Inter-Citic Minerals Inc. said it has updated the resource estimate for its Dachang gold project located in Qinghai province in the People's Republic of China and announced the results of a positive scoping study and preliminary economic assessment for Dachang.
The project has estimated measured and indicated mineral resources of 12.4 million tonnes grading 3.37 grams per ton of gold for 1.34 million ounces contained gold, retaining over 90 percent from the original inferred mineral resource estimate.
Estimated inferred mineral resources stand at 11.9 million tonnes grading 3.00 g/t Au for 1.14 million ounces contained gold for the Dachang main zone (DMZ), and 2.4 million tonnes grading 4.82 g/t Au for 0.37 million ounces contained gold for the NR-2 and other areas, giving a total inferred mineral resource estimate of 14.3 million tonnes grading 3.31 g/t Au for 1.52 million ounces contained gold.
The preferred case reported in the scoping study comprises of an open pit mine delivering 2 million tonnes per year of ore to a fully integrated flotation, Biox and CIL circuit which produces dore.
The study forecasts total gold production of approximately 1.5 million ounces during a mine life of approximately 9 years. Estimated minesite cash operating costs average US$404 per ounce and project capital cost is forecast to be US$104 million.
James Moore, President and CEO James Moore said: "This scoping study demonstrates that with only a small portion of the property fully explored, our Dachang gold project already has the capacity to become a significant gold producer and a project that can be placed into production in a short time frame.
“We are also very pleased with our conversion rate of Inferred resources to Measured and Indicated. As a result of our work last year, we are confident that further infill drilling along the DMZ should result in further conversion of our current Inferred resource estimate. Our focus during 2009 will be to fulfill requirements under Chinese law to allow us to advance Dachang to a full permitting status as soon as possible," he added.
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