Post by sandi66 on Oct 17, 2007 7:41:48 GMT -5
Fort a la Corne Joint Venture Shore and Newmont agree to sink the Orion South Shaft
Wednesday October 17, 8:27 am ET
Stock Symbol: SGF: TSX
SASKATOON, Oct. 17 /CNW/ - George H. Read, P. Geo., Senior Vice President Exploration and Development, is pleased to announce that Shore and Newmont have approved the sinking of a shaft for underground bulk sampling of the Orion South Kimberlite. This unanimous decision was reached at a recent Management Committee Meeting for the Fort a la Corne Joint Venture (FALC-JV), where Shore Gold Inc. (Shore) is the Operator with a 60 percent interest, and Newmont Mining Corporation of Canada Limited (Newmont) has a 40 percent interest. The approval of the shaft includes the approval of a $12 million budget to complete the shaft to a depth of 210 metres below surface, a depth that current scheduling suggests will be reached in the second quarter 2008.
Commenting on the shaft sinking, Newmont Vice President of Business Development, David Faley said, "We are encouraged by the opportunities our investment in the FALC-JV continue to offer, with our latest joint commitment with Shore Gold representing our ongoing interest in the Fort a la Corne Diamond District."
President and CEO, Kenneth MacNeill, states that: "We are pleased to be working with our partner Newmont in what we consider another major step in the development of this very large Project. Shaft sinking on Star has confirmed that grade increases with larger, more representative samples. On Star we have seen the grade increase by some 130 percent from the original large diameter drillhole to the completion of the underground bulk sampling. By the second quarter of 2008 we should be able to test this same analysis on Orion South. We continue to be very excited about the future prospects for the FALC-JV and look forward to another busy year of bulk sample reporting."
The freeze wall, which stabilizes the semi-consolidated overburden, is in place and the freeze plant was commissioned mid-September. It is anticipated that it will take three months for the overburden to freeze down to 125 metres below surface. The shaft collar has been cast in concrete and shaft sinking at surface has commenced with the upper reaches of the shaft being excavated with a clam shell excavator. It is anticipated that the headframe from the Star Diamond Project will be erected over the shaft in late-October and thereafter shaft sinking will proceed with a Galloway stage and Cryderman clam hanging from the headframe. The excavated diameter of the shaft is 5.1 metres and with the concrete lining will result in an internal diameter of 4.5 metres. It is estimated that some 5,000 tonnes of kimberlite will be recovered from the shaft alone, prior to the development of lateral drifts. The current schedule suggests that shaft sinking will proceed through the overburden and reach the Orion South Kimberlite in January 2008. A pilot PQ (75 millimetres) core hole (141-07-081C) was drilled to a depth of 241 metres below surface and the geologic sequence logged from this hole is: 0-102 metres glacial overburden, 102-105 metres Late Joli Fou Kimberlite, 105-147 metres Early Joli Fou Kimberlite and 147-241 metres Pense Kimberlite. This pilot hole terminated in kimberlite and adjacent holes suggest that the kimberlite sediment boundary occurs at approximately 270 metres below surface.
Senior Vice President Exploration and Development, George Read, states: "The geological model for Orion South has been well constrained by detailed geological logging of 133 pattern core holes, combined with whole rock geochemistry, downhole geophysics and density measurements. Early stage diamond results from large diameter drilling (LDD) strongly suggest diamond populations within Orion South that are similar to Star and, thus, define Orion South as a target for shaft sinking and underground bulk sampling. The well constrained geological model on Orion South facilitated the selection of the optimal location for a shaft that will permit access to the three dominant kimberlite lithologies in Orion South: Pense, EJF1 and EJF2. Present estimates suggest that these three kimberlite lithologies (Pense, EJF1 and EJF2) account for some 300 to 330 million tonnes of diamondiferous kimberlite. This tonnage estimate is conceptual in nature, is not a resource and additional work may not necessarily lead to the definition of a resource on Orion South. The aim of this shaft sinking exercise is the recovery of substantial, representative diamond parcels, from each of the Orion South kimberlite lithologies, for diamond grade and price determinations."
The evaluation of the Orion Kimberlite Cluster within the FALC-JV, with a budget of approximately $66.5 million (October 2006 - December 2007), is now the largest work program outlined for any of the Fort a la Corne kimberlites. Senior Vice President Exploration and Development, George Read, Professional Geoscientist in the Provinces of Saskatchewan and British Columbia, is the Qualified Person responsible for the verification and quality assurance of analytical results. Shore is a Canadian based corporation engaged in the acquisition, exploration and development of mineral properties. Shares of the Company trade on the TSX Exchange under the trading symbol "SGF".
biz.yahoo.com/cnw/071017/shorennewmontjointv.html?.v=1
Wednesday October 17, 8:27 am ET
Stock Symbol: SGF: TSX
SASKATOON, Oct. 17 /CNW/ - George H. Read, P. Geo., Senior Vice President Exploration and Development, is pleased to announce that Shore and Newmont have approved the sinking of a shaft for underground bulk sampling of the Orion South Kimberlite. This unanimous decision was reached at a recent Management Committee Meeting for the Fort a la Corne Joint Venture (FALC-JV), where Shore Gold Inc. (Shore) is the Operator with a 60 percent interest, and Newmont Mining Corporation of Canada Limited (Newmont) has a 40 percent interest. The approval of the shaft includes the approval of a $12 million budget to complete the shaft to a depth of 210 metres below surface, a depth that current scheduling suggests will be reached in the second quarter 2008.
Commenting on the shaft sinking, Newmont Vice President of Business Development, David Faley said, "We are encouraged by the opportunities our investment in the FALC-JV continue to offer, with our latest joint commitment with Shore Gold representing our ongoing interest in the Fort a la Corne Diamond District."
President and CEO, Kenneth MacNeill, states that: "We are pleased to be working with our partner Newmont in what we consider another major step in the development of this very large Project. Shaft sinking on Star has confirmed that grade increases with larger, more representative samples. On Star we have seen the grade increase by some 130 percent from the original large diameter drillhole to the completion of the underground bulk sampling. By the second quarter of 2008 we should be able to test this same analysis on Orion South. We continue to be very excited about the future prospects for the FALC-JV and look forward to another busy year of bulk sample reporting."
The freeze wall, which stabilizes the semi-consolidated overburden, is in place and the freeze plant was commissioned mid-September. It is anticipated that it will take three months for the overburden to freeze down to 125 metres below surface. The shaft collar has been cast in concrete and shaft sinking at surface has commenced with the upper reaches of the shaft being excavated with a clam shell excavator. It is anticipated that the headframe from the Star Diamond Project will be erected over the shaft in late-October and thereafter shaft sinking will proceed with a Galloway stage and Cryderman clam hanging from the headframe. The excavated diameter of the shaft is 5.1 metres and with the concrete lining will result in an internal diameter of 4.5 metres. It is estimated that some 5,000 tonnes of kimberlite will be recovered from the shaft alone, prior to the development of lateral drifts. The current schedule suggests that shaft sinking will proceed through the overburden and reach the Orion South Kimberlite in January 2008. A pilot PQ (75 millimetres) core hole (141-07-081C) was drilled to a depth of 241 metres below surface and the geologic sequence logged from this hole is: 0-102 metres glacial overburden, 102-105 metres Late Joli Fou Kimberlite, 105-147 metres Early Joli Fou Kimberlite and 147-241 metres Pense Kimberlite. This pilot hole terminated in kimberlite and adjacent holes suggest that the kimberlite sediment boundary occurs at approximately 270 metres below surface.
Senior Vice President Exploration and Development, George Read, states: "The geological model for Orion South has been well constrained by detailed geological logging of 133 pattern core holes, combined with whole rock geochemistry, downhole geophysics and density measurements. Early stage diamond results from large diameter drilling (LDD) strongly suggest diamond populations within Orion South that are similar to Star and, thus, define Orion South as a target for shaft sinking and underground bulk sampling. The well constrained geological model on Orion South facilitated the selection of the optimal location for a shaft that will permit access to the three dominant kimberlite lithologies in Orion South: Pense, EJF1 and EJF2. Present estimates suggest that these three kimberlite lithologies (Pense, EJF1 and EJF2) account for some 300 to 330 million tonnes of diamondiferous kimberlite. This tonnage estimate is conceptual in nature, is not a resource and additional work may not necessarily lead to the definition of a resource on Orion South. The aim of this shaft sinking exercise is the recovery of substantial, representative diamond parcels, from each of the Orion South kimberlite lithologies, for diamond grade and price determinations."
The evaluation of the Orion Kimberlite Cluster within the FALC-JV, with a budget of approximately $66.5 million (October 2006 - December 2007), is now the largest work program outlined for any of the Fort a la Corne kimberlites. Senior Vice President Exploration and Development, George Read, Professional Geoscientist in the Provinces of Saskatchewan and British Columbia, is the Qualified Person responsible for the verification and quality assurance of analytical results. Shore is a Canadian based corporation engaged in the acquisition, exploration and development of mineral properties. Shares of the Company trade on the TSX Exchange under the trading symbol "SGF".
biz.yahoo.com/cnw/071017/shorennewmontjointv.html?.v=1