Pan African Resources hard work pays off as Barberton Mines resource grows to 2.37 million ounces

Two years of drilling at Pan African Resources (LON:PAF) Barberton Mines in South Africa has started to reap dividends for the company.  The junior gold producer confirmed this morning that it has upped the total resources at the mine by 18% to 2.37 million ounces - 11.77 million tonnes grading 6.29 grams per tonne – and that it had also identified and defined a new 500,000 ore-body to be named ‘Royal Sheba’.

Pan African Resources completed the acquisition of Barberton Mines in mid 2007, transforming the company from a largely exploration focused company to a gold producer. Since the acquisition, the company has worked hard to upgrade both the size and confidence in the resources to increase the mine life and visibility of production.

Evidence of this hard work was revealed this morning, with confirmation that two years of drilling had upgraded the total resource by 18%, and more importantly, upgraded the measured and indicated resource by 30% to 1.8 million ounces (9.43 million tonnes @ 5.99 grams per tonne in situ).  The mining reserve also climbed by nearly 7% to 0.661 million ounces (2.31 million tonnes @ 6.29 grams per tonne gold).  The boost in the measured and indicated resource pushed out the Life of Mine by 50% to 15 years based on a depletion rate 100,000 ounces per annum.  This is an important development for the company as boosts confidence in the projected life of the asset.
Part of the resource upgrade was thanks to the discovery of the Royal Sheba ore-body which contains a total resource of just over 500,000 ounces. Pan African further reported that the ore is non-refractory, an averages between 5 and 25 meters in width – well within the boundaries of underground mining techniques. The average grade of Royal Sheba is 2.97 grams per tonne gold.  A pre-feasibility study is underway, but the South African focused producer also noted that the ore should be mineable from 350 meters below surface, and is still open below 800 meters.

"The team's hard work over the past three years coupled with substantial capital allocated by the Board has shown that Barberton Mines has a future that is sustainable in the long term. The team will continue to investigate additional target areas  identified that could have the potential to grow the production profile,”  
Jan Nelson, Chief Executive Officer of Pan African, stated.