Gunson Resources Ltd has announced a 250% increase in ore resources at the Coburn Zircon Project in WA.
Gunson Resources Ltd has announced a 250% increase in ore resources at the Coburn Zircon Project in WA.
The announcement is pasted below:
Based on the results of Gunson Resources Ltd's 2007 drilling program, the formerly inferred resource in the centre of the Coburn project area has been upgraded to indicated status, with a substantial increase in tonnage.
Hightlights include:
- JORC compliant ore reserves at Coburn have been increased by 247%, from 124 million tonnes (Mt) averaging 1.3% heavy minerals to 306 Mt averaging 1.2% heavy minerals.
- At the proposed mining rate of 17.5 Mt of ore per annum, the mine life at Coburn has increased by over 10 years, from 7 to 17.5 years.
- All of the ore reserves above lie within the portion of the Project area thathas government environmental approvals for mining.
- Lower strip ratios in the northernmost pit improve the Project economics by reducing overburden removal costs
- Further metallurgical test work has improved the zircon product quality to the target level set by a major potential customer in March, 2008.
The ore reserve totals for the Coburn Project have increased from 124 Mt @ 1.3% to 306 Mt @ 1.2%, an increase of 247%.
At the proposed mining rate of 17.5 Mt per annum, the much higher ore reserve has increased the mine life in the permitted area from 7 to 17.5 years.
Since the Company's release on 18th March 2008, further metallurgical test work involving additional low cost attritioning work has further improved the quality of the zircon product.
In particular, the titanium dioxide content has been lowered to a level which will significantly improve its market acceptance.
Further test work is in progress and the results of this work will be reported in the company's March 2008 quarterly report.
Results from the 2007 drilling program were a great deal better than expected and with the much lower open pit strip ratios calculated from the drilling, improvement to the financial return of the Coburn project can be expected.
After weakening in late 2007 and early 2008, the zircon price has started to increase and further modest increases are expected later this year.
