Sunridge Gold Corp. : Sunridge Reports Feasibility Study for Asmara Project,
Eritrea on Schedule for Completion Q2 2013; Focus on Early Cash Flow and
Lower Initial Capital Costs
11/01/2012| 07:35am US/Eastern
Sunridge Gold Corp. (the "Company") (SGC:TSX.V/SGCNF:OTCQX) is pleased
provide an update on the Asmara Project Feasibility Study (the "Study")
being conducted on the four deposits that make up the Asmara Project,
Eritrea. Sunridge recently announced the closing of a $10,831,690 financing
which enables the Company and consultants to maintain work on the Study at
full-speed and complete the work on schedule.
A summary of significant points are as follows:
* The Study was started in April 2012 just prior to the publication of
a positive Asmara Project prefeasibility study (PFS) that showed that all
four deposits could be processed in a single central processing plant;
* The Study is on schedule to be completed in the second quarter of
2013;
* Based on new metallurgical testwork the Study will include early
mining of the Direct Shipping Ore ("DSO") from Debarwa and early
heap-leaching of the surface gold material from the project;
* Based on the above, cash-flow is expected a year earlier (2015) than
presented in the PFS; and
* Based on the new operating scenarios, initial capital costs are
expected to be reduced and overall economics enhanced in the Study compared
to the PFS.
On May 2, 2012 Sunridge announced the results of a prefeasibility study
("PFS") on the Asmara Project that concluded that the four deposits of the
Asmara Project could be successfully processed in a single centralized
processing plant near the Emba Derho deposit and that this was the optimum
economic scenario. The mining and processing plant would produce a total of
365,000 tonnes of copper, 812,000 tonnes of zinc, 415,000 ounces of gold and
11 million ounces of silver over a 15.25 year mine life. The economic
analysis in the PFS, using 5-year average metal prices and a 10% discount
rate, showed the project to have a pre-tax net present value of $555 million
and an internal rate of return of 27%.
Based on the positive economics of the PFS, work started in April 2012 to
support the Study; this work included drilling for metallurgical samples on
the Emba Derho deposit as well as geotechnical drilling near the proposed
Emba Derho pit and at proposed plant facilities.
Variations to the Prefeasibility Study Plan
As in the PFS, the Study is considering a centralized process plant near the
large Emba Derho deposit using flotation for the recovery of the base
metals. However, in order to enhance economics and reduce project capital
cost requirements, various processing trade-off studies have shown that
early selective mining and shipping of the DSO from the Debarwa deposit to a
smelter as well as early heap-leaching of the known zones of gold
mineralization on the project are feasible and result in the optimum
economic scenario.
Direct Shipping Ore (DSO)
The DSO Zone is located within the supergene copper zone of the Debarwa
deposit and contains 116kt of high grade material at an average grade of 16%
copper, 3.0g/t gold and 77.0g/t silver. The DSO zone is located about 40
meters below the surface and is approximately 140 meters long. The Study
will include a plan to begin mining operations on the Asmara Project by
mining, crushing and direct shipping the DSO material from Debarwa, which is
located about 45km south of the Emba Derho plant site. The extraction of DSO
material early in the project life could provide early cash flow and reduce
initial capital exposure.
The DSO material will be crushed to minus ¾ inch and transported to the port
of Massawa for shipping and sale to smelters. This plan for earlier
production was outlined in the feasibility study for a standalone operation
at Debarwa (see news release dated May 14, 2012) however it was not included
in the mining plan outlined in the PFS because additional metallurgical work
was required at that time.
Heap Leach Gold Production
Sunridge has conducted extensive metallurgical test work on the gold
material from the gold oxide caps of the Emba Derho and Debarwa deposits and
the Gupo Gold deposit since completion of the PFS. Test work, including
column tests of gold ores to simulate heap-leach gold processing, has been
completed on each deposit to support heap leach production with leach
results utilizing ¼ inch and ½ inch material demonstrating 51% to 71% gold
recovery. The heap-leaching process will provide Sunridge the opportunity to
generate revenue from the precious metals earlier in the mine life thereby
benefitting the project economics. This is an improvement to the gold
processing plan in the PFS which outlined a Carbon in Pulp (CIP) facility
which would have stockpiled the material from the gold caps and processed it
at the end of the mine life.
The Study is being conducted by Senet (Pty) Ltd. ("Senet"), based in
Johannesburg, South Africa, an internationally respected leader in the
design, engineering and construction of mining projects in Africa. Senet has
extensive experience working in Eritrea on the Bisha Mine Project for Nevsun
Resources Ltd. Senet's expertise in process plant design and infrastructure
is supported by Snowden, based in Vancouver, Canada on mine planning and
design. Their experience is complemented by Knight Piesold Ltd. ("KP") for
tailings facility design and waste management and Blue Coast Metallurgy Ltd
("Blue Coast") for metallurgical design and supervision. The Study is
focused on Sunridge's large Emba Derho copper-zinc-gold-silver
volcanogenic-massive-sulphide (VMS) deposit, the nearby high grade
zinc-gold-copper Adi Nefas VMS deposit, the Debarwa copper-zinc-gold-silver
VMS deposit and the Gupo gold deposit all comprising the Asmara Project.
ENAMCO
As announced on August 20, 2012, the Company has begun negotiations with the
Eritrean National Mining Corporation ("ENAMCO") for ENAMCO's purchase of a
30% working interest in the Asmara Project. On completion of the purchase,
ENAMCO will have a 10% carried interest and a 30% working interest and will
therefore be responsible for funding one-third of the costs of all
operations conducted on the Asmara Project, which may include a portion of
the Study.
Sunridge currently has approximately 174 million shares outstanding and
trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol SGC. For additional
information on the Company and its projects please view the slide show on
our website at
<
http://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sunridg
egold.com&esheet=50461957&lan=en-US&anchor=www.sunridgegold.com&index=1&md5=
a388ab671ed0084a306fb4d7716ecb90> www.sunridgegold.com or call Greg Davis at
the numbers listed below.
Mr. Michael J. Hopley is the Qualified Person who approved the technical
information contained in this news release.
SUNRIDGE GOLD CORP.
"Michael Hopley"
Michael Hopley, President and Chief Executive Officer
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Received on Thu Nov 01 2012 - 22:12:50 EDT
