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Feasibility study shows five-fold increase in Bonasika reserves

Written by Clifford Stanley
Wednesday, 19 October 2011 01:51
Source - Guyana Chronicl

THE First Bauxite Corporation (FBC) completed a feasibility study for bauxite mining in three areas in Bonasika, East Bank Essequibo last year, and has announced that a similar study carried out on two additional neighbouring areas has disclosed a 500% increase in tonnage and mine life for the project.

The Canadian company disclosed that a recently completed bankable feasibility study update (BFSU) disclosed significantly improved results by the inclusion of these two areas in its economic analysis of the Bonasika project.

In 2010, the Canadian company had announced positive feasibility study results for the project based on the bauxite reserves of the Bonasika One, Two & Five deposits.

The company disclosed yesterday that during the course of the 2010 study, investigations and drilling were conducted on two additional deposits, namely: Bonasika Six and Bonasika Seven.

The results showed that Bonasika Seven is a large deposit with reserves that more than double the mine life of Bonasika One, Two & Five combined.

The recent BFSU indicates that the Bonasika deposit has a mine life of twenty-two years.

Although buried under thicker overburden, The Bonasika Seven ore is better in quality, and can be mined selectively.

Further, iron content is sufficiently low to negate the need for magnetic separation.

Consequently, First Bauxite has updated the 2010 BFS to include the Bonasika Six and Seven resources and reserves in the economic analysis.

The company has also changed its Mine Plan to commence mining the Bonasika Seven deposit first.

Hilbert N Shields, CEO and company director, stated: “This declaration of more than five (5) times the tonnage and mine life identified in this study over the previous should send a strong message to both shareholders and customers that First Bauxite will be a major supplier of refractory bauxite well through the first half of this century.

“We now have a vastly superior project: one which is more financeable, as well as one providing improved economic returns for all stakeholders. The enhancement is there despite the rise in operating costs, resulting from global increases in fuel cost and the elevation in capital costs caused by some deterioration of US currency versus the Euro.”

The FBC release disclosed that the company’s most important next steps include: securing off-take contracts, implementing a project financing plan (both activities in progress), and commissioning detailed engineering and early infrastructure development.

The BFSU had considered all aspects related to the development of the Bonasika project, including in-situ geology, mining, metallurgy, processing and engineering, economics, marketing and logistics, social and other environmental considerations.

It was done by Met-Chem Canada Inc. (“Met-Chem”) under the supervision of G Mining Services (“GMining”), both of Montreal, Canada, who were supported by a group of independent consultants with specialist expertise in critical sections of the project, and by First Bauxite personnel.

The BFSU is NI43-101 compliant, which means that it is in accord with rules developed by the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) that govern how issuers disclose scientific and technical information about their mineral projects to the public.

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