Prodigy Gold finds areas for open pit expansion at Magino

Prodigy Gold (CVE:PDG) said Monday that it has idenfified areas at its Magino mine gold project in Ontario, where the proposed open pit can be expanded at depth.
Indeed, results from the company's infill and resource expansion drill program found that specific areas in the western portion of the proposed open pit gold mine can be redesigned to capture additonal new gold mineralization, it said.
Drill hole MA11-042 cut 128 metres grading 1.37 grams per tonne (g/t) of gold, including 77 metres of 1.90 g/t gold, in an area where the proposed open pit was designed to depths of only 150 metres.
This new drilling suggests that the open pit can be deepened and enlarged to exploit additional gold mineralization, with the gold grade in the hole also up to 35% higher than the one used in the existing resource model.
"These drill results validate the premise of our in-fill drilling program:  Expand the gold resource at Magino, increase the scale and scope of the proposed open pit mining operation and increase the quality and grade of the Magino gold resource," said president and CEO Brian J. Maher.
"Results to date are achieving these goals and we look forward to completing the entire 45,000 metre resource expansion drilling program this summer."
The results set the stage for a resource update of the project later this year. A full feasibility study for the proposed open pit mining project at Magino is scheduled for early 2012.
The Magino project contains indicated gold resources of 1.924 million ounces and 587,100 ounces of inferred gold. A preliminary economic report on the property in April estimated a pre-tax net present value of $351 million, and a 49% internal rate of return, using a 5% discount rate.
The proposed operation would have an average annual gold output of over 166,666 ounces a year during a nine year project life, for total gold production of 1.50 million ounces at a cash cost of US$496 per ounce.