Kimber Resources (AMEX:KBX) (TSE:KBR) announced Wednesday plans to update its mineral resource estimate for the Carmen gold-silver deposit at its Monterde project in Mexico, based on positive drilling results this year, including several, new high grade intercepts below the current resource.
On the advice of its independent consultants, Kimber’s management and board have determined that these drilling results are “essential components of any economic study that will be used for development and production planning” and therefore need to be included, as there is significant potential to boost project economics.
President and CEO, Gordon Cummings, said: “Kimber has already completed two independent preliminary economic assessments that show Kimber’s potential to become a profitable gold-silver producer at the Monterde project in Mexico.”
“We are making important strides in 2011, not only to increase the overall quantity and grade of Kimber’s mineral resource base but to strengthen our management team and our Board from a development and production perspective, and to advance our project towards a production decision.
“We have decided to take the right steps, in the right order, to ensure that we can bring Monterde into production as efficiently and quickly as possible, while ensuring we design a robust and profitable operation.”
Within the next several months, the company plans to hire an executive level engineer to lead the effort to bring the mine into production, and intends to complete an updated resource estimate for the Carmen deposit by April 30, 2012 based on drill results up to October this year.
Since the last mineral resource estimate, Kimber has drilled over 32,000 metres at Carmen. Because of the high grade discoveries below the current resource, the company said the inclusion of the new results could lead to changes in open pit configuration and require more underground mine planning to optimize project economics.
The company also will continue drilling to expand and upgrade resources at Monterde, as well as continue work on geotechnical matters, water and waste management, processing and attaining permits and other requirements necessary before a production decision can be made.
Drill results from the Carmen Deep program reported last month included hole MTRD-511, which intersected 14.0 metres grading 4.5 grams per tonne (g/t) gold and 12.4 g/t silver. This hole also returned 5.8 metres of 6.4 g/t gold and 18.1 g/t silver, and 12.7 g/t gold and 9.7 g/t silver over 4.5 metres.
At the Monterde property, a preliminary economic assessment (PEA), which was updated in June 2011, estimated measured mineral resources of 2.54 million tonnes grading 0.88 g/t gold and 102.4 g/t silver for 71,700 ounces of gold and 8.37 million ounces of silver, at a 0.3% cut-off grade.
The PEA also estimated a 15.5-year mine life, in an open pit-underground production scenario. Total life-of-mine capital costs were projected at US$119.3 million, with total anticipated production of 744,000 ounces of gold and 20.2 million ounces of silver over the mine life.
“Kimber is currently reviewing proposals for various other feasibility level work programs which could be completed in the second and third quarters of 2012,” said Cummings.
“With the planned completion of the mineral resource estimate for Carmen and the hiring of a senior engineering executive in the first quarter of 2012, Kimber can move quickly towards completion of a feasibility study.”
Kimber owns mineral concessions covering in excess of 39,000 hectares in the prospective Sierra Madre gold-silver belt, including the Monterde property, where three gold-silver mineral resources have already been defined. The most advanced of these, the Carmen deposit, has been extensively drilled and has undergone detailed geologic modeling.
