Feb 18 2011
Endeavour Mining Corporation (TSX: EDV) has reported additions to the mineral resources and recent exploration results at its Youga Gold Mine located in Burkina Faso, West Africa.
Interim mineral resource estimates were prepared on the Zergoré and A2NE zones located within the existing Youga Mining Permit following a successful drilling campaign in 2010. Work is ongoing and both zones remain open in all directions. The 2011 drill program includes 17 targets of which 12 are within 3.5 kilometres of the plant.
ZERGORÉ
The Zergoré deposit is located 2.5 kilometres east of the Youga plant. The 2010 drilling campaign included 94 reverse-circulation ("RC") and 10 diamond drill holes ("DDH") over an 850 metre strike length of the mineralized zone. The recent resource estimate was based on all drilling to date and resulted in an Inferred Mineral Resource of 2.304 million tonnes with an average grade of 1.29 g/t Au at a 0.5 g/t Au cutoff grade.
Zergoré has been drilled in several stages including 68 holes by previous operators and most recently 104 holes in 2010 by Endeavour. Highlights of the 2010 RC drilling were reported in a previous news release dated July 7, 2010. Highlights from additional results from the 2010 DDH drilling not previously reported include; 12m @ 2.6g/t including 2m @ 6.5g/t, and 10m @ 2.4g/t including 2m @ 9.8g/t.
Drilling on strike and depth extensions are underway. The Zergoré deposit remains open in all directions.
A2NE
The A2NE target is located three kilometres to the northeast of the Youga plant. The 2010 drilling included 32 RC and 20 diamond drill holes over a 350 metre strike length of the mineralized zone. A recent resource estimate on the A2NE deposit resulted in an Indicated Mineral Resource of 0.709 million tonnes with an average grade of 1.32 g/t Au plus an Inferred Mineral Resource of 0.205 million tonnes with an average grade of 1.25 g/t Au at a 0.5 g/t Au cutoff grade.
Recent results from RC drilling along the western extension of A2NE have confirmed the continuation of the mineralization for an additional 300 metre (drilling highlights were reported in a previous news release dated January 23, 2010) that has not been included in this resource estimate. The A2NE deposit remains open in all directions.
Triple 'A' Zone
Seven diamond drill holes were completed along the eastern side of the Main pit to further test a mineralized zone intersected by a diamond drill hole that reported 37m @ 2.0g/t including 4m @ 6.3g/t. The follow-up drilling reported intersections in five of the holes including; 8m @ 6.4g/t including 1.8m @ 15.0g/t, and 3m @ 18.8g/t including 1m @ 37.8g/t. Additional drilling is planned to establish the trend of the mineralization and delineate the extents.
Commenting on the new mineral resource additions at Youga, Neil Woodyer Chief Executive Officer stated "this initial mineral resource estimate clearly demonstrates the potential of these known deposits, which are located within three kilometres of the Youga plant. Endeavour is in the early stages of working to extend the mine life at Youga. These results increase our confidence in our ability to achieve that objective and validate our previously announced US$10 million exploration campaign at Youga for 2011. Further work will be carried out on the established mineral resource areas to move them into mineral reserves and we are confident about the potential to add further resources."
Accelerated Exploration Campaign at Youga Mine and Youga Gold Belt in 2011
Endeavour's Youga Gold Mine, which has been in production since 2008, produced 82,400 ounces of gold in 2010 and is targeting production of 84,000 ounces of gold in 2011. Endeavour's on-going exploration focus is the addition of mineral reserves at Youga. Building on the success of the 2010 Youga exploration campaign, Endeavour has committed a further US$10 million in 2011 to accelerate its exploration and resource delineation campaign with the objective of increasing mineral resources and reserves that will extend the Youga mine life. The 2011 program includes in excess of 50,000 metres of combined RC and diamond drilling.
The main focus of the 2011 exploration program will be to complete follow-up and infill drilling for these deposits to allow them to be brought into reserves in addition to the testing of other near-surface targets with the objective to report additional mineral resources during 2011.
Qualified Persons
K. Kirk Woodman, P.Geo., Head of Exploration is the Qualified Person overseeing Endeavour's exploration projects in West Africa and has reviewed and approved this press release. The mineral resource estimates were prepared under Mr. Woodman's supervision.
Adrian De Freitas, C.Eng MIMMM., General Manager, Youga Mine is the Qualified Person overseeing production and development in West Africa and has reviewed and approved this press release.
All sample preparations and standard 50-gram gold fire assays were performed by SGS Laboratories, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Endeavour consistently employs a rigorous quality control and assurance program comprising regular insertion of certified reference standards, blanks and duplicates.
Source: Endeavour Mining Corporation