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 | |  With Proven and Probable Mineral Reserves of 4.54 million ounces Au, Banro is on schedule for construction of its Twangiza gold mine. Twangiza will be Banro's first mine when it enters production in late 2011. Twangiza is the most advanced of Banro's four projects, with a growing deposit that currently comprises Measured and Indicated Resources of 5.60 million ounces of gold and Inferred Resources of 400,000 ounces. The property is located 45 kilometres south-southwest of Bukavu in South Kivu Province and consists of six Exploitation Permits covering 1,164 square kilometres.
The most recent technical report with respect to the Twangiza Property that has been filed by Banro on SEDAR is dated July 17, 2009 and entitled "Updated Feasibility Study NI 43-101 Technical Report, Twangiza Gold Project, South Kivu Province, Democratic Republic of Congo." It was prepared under the supervision of Neil Senior, Joint Managing Director of SENET. A copy of this report may be accessed at www.sedar.com. History
The Twangiza gold deposit was discovered by Miniere des Grande Lac (MGL) in the 1950s. The company followed the occurrence of alluvial gold deposits upstream from the Mwana River to the present-day Twangiza deposit. MGL tested the deposit through 8,200 metres of trenching and 12,100 metres of adits on seven levels, collecting a total of 17,400 samples. In the mid-1970s, Charter Consolidated undertook detailed exploration, including the excavation of numerous close-spaced adits into the mineralized zone. In 1996, Banro acquired control of the Twangiza Property, and during the following year, undertook a US $9 million exploration program, which included 10,490 line-kilometres of airborne geophysics, 1,613 samples from 16 adits, and 8,577 drill core samples from 9,122 metres of core drilling along 800 metres of strike. This represented less than 20 percent of the identified mineralized trend. MineralizationThe Twangiza area is underlain by sediments of Proterozoic age that have been intruded by porphyry sills, folded into a series of broad anticlines and synclines and subjected to very low-grade metamorphism. The gold mineralization at the Main Twangiza deposit is hosted within mudstones, siltstones, greywackes and porphyries along the crest of a major anticlinal structure. Gold mineralization is of hydrothermal origin and is associated with sulfides which occur in quartz-carbonate veins, and disseminations throughout the host rocks. Unlike the Twangiza Main deposit, the mineralization at Twangiza North is associated predominantly with feldspar porphyry sills that have intruded westerly dipping shales and siltstones, with the mineralization in this lithology being non-refractory. This mineralization is open at depth and to the north where recent regolith mapping has indicated that the gold-in-soil anomalism has been masked by recent colluvial and alluvium material. Other significant gold occurrences on Banro's Twangiza's concessions include Tshondo and Mufwa; these occurrences will be examined as part of the current exploration program. Independent consultants, CME Consulting Ltd., determined in a report prepared for Banro in April 2003 that all fieldwork undertaken during Banro's 1997-1998 exploration program was compliant with NI 43-101 and provided an updated mineral resource. This mineral resource was subsequently updated in September 2006, January 2007, June 2007, January 2008 and June 2008. In January 2009, SRK Consulting (UK) Ltd. ("SRK") prepared an independent estimate of the Mineral Resources at Twangiza, which is set out in the table below. The estimate is based on a cut-off grade of 0.5 g/t gold. The Mineral Resource is considered to have reasonable prospects for economic extraction by open pit mining and has been restricted to an optimum pit shell which uses a US$1,000 /oz gold price. Additional information with respect to the mineral resource estimate is set out in the Company's press release dated January 14, 2009 (a copy of which can be obtained below).
In optomizing the feasibility study in June 2009, SRK estimated the following Mineral Reserves to be contained in a practical pit design: Summary of Twangiza Mineral Reserve Estimates (effective date: June 6, 2009)
2007 Exploration Program, Maps and Photographs 2006 Exploration Program, Maps and Photographs 2005 Exploration Program, Maps and Photographs 2008 - 2010 Exploration & Development ProgramsBanro recorded significant progress at Twangiza during 2008, completing almost 40,000 metres of core drilling at the Twangiza North and Twangiza main deposits, with the objective of upgrading the existing mineral resources to higher confidence resource categories and extending these deposits. The results of this work were integrated into the Twangiza full Feasibility Study, the results of which were announced in the Company's press release of January 26, 2009. The Feasibility Study was updated in the Company's press release of June 8, 2009. In August 2009, Banro announced its intention to begin construction of "Phase One" of its Twangiza project, and to that end acquired a gold plant capable of processing 1.3 million tonnes of ore per year. Reconstruction of roads and bridges and infrastructure development near the mine site are currently underway. It is expected that the gold plant will arrive on site in August 2010 and that the Twangiza mine will enter production in late 2011. The Company plans to expand annual production at the Twangiza mine in future years from 100,000+ oz Au to 300,000+ oz Au. Banro's exploration goal in 2010 is to continue expansion of the project's oxide and transitional resources. The Company is exploring several neighbouring targets at Twangiza which are within trucking distance of the proposed Twangiza plant site, namely the Twangiza West and Twangiza East flanking structures, the newly discovered Ntula workings, the Kaziba prospect, the Kakeru Grid, the Karhundu area and a Radiometric Anomaly within close proximity of Twangiza. Future fieldwork and drilling programs are planned for the Mufwa and Tshondo prospects. These potential deposits are expected to strengthen the robustness of the Twangiza project and boost the ounce profile over and above the numbers released in the updated Feasibility Study. Recent press releases with respect to the Twangiza project were issued on: Maps
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