Sep 21 2015
Banro Corporation is pleased to announce the intersection of significant mineralization from on-going near mine exploration activities at its wholly-owned Namoya project, located on the Twangiza-Namoya gold belt in the Maniema Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The near mine exploration at Namoya encompasses follow-up work in the Namoya Summit-Filon B area, the hanging-wall zone at Namoya Summit and around the Seketi deposit. The objective is to identify new resources and increase the geological confidence surrounding certain low confidence resources to enhance the medium to long term economics of the Namoya mine.
Banro undertook shallow depth Reverse Circulation ("RC") drilling at its Namoya Summit footwall zone which borders the Filon B area further south (refer to the Locality Map referenced below). The program was planned to follow up surface mineralization delineated previously on surface exposures and trenches at the Namoya Summit-Filon B target. A total of 18 RC holes were completed which successfully intersected significant mineralization in the northwestern part of the 200 metre strike mineralization zone.
The significant mineralization intersections from the program include the following:
- Hole NSRC067 intersected 16.00 metres grading 5.35 g/t Au from 24.00 metres
- Hole NSRC068 intersected 19.00 metres grading 1.51 g/t Au from 7.00 metres
- Hole NSRC069 intersected 24.00 metres grading 2.77 g/t Au from 22.00 metres
- Hole NSRC071 intersected 12.00 metres grading 2.30 g/t Au from 3.00 metres and 7.00 metres grading 1.59 g/t Au from 17.00 metres
- Hole NSRC072 intersected 12.00 metres grading 1.5 g/t Au from 3.00 metres
- Hole NSRC073 intersected 7.00 metres grading 1.39 g/t Au from 0.00 metres
- Hole NSRC074 intersected 7.00 metres grading 3.05 g/t Au from 0.00 metres
- Hole NSRC074B intersected 4.00 metres grading 3.41 g/t Au from 1.00 metres
- Hole NSRC075 intersected 4.00 metres grading 4.85 g/t Au from 0.00 metres
- Hole NSRC077 intersected 15.00 metres grading 5.00 g/t Au from 27.00 metres
- Hole NSRC078 intersected 17.00 metres grading 2.17 g/t Au from 16.00 metres
Commenting on the drilling results at Namoya, John Clarke, President and CEO of the Company, said: "We are pleased with the positive results from the ongoing near mine exploration at Namoya. These results have confirmed our previous interpretation of potential zones of mineralization in the footwall of the Namoya Summit, which is open-ended to the northwest. We will use the new information to reclassify the Namoya Summit resources while continuing with deeper drilling into the central part of the Filon B mineralization. In line with our near mine exploration strategy, we look forward to testing additional targets in the hanging wall of the Namoya Summit deposit and at Seketi where follow-up work has already generated surface targets for drilling."
Results from the RC holes are tabulated in a table which can be accessed on the Company's website at http://www.banro.com/i/pdf/Namoya-Drillholes-intercepts.pdf.
A Locality Map of the reported drill holes can be found on the Company's website at http://www.banro.com/i/pdf/Namoya_PR_Location_Map.pdf.
The shallow depth RC drilling program was undertaken using an in-house Discovery rig. A total of 18 RC holes averaging 45 metres were completed for a total of 763 metres to generate 775 RC samples. Drilling was oriented towards the southwest at 225º and to the south at 180º with drill hole inclinations ranging between 60º-65º. It is estimated that the true widths of the mineralized zones are approximately 85% of the intersected widths in the holes. Drill holes were planned in fences ranging between 20 and 40 metres, along the entire 200 metre footwall zone.
All RC samples for assaying were taken consistently at one metre intervals and were riffle split with one-half of the sample placed in sealed bags and sent to the Company's on-site sample preparation facility. The samples were then pulverized down to 90% passing 75 microns. Approximately 150 grams of the pulverized sample was then sent to the on-site SGS Laboratory (which is independent of the Company) where the samples were analyzed for gold by fire assay using a 50g charge. As part of the Company's QA/QC procedures, internationally recognized standards, duplicates and blanks were inserted into the sample batches.
The footwall mineralization zone at Namoya Summit has a near surface expression of more than 200 metres along a northwest southeast strike, measured from the junction with Filon B in the south west (see the Locality Map referenced above). The zone is known to have a moderate to steep dip to the northeast, with an average width of between 5 and 25 metres. The zone is hosted in altered sericite schist and exhibit typical "pinch and swell" nature along strike and down dip. It is associated with significant quartz veins and veinlets, and iron oxides in boxworks presumably from the oxidation of sulphides. Based on the results received in the recently completed program, a south easterly plunge to mineralization is inferred, which explains the paucity of mineralization intersections in the holes drilled in the south eastern end.