[miningmx.com] — Exploration drilling work being undertaken at Randgold Resources’ Kibali mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is bearing out the company’s bullish estimates on the potential size of the deposit.
The pace of exploration is picking up as drilling crews are freed from the initial feasibility work on the mine and are able to start programmes to confirm the upside potential at the deposit.
“I always said this was the place to be” commented Randgold CEO Mark Bristow .
When Randgold took over Kibali some 18 months ago the project had declared a 22m oz gold resource of which 5m oz was classified as reserves.
So far, Randgold’s geologists have refined that to an 18m oz resource of which 10m oz is classified as reserves and Bristow is confident at least 50% of the remaining 8m oz resource will soon be reclassified as reserves as well.
The first deep-level holes now being drilled at Kibali have confirmed extensions to the mineralization as predicted by the geological models.
Bristow said “we believe that targets at all levels in the triangle have the potential of becoming multi-million ounce deposits. However, their current ranking reflects the amount of work done rather than their prospectivity.
“The Zambula section in the south-west has the highest gold-in-soil anomaly of all but it has never been drilled.
“Agbarabo was formerly the highest-grade underground mine on the property with grades at plus 30g/t but has yet to receive any follow up drilling.
“A lot of people confuse a company’s exploration ability with the amount that it spends on exploration.
“This is a research and development game. It’s all about skill and not about how much you spend. Since it started operations Randgold has spent an average of $15 for every reserve ounce of gold it has discovered.’
The relocation programme at Kibali moving people from some 14 affected villages to the newly built town of Kokiza has now started clearing the way for construction to begin on site.
Mining operations are forecast to start towards the end of 2013.
Bristow commented the start of the relocation programme was the latest major milestone in development of the mine.
“The first of these milestones was to connect this region to the outside world. The second was to increase the ore reserves and optimise the development plan for the mine.
“The third was to find a way of generating electrical power economically. The fourth was to engage in consultation with all the affected parties so that we could clear the site to build the mine, guided by the principle that all the people to be relocated should be better off than they were before.’
