Medusa Mining, a public company listed on the ASX and LSE, is an Australian based gold producer, focused solely on the Philippines. Medusa's corporate strategy is to become a mid-tier, 400,000 ounce per year, low-cost gold producer.
The Company has completed the two-phase expansion of its high grade Co-O Mine operations to a production level of 100,000 annualised ounces. The Company has approved a Phase 3 expansion to build an expanded mill with capacity for 200,000 ounces of production.
Ongoing drilling is verifying and expanding the Bananghilig Deposit with the aim of defining one million ounces of reserves to initiate feasibility studies.
Further potential upside exists for the discovery of copper and additional gold deposits within the tenement holding of more than 800km2.
Medusa Mining upgrades resource estimate at Co-O Gold Mine
Medusa Mining (ASX, AIM: MML; TSX: MLL), through its Philippines operating company, Philsaga Mining Corporation, has increased the Indicated Resource by 4% to 603,000 ounces and increased the Inferred Resource by 36% to 898,000 ounces (excluding production since 9 December 2009) at its Co-O Mine.
The grade of both categories has also increased. The company has also announced additional information which supports the announcement dated 18 January 2010 containing estimates of the conceptual potential target sizes for the Co-O Mine.
The target size estimates we done by using various parameters which indicate a range of 3,000,000 ounces in 9,300,000 tonnes to 7,000,000 ounces in 22,000,000 tonnes using a grade range of 9 to 11 g/t gold with a preferred average grade of 10 g/t gold.
Geoff Davis, managing director, said "the company is pleased with the new resource estimate which continues to grow. The intent is to maintain the total resources for the mine at the current level primarily by underground drilling."
"Concurrently the company will continue surface drilling to seek extensional mineralisation outside the current mine limits. The compilation of drill hole intersections below the current bottom of the mine strongly supports the Co-O Mine conceptual potential target size of 3 to 7 million ounces of gold.”
The company noted that potential target size and grade is conceptual in nature, and there has been insuffiicient exploration to define a mineral resource, and it is uncertain if further exploration will result in the target being defined as a mineral resource.
On June 30, the company said a number of rigs which will continue drilling on the Co-O Mine and surrounding area will be rationalised to four or five rigs over the next few months as some of the rigs are planned to be transferred to commence feasibility study related drilling at the Bananghilig Deposit.
