Dragon Mining (ASX: DRA) has boosted its Proven and Probable Ore Reserves for the Nordic gold projects to a total of 1.89 million tonnes grading 3.8 g/t gold for 231,030 ounces.
This upgrade represents an increase of 0.69 million tonnes grading 4.1 g/t gold for 90,900 ounces from the 31 December 2009 Ore Reserve.
The significant increase in the Scandinavian reserve is the result of the inclusion of Reserves from a series of new developments at each of Dragon’s three operating gold mines in Sweden and Finland, which produced 71,598 ounces of gold at an average cash cost of US$678 per ounce in 2010.
Over the past twelve months the company's exploration activities have been focussed on increasing the life of its mines.
An increase in Reserves at the Svartliden Gold Mine was the result of a decision to expand and deepen the open pit and includes ore from the planned underground mine and existing stockpiles.
Production plans have now been extended into 2014, with open pit mining to continue until July 2012, as a result of the exploration drilling success during 2010.
The deferral of the commencement of the underground mine development until mid-2011 has also happened as a result of the extension of open pit mining.
With the commitment to the staged development of the Kutema Deeps deposit, the Reserve position at the Orivesi Gold Mine has been underpinned. An internal study highlighted the prospectivity of the Kutema Deeps project to the 1080m level.
Dragon commenced the decline for underground mining at the Jokisivu Gold Mine on the completion of the Kujankallio open pit in August 2010.
The comapny has achieved a maiden underground Reserve for Kujankallio as a result of successful infill drilling. An internal study for the mining of a small open pit at Arpola has also been completed, returning positive results.
Dragon plans to kick off mining the 5,000 ounce Reserve in April 2011 and expenditure on underground development will be matched with extending the aggressive exploration strategy on the company’s highly prospective exploration portfolio.
On March 9 Dragon tipped the gold scales over one million ounces at its Nordic gold projects. A series of Mineral Resource updates pushed the total resource up 13% to; 6.69 million tonnes at 5.2 grams per tonne (g/t) gold for 1,124,900 ounces.