AMN - GHANA: Cardinal boosts Namdini gold reserve

Cardinal Resources has optimised the ore reserve estimate for the Namdini Gold Project in Ghana. The project now contains 5.1 million ounces in the proved and probable reserve category, up from 4.8 million ounces.

These ounces are from 138.6 million tonnes at 1.13 g/t gold at a 0.5 g/t cut-off. There has been 80% of the measured and indicated mineral resource converted to proven and probable reserves.

The optimisation process has resulted in the company using a US$1225 gold price for the optimised pit selected for the Life of Mine (LoM) design. The LoM strip ratio is 1.9 1.

Cardinal’s CEO and managing director, Archie Koimtsidis said: “We are extremely pleased that our optimisation of pit designs, wall angles and mining schedules, has upgraded the company’s Life of Mine ore reserve position to 5.1 million ounces, reinforcing the Namdini gold deposit as of one of the largest undeveloped gold discoveries of the past decade.

“We’re very fortunate to have a significant higher-grade portion within the Life of Mine ore reserve starting essentially at surface. This allows for a rapid capital payback during production of the First Stage Pit.

"It is anticipated that the first stage pit will see approximately 1 million ounces of gold produced over an approximate three-year period at an expected lower strip ratio and a higher average head grade of approximately 1.3 g/t gold based on a process plant throughput of 9.5 million tonnes per annum.

“We are confident that this optimised Life of Mine ore reserve, can deliver strengthened financial results within the feasibility study which is rapidly advancing to completion.

"Given the project's large ore reserve, low strip ratio, high conversion of the mineral resource and rapid payback from the anticipated higher grade, lower strip ratio of the first stage pit, it is expected that the company will have access to attractive project finance to achieve the best outcome for shareholders.”

The mineral resource incorporates the results from all the resource drilling to date comprising 175 HQ diamond core holes and 151 RC drill holes totalling 87,140 metres.

Mining of the Namdini project will use conventional open pit mining equipment. The mining process will include drill and blast as well as conventional load and haul operations. There is expected to be a limited amount of free-dig material with the majority of material assumed to require drilling and blasting.

Mining will be carried out using staged cut backs with four identified stages incorporated within the LOM final pit. The mining schedule incorporates movement of ore and waste on 10-metre mining benches, by year for each of the four mining stages.

Oxide ore will be stockpiled and fed into the process plant towards the end of the mine life. Waste rock will be stockpiled separately on the western side of the pit.

The metallurgical work carried out to date indicates that gold can be satisfactorily recovered from Namdini ore using conventional flotation, regrind and Carbon In Leach (CIL) cyanidation techniques.

The work is considered sufficient to determine that the Namdini mineral resource represents a deposit with potential for economic extraction.

Cardinal has recently received further intersections of high-grade, shallow gold mineralisation at the Ndongo East deposit, which is only 24km north of the Namdini project.

Results include 8.3 metres at 11.3 g/t from 75.7 metres; 5.2 metres at 4.5 g/t from 60 metres; and 6.3 metres at 2.8 g/t from 58.2 metres.

www.cardinalresources.com.au