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 | | With a new Preliminary Assessment of the Namoya heap leach project completed in January 2011 followed by infill drilling throughout the year, Banro announced a 39% increase in Measured and Indicated resources in December 2011.  Banro's Namoya (oxide) project is scheduled for open pit mine development and construction during 2012 with first gold production planned for 2013. Pre-construction activities began in the fourth quarter of 2011 and will be followed by hard construction commencing in the first half of 2012. This will set the Namoya project on track for planned gold production by the first half of 2013, which is expected to double the Company's projected gold production to around 250,000 ounces per annum. Banro completed a preliminary assessment of this heap leach project in January 2011 where some of the highlights included:
The most recent technical report with respect to the Namoya Property that has been filed by Banro on SEDAR is the "Preliminary Assessment NI 43-101 Technical Report, Namoya Gold Project, Maniema Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo," dated March 3, 2011. A copy of this report may be accessed at www.sedar.com or by clicking on the link below. History
Alluvial deposits of gold were first discovered at Namoya in 1930 and mined between 1931 and 1947. Primary gold was also discovered during this period and underground mining commenced on the Filon 'B' deposit in 1947. Further discoveries of primary gold mineralization were made at Mwendamboko, Kakula and Muviringu, where selective mining was carried out. The majority of this mining was based on small-scale underground development along specific mineralized quartz veins or stockwork zones. During the 1950s a small open pit was established on Mt. Mwendamboko. Mining ceased in 1961, although there remained substantial un-mined resources in the various deposits plus several other untested mineralized targets. Limited regional and strike exploration appears to have been conducted since 1961. Total historical production at Namoya has been estimated at 278,000 ounces of gold. Mineralization
Banro's independent geological consultant, SRK, Banro's independent geological consultant, SRK, undertook a site visit in December 2004 to the Namoya project area and completed an updated Mineral Resource estimate in accordance with National Instrument 43-101. In July 2005, September 2006, June 2007, March 2009 and January 2011, the Namoya Mineral Resource estimate was further updated and assessed by SRK, with the correct estimate shown in the table below. Namoya Mineral Resources (updated: December 15, 2011)
2011 Exploration & Development ProgramOn January 24, 2011, Banro announced announce the results of a new Preliminary Assessment of the Namoya heap leach project. Highlights included:
Recent press releases with respect to the Namoya exploration program were issued on:
Photos
Maps and Tables
2005 Exploration ProgramExploration activities began with gridding, geological mapping, soil and trench sampling, as well as an intensive program of adit sampling along the mineralized trend. Over the course of 2005, the Company completed 118 kilometres of gridding, collected and submitted for assay testing 2,704 soil samples, and re-sampled 29 adits over a distance of 2,499 metres. In addition, exploration crews completed 2,234 metres of trenching. A major objective in the first half of the year was to convert resources from the Inferred to the Indicated category by re-sampling a selected portion of the 103 adits and crosscuts totaling 8,530 metres, which occur along the 2.5 kilometre Mount Mwendamboko-Mount Namoya- Mount Kakula-Mount Muviringu shear zone. This was completed in July 2005 with the conversion of 436,000 ounces of gold (4,560,400 tonnes grading 2.97 g/t Au) from the Inferred to the Indicated category. In August, Banro began a 7,000 metre infill drilling program with the objective of converting most of the remaining 657,000 Inferred ounces at Namoya to higher confidence categories and in November commissioned a second diamond drill to accelerate this activity. By year-end, the Company had drilled a total of 43 holes, covering 5,000 metres. Drilling was completed at the Mwendamboko prospect and the two core rigs were then moved to the Kakula and Filon B prospects, some 1,000 metres and 1,700 metres respectively to the southeast of Mwendamboko. Drilling results were encouraging, with widths and gold grades comparable to the predicted resource modeling grades and widths based on historical data. Results from 16 holes reported in 2005 included 19.22 metres grading 10.54 g/t Au, 26.54 metres at 5.96 g/t Au, 39.37 metres averaging 3.63 g/t Au, 12.36 metres grading 16.66 g/t Au, and 14.02 metres at 9.20 g/t Au. PhotosOctober / November 2005
September 2005
February 2005
Maps
2006 Exploration ProgramBanro's 2006 drilling program was focused on the Mwendamboko, Kakula, Namoya Summit, Filon B, Seketi and Muviringu prospects, primarily with the goal of continuing the upgrade of Inferred resource ounces to higher confidence resource categories. These six prospects are located along the 2.5 kilometre long mineralized trend at Namoya. A total of 10,826 metres of drilling (52 core holes) were completed at Namoya during the year. As a result of this ongoing work, together with the results of a 5,000 metre drilling program in 2005, the Company in a press release dated September 7, 2006 announced an upgrade in Indicated mineral resources for Namoya to 691,000 ounces of gold. This represented an increase of 58% from the previous Indicated Mineral Resource estimate announced by Banro in July 2005. The Company views this significant increase in the Indicated Resources at Namoya as highly encouraging, especially as these resources are found close to surface and are could potentially be extracted through open pit mining. In addition, it is expected that infill drilling of the remaining Inferred Resource should result in additional Inferred Resources being upgraded to the Indicated Resource category and also being within pit optimised shells. Drilling during the last half of the year continued with the goal of upgrading much of the project's remaining estimated Inferred Mineral Resource of 4,829,000 tons grading 3.76 g/t Au, as well as finding strike and down dip extensions to the known mineralization at the Mwendamboko, Kakula and Namoya Summit prospects. In addition to preliminary exploration, core drilling was carried out on the Muviringu, Seketi and Filon B prospects. Initial indications from these exploration core drilling programs indicate that mineralization still remains open at depth at all these deposits and that further drilling is warranted. In a press release dated August 21, 2006, the Company announced the successful results of initial metallurgical tests at Namoya. Twelve composite drill hole samples from the main deposits at Namoya were submitted to the SGS Lakefield laboratory in South Africa for initial metallurgical testwork to determine the amount of contained gold that can be extracted using conventional CIL (carbon-in-leach) processing. The diagnostic testwork procedure involved the sequential solubilizing of the least-stable minerals via various pre-treatments, and extraction of the associated gold by cyanidation/CIL. The composite samples, which were approximately 10 kilograms each, consisted of representative oxide and transitional mineralization from the Mwendamboko, Kakula and Namoya Summit deposits. The oxides extend from 0 to 182 metres below surface (averaging 114 metres below surface) whilst the transitional material extends from 60 to 228 metres below surface (averaging 189 metres below surface). These initial results demonstrate the non-refractory nature of the oxide and transitional material at Namoya with excellent metallurgical recoveries using standard, conventional processing. Due to the deep weathering profile at Namoya with oxides over 100 metres below surface and the transitional material averaging 189 metres below surface, potential open pit mines sites should consist predominantly of this softer, oxide and transitional material, resulting in reduced mining and processing costs. Photos
September 2006
MapsMay 2006
2007 Exploration and Development ProgramBanro's 2007 drilling program was focused on the Mwendamboko and Muviringu prospects, primarily with the goal of expanding the Company's total mineral resources while continuing to upgrade Inferred resources to the Indicated category. These two prospects are located along the 2.5 kilometre long mineralized trend at Namoya. A total of 23 core holes totalling 5714 metres were completed during the year. In total, the Company has drilled 121 core holes totaling 20,752 metres since the commencement of drilling in August 2005. Three rigs are currently deployed at Namoya. As a result of such ongoing work, the Company in June 2007 announced an increase in Indicated mineral resources for Namoya to 938,800 ounces of gold (8.925 million tonnes grading 3.27 g/t Au). This represents an increase of 36% from the previous Indicated Mineral Resource estimate announced by Banro in September 2006. At the same time, the Inferred Mineral Resource at Namoya increased by approximately 7% to 621,500 ounces of gold (7.074 million tonnes grading 2.73 g/t Au). These resources are found close to surface and could potentially be extracted through open pit mining. Ongoing infill drilling of the expanding Inferred Resource should also result in most of these ounces being upgraded to the Indicated Resource category and fitting within optimized pit shells. The Company is optimistic that the Namoya resource can be markedly expanded. During the year, Banro completed LIDAR, airborne magnetic and radiometric surveys over the entire Namoya property and maintained an ongoing program of soil and alluvial sampling and trenching with the goal of identifying new targets and expanding the mineralized trend. From Mineral Exploration to Mining Development While exploration remains a vital focus, Banro's primary goal at Namoya is to bring these ounces into production in a timely fashion. In 2007, the Company took a vital step towards development with the completion of the Preliminary Economic Assessment (scoping study). The scoping study foresees an initial open pit operation at Namoya, and the potential for developing underground resources in high-grade zones, which are open at depth. There is excellent metallurgy of all ore types and potential for the development of nearby hydroelectric power. The results of this Preliminary Economic Assessment highlight the robust economics of the Namoya project and indicate the potential to generate significant cash flow based on low cash operating costs. Among its highlights, the study projects:
MapsFebruary 2007
2008 - 2010 Exploration & Development ProgramsThe Company completed 52 core drill holes at Namoya in 2008 with the objective of upgrading Inferred Mineral Resources into the Measured and Indicated categories. Exploration activities in 2009 - 2010 focused on soil sampling and trenching, which was extended to cover the entire Namoya property in order to delineate additional targets for future drilling. Analysis of the airborne geophysical and LIDAR surveys conducted in 2007 also proved invaluable in identifying new prospects on the ground for future follow-up. The Company resumed infill drilling at Namoya in 2010 with the goal of further expanding and upgrading the resource base and advancing the Preliminary Assessment of the heap leach project toward completion by early 2011. Additional metallurgical testwork was included in this work to optimize the recoveries of the oxide, transitional and sulphide ore types. | | | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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