Batero Gold, a base and precious metals exploration and expansion firm, has reported that it has started the 2012 diamond drilling campaign at the La Cumbre porphyry deposit, which is one of three deposits located at the Batero-Quinchia project in Colombia.
The company’s drilling campaign has been planned to comprise up to 6,000 m and minimum 2,000 m of diamond drilling, wherein the program also includes geotechnical, infill, metallurgical and step-out drilling. A single drilling rig will be utilized to commence the work plan, which will include a second drill rig as needed.
This drilling is part of the work campaign of 2012-2013 specifically designed to promote La Cumbre deposit to production. Batero is assessing the cost-effective and most efficient scenario of the mine that includes a leach processing circuit and the best production rate of starter pit at surface oxidized high-grade gold mineralization.
Mineralized gold at the La Cumbre deposit exists as high-grade oxidized gold mineralization and as huge and continuous zones located at surface. The 2012 drilling will validate possible expansions of the mineral resources. It will target to advance the indicated mineral resources estimate to a NI 43-101 compliant measured resource. Present drill spacing indicates the possibility that in order to promote the oxidized mineralization towards a measured resource category, only limited drilling may be needed.
According to Batero Gold, the step-out drill program can possibly increase the resources’ size and grade of mineralized gold in order to identify the potential starter pit located at La Cumbre. High-grade and oxidized gold mineralization zones located at La Cumbre deposit stay exposed beyond the present drilling level.
Fresh drill program may supply sample material for use in metallurgical column leach testing to offer further recovery estimates and also to find an optimum process flow sheet for the La Cumbre deposit’s oxidized mineralization.
The location and topography of mineralized gold at the La Cumbre deposit help a low strip ratio for a prospective starter pit. Preliminary geotechnical studies will be completed with the help of geotechnical drilling to appraise a potential starter pit’s pit slope angles.
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