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VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA — (MARKET WIRE) — 10/14/09 —
Third quarter highlights:
– Closed acquisition of the San Andres Mine in Honduras on August 25, 2009;
– Gold sales of 7,175 ounces for the period of
– Gold production of 6,925 ounces for the period of
– Received the Installation License for the Serrote Deposit at the
– Issued the Preliminary Economic Assessment (“PEA”) for the Serrote Deposit showing robust economics; and
– Continued to advance the engineering and mine development at the Aranzazu Copper-Gold-Silver Mine (“Aranzazu Mine”) in Mexico towards a planned re-start of operations in second quarter of 2010.
With the acquisition of the San Andres Mine,
– Full integration of the new mining contractor on site, which has led to a substantial increase in mine production month-over-month in September 2009;
– Continuing the construction on the new primary crusher and conveyor system to significantly reduce haulage distances and to increase throughput – mechanical completion of the crusher is expected by the end of November 2009, with completion of the conveyor system by year-end;
– Commencement of metallurgical testwork on site to optimize the gold leach cycle and reagent dosage; and
– Implementation of a new stacking and leaching plan to optimize gold recovery and reduce cash costs.
Patrick Downey, President and CEO of
The recently completed PEA for the Serrote Deposit also shows that the Company has a viable fully permitted development project in an area of excellent infrastructure in a mining friendly jurisdiction in Brazil. We plan to continue to optimize the project, including improvements in metallurgical recovery, magnetite marketing studies and additional drilling at the nearby Caboclo target which is still open in all directions.”
Sao Francisco and Sao Vicente Gold Mines Acquisition Update
The acquisition of the SF/SV Mines in Brazil is proceeding on schedule, with the application to transfer the mineral concessions now in process. The acquisition of these mines is expected to close in the first quarter of 2010, as planned. In the interim,
Aranzazu Mine, Mexico
Engineering and project development is well advanced at the Company’s 100%-owned Aranzazu Mine in Zacatecas, Mexico, for a mine restart in the second quarter of 2010. The Company has completed 12,200 metres of close-spaced core drilling for resource definition in the BW, Mexicana, and Arroyos Azules Zones, which are the areas targeted for near-term production upon restart of the mine. Results from seventeen additional holes have been received. Highlights are as follows (see Table 1 and Map 1 below):
– Hole AZC-024 which returned 19.5 metres of 1.40% Cu, 0.69 g/t Au and 3.18 g/t Ag;
– Hole AZC-027 which returned 7.5 metres of 1.64% Cu, 0.31 g/t Au and 26.92 g/t Ag;
– Hole AZC-028 which returned 42.0 metres of 1.36% Cu, 0.96 g/t Au and 14.10 g/t Ag;
– Hole AZC-029 which returned 33.0 metres of 1.21% Cu, 0.82 g/t Au and 10.10 g/t Ag;
– Hole AZC-031 which returned 9.0 metres of 2.55% Cu, 0.57 g/t Au and 28.0 g/t Ag and a further 12.0 metres of 1.28% Cu, 0.96 g/t Au and 16.51 g/t Ag;
– Hole AZC-032 which returned 28.5 metres of 2.04% Cu, 0.48 g/t Au and 20.75 g/t Ag;
– Hole AZC-034 which returned 15.0 metres of 1.44% Cu, 0.76 g/t Au and 13.92 g/t Ag;
– Hole AZC-037 which returned 9.0 metres of 1.38% Cu, 0.30 g/t Au and 14.98 g/t Ag and a further 6.0 metres of 2.40% Cu, 0.44 g/t Au and 9.61 g/t Ag; and
– Hole AZC-040 which returned 10.5 metres of 1.93% Cu, 1.35 g/t Au and 17.66 g/t Ag;
Based on results to date, an additional 14,000 metres of drilling has been approved for additional resource definition on several mineralized zones east of Arroyos Azules, which will begin shortly. An underground diamond drill rig is also being mobilized to site in December 2009 and will be used for stope definition work in the near-term mine planning areas of the BW, Mexicana, and Arroyos Azules Zones.
Ramp development into the high-grade resources of the Arroyos Azules Zone underneath the historical open pit is expected to begin in November 2009. In addition, mill upgrades have commenced, with the preparation of as built drawings, process design and procurement of long lead items. Removal of redundant equipment and start of construction will begin later this month. Commissioning is expected in April 2010, targeting initial throughput of 2,600 tonnes-per-day by July 2010. Confirmatory metallurgical testwork is underway for the continued optimization of copper and gold recovery.
The Company is also planning to commence an engineering study in 2010 to investigate the potential to develop the Aranzazu Mine as a high-tonnage, bulk-mining operation. The deposit has excellent mining widths and ground conditions and a 2,200 metre strike extent which is still open at both ends. Furthermore, the deposit is still open down-dip with a number of deep holes showing that there is good potential to expand the deposit in this direction as well as along strike.
Table 1 – Aranzazu Assays (see Map 1 below)
————————————————————————— Inter- Azi- val Cu muth Dip From To (1) (2) Au Ag (degr- (degr- (met- (met- (met- (4) (3) (3) Hole # East North ees) ees) res) res) res) (%) (g/t) (g/t) ————————————————————————— AZC-023 253873 2724228 210 -55 180.0 186.0 6.0 0.87 0.40 2.38 ————————————————————————— AZC-023 253873 2724228 210 -55 238.5 249.0 10.5 0.62 0.14 4.13 ————————————————————————— AZC-023 253873 2724228 210 -55 298.5 306.0 7.5 1.23 0.35 11.54 ————————————————————————— AZC-023 253873 2724228 210 -55 313.5 319.5 6.0 1.38 0.47 9.53 ————————————————————————— AZC-024 253870 2724230 220 -46 133.5 153.0 19.5 1.40 0.69 3.18 ————————————————————————— AZC-024 253870 2724230 220 -46 166.5 172.5 6.0 0.82 0.43 3.28 ————————————————————————— AZC-026 253761 2724290 218 -50 159.0 162.0 3.0 1.83 0.53 44.55 ————————————————————————— AZC-026 253761 2724290 218 -50 211.5 216.0 4.5 0.91 0.34 0.15 ————————————————————————— AZC-026 253761 2724290 218 -50 223.5 229.5 6.0 1.03 0.35 0.14 ————————————————————————— AZC-027 253761 2724290 216 -58 163.5 171.0 7.5 1.64 0.31 26.92 ————————————————————————— AZC-027 253761 2724290 216 -58 232.5 235.5 3.0 0.57 0.16 2.95 ————————————————————————— AZC-027 253761 2724290 216 -58 246.0 249.0 3.0 0.65 0.07 5.80 ————————————————————————— AZC-028 253985 2724122 210 -59 183.0 225.0 42.0 1.36 0.96 14.10 ————————————————————————— AZC-029 253986 2724123 211 -64 177.0 181.5 4.5 1.01 0.76 17.20 ————————————————————————— AZC-029 253986 2724123 211 -64 210.0 243.0 33.0 1.21 0.82 10.10 ————————————————————————— AZC-031 253957 2724123 211 -61 145.5 154.5 9.0 2.55 0.57 28.00 ————————————————————————— AZC-031 253957 2724123 211 -61 159.0 171.0 12.0 1.28 0.96 16.51 ————————————————————————— AZC-031 253957 2724123 211 -61 180.0 183.0 3.0 0.97 1.49 8.50 ————————————————————————— AZC-032 253926 2724169 212 -63 193.5 222.0 28.5 2.05 0.48 20.75 ————————————————————————— AZC-032 253926 2724169 212 -63 228.0 232.5 4.5 1.22 0.33 8.50 ————————————————————————— AZC-033 253930 2724125 211 -54 126.0 129.0 3.0 2.16 0.75 22.05 ————————————————————————— AZC-033 253930 2724125 211 -54 151.5 157.5 6.0 0.81 0.65 7.15 ————————————————————————— AZC-034 253930 2724125 207 -63 142.5 145.5 3.0 0.94 0.25 4.90 ————————————————————————— AZC-034 253930 2724125 207 -63 165.0 180.0 15.0 1.44 0.76 13.92 ————————————————————————— AZC-035 253930 2724125 207 -63 113.0 117.5 4.5 0.99 0.40 6.50 ————————————————————————— AZC-035 253930 2724125 207 -63 123.5 128.0 4.5 0.97 0.35 4.93 ————————————————————————— AZC-036 253793 2724253 219 -47 198.0 202.5 4.5 1.06 0.31 14.63 ————————————————————————— AZC-037 253901 2724275 215 -52 243.0 246.0 3.0 0.57 0.23 3.30 ————————————————————————— AZC-037 253901 2724275 215 -52 300.0 306.0 6.0 0.81 0.15 4.23 ————————————————————————— AZC-037 253901 2724275 215 -52 340.5 349.5 9.0 1.38 0.30 14.98 ————————————————————————— AZC-037 253901 2724275 215 -52 358.5 364.5 6.0 2.40 0.44 9.61 ————————————————————————— AZC-040 254021 2724132 209 -61 20.5 23.5 3.0 0.56 0.07 1.50 ————————————————————————— AZC-040 254021 2724132 209 -61 209.0 219.5 10.5 1.93 1.35 17.66 ————————————————————————— AZC-045 254003 2724201 208 -55 123.5 128.0 4.5 2.01 0.67 11.97 ————————————————————————— AZC-045 254003 2724201 208 -55 143.0 146.0 3.0 3.93 0.96 19.00 ————————————————————————— (1) true width has yet to be determined (2) using a copper cutoff grade 0.5% (3) fire assay and atomic absorption finish (4) atomic absorption (“AA”)
Qualified Person
Mark Pearson, P.Eng., who is the Company’s Qualified Person, as defined by National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved the contents of this news release, as applicable.
Quality Assurance and Quality Control (“QA/QC”) Procedures for the
Prior to the suspension of exploration on December 10, 2008, the Company’s core and reverse circulation drilling program was conducted by Layne de Mexico. The reverse circulation drill used a bit sized from 5.5 inches to 4.75 inches. The core program utilized HQ-sized core and then stepping down to NQ-sized core as required. Samples were collected on a 1.5 metre sample interval. The reverse circulation drill cuttings are split at the drill rig. The samples collected consist of an approximate 25% split of the total material recovered from the interval sampled. This material is shipped directly to the
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Cautionary Statement:
This news release contains forward-looking statements that are not historical facts. Forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results, performance, prospects and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements include those risks set out in
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Contacts:
Patrick Downey President & Chief Executive Officer (604) 669-4777 (604) 696-0212 (FAX) info@auraminerals.com
www.auraminerals.com