Avocet Mining has increased its estimates for mineral resources at the Inata gold mine by 59%. The gold mining company has previously said that the mine in Burkina Faso has resources of 3.36 million ounces of gold. The announcement pushed up the shares of the company by 10%.
The new estimate compliant with the JORC and NI43-101 standards said that Inata gold mine had a measured and indicated resource of 2.54 million ounces grading 1.47 grammes per tonne of gold. It is the result of the first phase of the exploration programme that was launched in October 2010.
The updated resources came as the exploration was aimed at extending the gold mineralization in the Inata area. The new resource represents an increase of 1.53 million ounces, or 83 percent. Avocet's total mineral resources in West Africa have now more than doubled from 2.36 million ounces at the time when the assts were acquired in 2009 to 5.03 million ounces.
Brett Richards the Chief Executive Officer of Avocet Mining said that the growth of the Inata Mineral Resource surpasses our expectations and supports our view that the Inata gold mine is capable of sustaining higher production rates over a longer mine life.
He added that he looked forward to the updated mineral reserve that is scheduled for late September, as well as the results of exploration drilling in and around the Inata and Souma ore bodies in the coming field season. With another 9,000 metres of drilling to be completed and around 16,000 assay results yet to come, they are looking forward to another resource update in the future.