Upgrade of Wafi/Golpu resource
Harmony Gold is pleased to announce an increase in its mineral resource at its Golpu copper gold project in the Morobe Province of Papua New Guinea.
The resource now stands at:
- 163Mt @ 1.1% Cu, 0.6g/t Au and 132ppm Mo containing
- 3.9 billion pounds of copper
- 2.96 million ounces of gold
- 47 million pounds of molybdenum.
This represents an increase of 10% copper metal, 11% gold and 17% molybdenum.
This increase in metal is primarily due to definition of a consistent halo of mineralised metasediment around the porphyry. The metasediment resource is a lower grade than the porphyry (see detailed table below) and thus has the effect of lowering the overall grade of the resource, but importantly, the porphyry core has been confirmed with a slight increase in both volume and metal content. The resource can be broken down as follows:
- Porphyry – 92Mt @ 1.4% Cu, 0.7 g/t Au, and 108 ppm Mo.
- Metasediment – 71Mt @ 0.7% Cu, 0.5g/t Au and 162 ppm Mo
The updated resource follows on from completion of a diamond drill hole program designed to further test the mineralisation and gain metallurgical and hydrogeological data for the Prefeasibility study. The program consisted of 10 PQ/HQ/NQ diamond drill holes completed for a total of 6,947m of drilling, of these 3,359m intersected the Golpu porphyry and 1,313m intersected mineralisation in the surrounding metasediment.
Geological highlights of the drilling included:
- WR220 intersected high grade gold mineralisation in the potassic domain with 210m @ 1.85g/t Au using a 1g/t Au cutoff.
- WR224 Metallurgical hole to test supergene and advanced argillic alteration domains intersected 182m @ 2.89%Cu, 0.72 Au ppm and 1239 As ppm from 148m to 330m, including 70m @ 5.04% Cu 0.77 Au and 2255 As ppm from 148m to 218m.
- Improved understanding of alteration patterns, and the alteration/arsenic relationships which appear to be present. This understanding is key to successfully mining the deposit.
Link Zone Drilling
Continuing Prefeasibility work includes confirmatory drilling on the Link Zone. This program commenced in December 2006. Results from the first drill hole, WR231, designed to intersect the central portion of the lode returned a result of 49m @ 10.2 g/t Au, which confirms the broad and high grade nature of this deposit. Drilling is expected to be completed by May 2007 with a new resource model completed soon after.
The total resource of Wafi, as previously reported, amounts to 6.52Moz. This excludes the resources of Golpu.
Pre feasability study
The Prefeasibility study for Golpu is due for completion in July 2007. The integrated report which includes Golpu, NRG1 and Link Zone deposits is due later in the year.
As the majority of project development capital will be required for mining of the porphyry stock, it is hoped that the lower grade mineralised metasediment will be economic as only incremental mine development capital will be required for exploitation of the expanded resource.
| Class | Million tonnes | Cu % | Au ppm | As ppm | Mo ppm | CuMetal Kt | Au MOz | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indicated | 88 | 1.4 | 0.6 | 431 | 110 | 1,220 | 1.77 | |
| Porphyry² | Inferred | 4 | 1.5 | 1.0 | 15 | 66 | 65 | 0.14 |
| Sub Total | 92 | 1.4 | 0.7 | 412 | 108 | 1,285 | 1.91 | |
| Metasediment² | Inferred | 71 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 269 | 162 | 479 | 1.05 |
| Total | 163 | 1.1 | 0.6 | 350 | 132 | 1,763 | 2.96 |
*Does not include 6.5Moz Au included in Wafi deposits
The estimate of Mineral Resources in this statement were prepared in accordance with the standards set out in the “Australian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves – The JORC Code” (December 2004) as published by the Joint Ore Reserve Committee of the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, Australian institute of Geoscientists and Mineral Council of Australia (JORC).
The Ore Resource data in the summary table is based on information compiled by Gregory Job who is corporate member of the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and who has relevant experience of a “competent person” as defined by the code for reporting of Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves in relation to the mineralisation being reported on. Mr Job is a full time employee of Harmony Gold.
For more details contact:
Bernard Swanepoel
Chief Executive
+27(0)83 303 9922
Amelia Soares
General Manager, Investor Relations
Tel. + 27 11 684 0146
+27(0)82 654 9241
Lizelle du Toit
Investor Relations Officer
+27(0)82 465 1244