Kilo Goldmines Ltd. (TSX VENTURE:KGL)(FRANKFURT:02K) has announced an initial National Instrument 43-101 compliant inferred resource estimate on the Adumbi Deposit of the Somituri Project in north-eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
The resource estimate has been prepared by independent geological consulting firm The Mineral Corporation, of South Africa. The Banded Ironstone containing the deposit has an estimated strike length of 1.2 km as defined by Kilo's drilling to date. Based on regional compilation and artisanal gold mining activity, the Banded Ironstone appears to be located along a regional lineament exceeding 5 km in length. The deposit remains open at depth. Other Kilo drilled prospects on the Somituri Project, namely the Kitenge and Manzako, are not included in the mineral resource estimate.
NI 43-101 COMPLIANT INFERRED RESOURCE
At a 0.5g/t gold cut-off grade the Adumbi Prospect contains an Inferred Mineral Resource of 46.3 million tonne at a grade of 1.37g/t gold containing 2.03 million ounces of gold. The 0.5g/t cut-off is deemed appropriate based on current gold prices and possible processing costs of circa US$20/tonne.
The deposit is hosted in chemical metasedimentary rocks consisting of intervals of chert, chert banded with banded iron formation ("BIF"), as well as minor intervals of chert banded with black shale and several narrow intervals of black shale; quartz veins occur throughout the chemical metasedimentary rocks.
The Adumbi Deposit occurs within the sub-vertical to steep northeasterly dipping sheared BIF that is mineralized from surface. Topographically the deposit forms a steep-sided hill, elongated parallel to strike, that rises some 130 metres above the base elevation. As defined by current drilling to date, the BIF has an estimated strike length of 1.2 km that appears to be hosted within a regional lineament in excess of 5 km length along which artisanal gold mining activity occurs. The deposit remains open at depth.
The mineralization occurs associated with quartz veins and veinlets hosted by the BIF and average sulphide content is in the order of 3 to 10%. Preliminary conclusions are that the gold occurs with late-stage pyrite. Visible gold has not been observed to date in the drill core.
This is the first resource estimate completed for the Adumbi Deposit. Mr. David Young, of The Mineral Corporation, is the "Qualified Person" who prepared the mineral resource estimate. The mineral resource estimate was prepared using the Canadian Institute of Mining Metallurgy and Petroleum ("CIM") definition Standards (2005) and CIM Best Practice Guidelines for Preparing Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves. Mr. Young is independent of Kilo as that term is defined in NI 43-101.
The Mineral Resource estimate is based on 25 drill holes collared on section lines at approximately 80 metre intervals, 4 adits and 12 trenches. The drilling, trenching and historical underground exploitation on the Adumbi Deposit demonstrate lithological and mineralization continuity along strike and at depth.
The NI 43-101 report containing the resource estimate will be finalized by the Mineral Corporation, filed on SEDAR and posted on Kilo's website within the next forty-five days.
Klaus Eckhof, President and CEO of Kilo stated "This initial resource estimate of 2 million ounces of contained gold is a significant milestone for the Company and represents a strong starting point as we continue to advance the Somituri project forward." Peter Hooper, Executive Chairman of Kilo added "Our expectation is that significant potential exists to add ounces at Adumbi by infill drilling along strike and to depth. Due to the wide-spaced drilling on Adumbi, combined with the necessity of collaring drill holes within the mineralized zone to intersect the zone proximal to surface, and the resultant termination of drill holes prior to completion through to the entire footwall, management has concluded that both the quoted grade and estimated ounces may be understated. In addition, further drilling on the Kitenge and Manzako Prospects as well as drilling on the currently un-explored colonial era Bagbaie [Adumbi North Prospect] provides further optimism for delineating additional resources on the Somituri Project."
2011 Exploration on the Somituri Project
The Company intends to expand the initial Adumbi inferred mineral resources by drilling along strike and at depth with deeper drilling. In addition, infill drilling will be carried out with the intention of converting inferred mineral resources to the indicated category. Metallurgical test work is in progress and petrographic studies are also planned.
Mapping, trenching and diamond drilling is being carried out on the other known prospects. In addition, mapping and sampling is in progress on another of the 8 Exploitation Licences that constitute the Somituri Project with the objective of defining drill targets.
Exploration and Analytical Procedures
The drilling was carried out by diamond drill rigs. Core samples were split in half with an electric saw, sampled and bagged by the geologists on site at the Adumbi Prospect exploration camp. The core, trench and adit samples were maintained in a secure location prior to transport to Kilo's administrative office by company vehicle. Subsequently the samples were transported by commercial carrier to the ALS Chemex laboratory in Mwanza, Tanzania. The samples were crushed to a minimum 70% passing a 2mm screen; the entire sample was then pulverized to 90% less than 75 microns. Quality control samples consisting of commercial standards and blanks were included with every batch of samples submitted to the laboratory. Sample pulps were forwarded by commercial carrier from ALS Chemex (Tanzania) to ALS Chemex in Johannesburg, South Africa and to Vancouver, Canada. Gold was determined on a 50 gram charge by the Fire Assay ("FA") with Atomic Absorption ("AA") finish method. The ALS Chemex Group is accredited to International Standards.