Plan, reported by Shanta in September 2015, and
the Company will work to incorporate these resources into the mine
plan in due course. The deposit remains open at depth and along
strike to the west.
The Ilunga drilling program was conducted between March and July
2016 and comprised 29 new drill holes of which 1 was diamond from
surface, 20 were reverse circulation with diamond tails and 8 were
reverse circulation. Diamond drilling totalled 1,844 metres and
reverse circulation was 3,672 metres for a total of 5,516
metres.
The resource upgrade at Ilunga supports the Company's view that
considerable upside exists in its property portfolio in the Lupa
Gold Fields. Shanta remains committed to its systematic programme
of exploration to optimise and upgrade prospects within the mining
licence, as well on nearby tenements held by the Company. All
deposits at New Luika, particularly the high grade deposits, remain
open at depth and will be progressively explored to provide a
rolling mine life that is ideally maintained at more than seven
years. It is anticipated that, subject to mine planning, the
upgraded Ilunga resource will help deliver this objective.
Table 1*: JORC Compliant Comparative Ilunga Resource Summary -
2014 vs 2016 (at a cut-off grade of 1g/t Au)(1,2)
2014 2016 2014-2016 %
increase
----------- -------------------------- ----------------------------- ------------------------
Tonnes Au Au Tonnes Au Au Tonnes Au Au
(g/t) (oz) (g/t) (oz) (g/t) (oz)
----------- -------- ------- ------- ---------- ------- -------- ------- ------- ------
Indicated 311,355 4.03 40,352 1,356,054 4.71 205,347 336% 17% 409%
----------- -------- ------- ------- ---------- ------- -------- ------- ------- ------
Inferred 343,427 3.04 33,588 405,829 4.03 52,608 18% 33% 57%
----------- -------- ------- ------- ---------- ------- -------- ------- ------- ------
TOTAL 654,782 3.51 73,940 1,761,883 4.55 257,965 169% 30% 249%
----------- -------- ------- ------- ---------- ------- -------- ------- ------- ------
*Undepleted figures appear in Table 1 (surface mining commenced
in the Ilunga deposit in July 2016 with estimated depletion to the
end of August 2016 at 30,000 tonnes.)
(1) See link
http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/1384J_-2016-9-6.pdf
for accompanying plan of longitudinal section
(2) Ilunga is 100% owned by Shanta and as such the above noted
resources are wholly attributable to the Company
Toby Bradbury, Chief Executive Officer, commented:
"We are delighted with the upgraded resource figures from
Ilunga. The deposit is a good grade, close to the plant and is
likely to contribute to a meaningful increase in the mining reserve
which in turn enhances shareholder value. We expect that the
majority of the Ilunga ounces will form part of a new high grade
underground operation that would start as the Luika deposit is
depleted in around 2020. At this stage, the Company envisages
developing Ilunga using cash generated from operations and to
utilise existing equipment and personnel to take the new
development in its stride. The potential of this high grade
extension creates the option to blend with, among others, the
upgraded Elizabeth Hill Reserve declared earlier this year and thus
extend the mine life by a number of years with a lot more
prospective exploration still in play.
In addition to our exploration work in the Lupa, the Company's
Singida licences remain under-explored and Shanta is re-evaluating
the prospect pipeline there too using the same cost-effective
approach. Drilling at Singida has recently restarted, with initial
results expected at the end of September 2016. The Company aims to
build an improved understanding of the deposit with the potential
to increase in scale from previously defined resources."
Table 2: JORC Compliant Comparative Ilunga Resource Summary -
2014 vs 2016 (cut-off grades 0 - 5 g/t Au)
2014 2016 2016 vs 2014 Resource Comparison
----------------------------------- -------------------------------------- -------------------------------------
INDICATED_2014 INDICATED_2016 INDICATED % Increase
----------------------------------- -------------------------------------- -------------------------------------
Cut-Off Au Cut-Off Au Cut-Off Au
Grade Grade Au Grade Grade Au Grade Grade
(g/t) Tonnes (g/t) Ounces (g/t) Tonnes (g/t) Ounces (g/t) Tonnes (g/t) Au Ounces
-------- -------- ------ ------- -------- ---------- ------ -------- -------- ------- ------ ----------
0 326,712 3.88 40,759 0 1,834,521 3.60 212,568 0 462% -7% 422%
-------- -------- ------ ------- -------- ---------- ------ -------- -------- ------- ------ ----------
1 311,355 4.03 40,352 1 1,356,054 4.71 205,347 1 336% 17% 409%
-------- -------- ------ ------- -------- ---------- ------ -------- -------- ------- ------ ----------
2 253,114 4.62 37,524 2 997,992 5.87 188,346 2 294% 27% 402%
-------- -------- ------ ------- -------- ---------- ------ -------- -------- ------- ------ ----------
3 204,737 5.12 33,653 3 769,417 6.87 169,970 3 276% 34% 405%
-------- -------- ------ ------- -------- ---------- ------ -------- -------- ------- ------ ----------
4 154,233 5.64 27,948 4 610,586 7.75 152,099 4 296% 37% 444%
-------- -------- ------ ------- -------- ---------- ------ -------- -------- ------- ------ ----------
5 102,324 6.18 20,383 5 491,364 8.55 135,086 5 380% 38% 563%
-------- -------- ------ ------- -------- ---------- ------ -------- -------- ------- ------ ----------
INFERRED_2014 INFERRED_2016 INFERRED % Increase
----------------------------------- -------------------------------------- -------------------------------------
Cut-Off Au Cut-Off Au Cut-Off Au
Grade Grade Au Grade Grade Au Grade Grade
(g/t) Tonnes (g/t) Ounces (g/t) Tonnes (g/t) Ounces (g/t) Tonnes (g/t) Au Ounces
-------- -------- ------ ------- -------- ---------- ------ -------- -------- ------- ------ ----------
0 357,800 2.95 33,963 0 638,878 2.97 61,005 0 79% 1% 80%
-------- -------- ------ ------- -------- ---------- ------ -------- -------- ------- ------ ----------
1 343,427 3.04 33,588 1 405,829 4.03 52,608 1 18% 33% 57%
-------- -------- ------ ------- -------- ---------- ------ -------- -------- ------- ------ ----------
2 230,079 3.81 28,182 2 312,662 4.83 48,533 2 36% 27% 72%
-------- -------- ------ ------- -------- ---------- ------ -------- -------- ------- ------ ----------
3 167,867 4.34 23,360 3 235,549 5.57 42,144 3 40% 28% 80%
-------- -------- ------ ------- -------- ---------- ------ -------- -------- ------- ------ ----------
4 90,898 5.07 14,702 4 185,939 6.13 36,664 4 105% 21% 149%
-------- -------- ------ ------- -------- ---------- ------ -------- -------- ------- ------ ----------
5 29,178 6.38 5,853 5 100,668 7.54 24,416 5 245% 18% 317%
-------- -------- ------ ------- -------- ---------- ------ -------- -------- ------- ------ ----------
TOTAL_2014 TOTAL_2016 TOTAL % Change
----------------------------------- -------------------------------------- -------------------------------------
Cut-Off Au Cut-Off Au Cut-Off Au
Grade Grade Au Grade Grade Au Grade Grade
(g/t) Tonnes (g/t) Ounces (g/t) Tonnes (g/t) Ounces (g/t) Tonnes (g/t) Au Ounces
-------- -------- ------ ------- -------- ---------- ------ -------- -------- ------- ------ ----------
0 684,513 3.40 74,721 0 2,473,399 3.45 274,509 0 261% 1% 267%
-------- -------- ------ ------- -------- ---------- ------ -------- -------- ------- ------ ----------
1 654,782 3.51 73,940 1 1,761,883 4.55 257,965 1 169% 30% 249%
-------- -------- ------ ------- -------- ---------- ------ -------- -------- ------- ------ ----------
2 483,193 4.23 65,706 2 1,310,654 5.62 236,861 2 171% 33% 260%
-------- -------- ------ ------- -------- ---------- ------ -------- -------- ------- ------ ----------
3 372,604 4.76 57,012 3 1,004,967 6.57 212,118 3 170% 38% 272%
-------- -------- ------ ------- -------- ---------- ------ -------- -------- ------- ------ ----------
4 245,131 5.41 42,650 4 796,525 7.37 188,763 4 225% 36% 343%
-------- -------- ------ ------- -------- ---------- ------ -------- -------- ------- ------ ----------
5 131,502 6.21 26,236 5 592,032 8.38 159,507 5 350% 35% 508%
-------- -------- ------ ------- -------- ---------- ------ -------- -------- ------- ------ ----------
This announcement is inside information for the purposes of
Article 7 of Regulation 596/2014.
Enquiries:
Shanta Gold Limited
Toby Bradbury (CEO) +255 (0)22 2601
Mark Rosslee (CFO) 829
Nominated Adviser and
Broker
Peel Hunt LLP
Matthew Armitt / Ross +44 (0)20 7418
Allister / Chris Burrows 8900
Financial Public Relations
Tavistock
+44 (0)20 7920
Emily Fenton / Jos Simson 3150
Competent Person
The technical information contained within this announcement has
been reviewed and approved by Mr. Awie Pretorius MSc.Pri.Sci.Nat.
Mr. Pretorius is a consultant to Shanta and a member of the South
African Council for Natural Scientific Professionals (SACNASP
Membership Number 400060/91).
He has sufficient experience that is relevant to the style of
mineralization and type of deposit under consideration and to the
activity being undertaken to qualify as a Competent Person as
defined in the 2012 Edition of the 'Australasian Code for Reporting
of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves' and for
the purposes of the AIM Guidance Note on Mining and Oil & Gas
Companies dated June 2009.
About Shanta Gold
Shanta Gold is an East Africa-focused gold producer, developer
and explorer. It currently has defined ore resources on the New
Luika and Singida projects in Tanzania and holds exploration
licences over a number of additional properties in the country.
Shanta's flagship New Luika Gold Mine commenced production in 2012
and produced 81,873 ounces in 2015. The Company is admitted to
trading on London's AIM and has approximately 583 million shares in
issue. For further information please visit:
www.shantagold.com.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
MSCAKADDDBKBDCK
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 07, 2016 02:01 ET (06:01 GMT)
Shanta Gold (LSE:SHG)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2024 to May 2024
Shanta Gold (LSE:SHG)
Historical Stock Chart
From May 2023 to May 2024