Olympus expects more commercial gold finds

Bong Mieu Gold Mining Co Ltd plans to put more gold mines into operation in the coming years more than one-month the joint venture opened Bong Mieu Mine in the central province of Quang Nam.
The joint venture between Canada’s Olympus Pacific Minerals Inc. and two local companies Mideco and Minco looks to start with the Nui Kem Mine next year and the Ho Ray-Thac Trang in 2008, an official of the venture said.
Charles Barclay, director general of Bong Mieu Gold Mining Co Ltd, said that the underground mine Nui Kem was currently being evaluated and was the next target for processing in the operational plant of the company.
The company put the total resource of 1,43 8,700 tonnes of ore for the Nui Kern, which is an old mine abandoned in the Second World War.
Barclay said the Ho Ray-Trac Thang were not yet identified as mines but “we are hopeful that we can find enough ore to start up new projects there.”
The Nui Kem and Ho Ray-Trac Trang are part of Bong Mieu, which also includes the open pit Ho Gan. Bong Mieu Gold Mining Co started the mine construction in Ho Gan in 2004 and mining activity in the third quarter of last year. The company estimated a recoverable reserve of more than six tonnes of gold in the Ho Gan and Ho Ray-Thac Trang mines.
Barclay said the company had only quarried about 30,000 tonnes of ore from the Ho Gan as it only started in early January to process the ore. “We eventually will be yielding twelve thousand ounces per annum from the Ho Gan pit.”
Barclay revealed Bong Mieu Gold Mining Co had plans for further exploration around Vietnam as “Vietnam is very prospective and deserves to be explored more than it has been to date,” said Barclay, who is also the country manager of Olympus Pacific Minerals.
Olympus Pacific Minerals acquired the Bong Mieu Gold project area covering 30 square kilometres in Phu Ninh District in 1997, and commenced fieldwork on the property in the second half of 2003. Olympus Pacific Minerals owns the US$25 million Bong Mieu Holdings Ltd, which is the foreign partner of Bong Mieu Gold Mining Co in the 80:20 joint venture with Mineral Development Co (Mideco) and the mineral company Minco.
The company has spent roughly US$15 million on acquisition and exploration. It will pour more money into road, education, health and welfare projects in Bong Mieu Village to benefit the local community.

 

Category: ResourceAsia