OTTAWA, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - May 21, 2014) - Orezone Gold Corporation (ORE.TO) is pleased to announce that it has appointed Tim Miller as Chief Operating Officer to oversee and complete its ongoing feasibility work for its 100% owned Bomboré Gold Project in Burkina Faso. Mr. Miller's background includes over 30 years of construction and management experience with major heap leach and agitated leach operations in the United States, South America and Africa. He spent many years with Glamis Gold Ltd and Goldcorp as Vice President for their Central American Operations where he was intimately involved with the construction and development of their operations. Prior to that, he spent many years working in West Africa developing and operating heap leach operations in the Tarkwa region of Ghana. More recently Tim was CEO of Atacama Minerals until its takeover by Sirocco. He has a B.Sc. in Chemistry from University of New Mexico and an MBA from Webster University.
"We are very pleased to have such a seasoned mine builder with Tim's track record of success join us to oversee the completion of the Bomboré feasibility study and ultimately lead the project through to production," stated Ron Little, CEO for Orezone. "Mr. Miller brings a wealth of design, construction and operations experience required to grow Orezone from an explorer/developer into a mid-tier producer."
Since March 2014, Orezone has been completing all of the remaining geotechnical and metallurgical test work required to complete the feasibility study (FS) for a Phase 1 heap leach scenario at Bomboré. Kappes, Cassiday and Associates (KCA) have been performing final column leach tests, agglomeration and compacted permeability tests of the various ores with the results expected to be released in the coming weeks once the column leach residue assays are complete.
Drill Program Underway
Orezone has commenced a 21,000 m, $900,000 infill and expansion drill program designed to upgrade and expand oxide resources and improve the 2014 Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA") mine plan. Consisting mostly of shallow reverse circulation drilling, the program will focus essentially on the northern half (5km) of the PEA mine plan that represents the initial 3-5 years of production. Approximately 35% of the holes are within the PEA pit design shells and designed to upgrade inferred resources that were not included in the PEA. The other holes will be testing short-range extensions and gaps between various PEA pit shells with the objective to further expand resources. The company plans to update the resource model and mine plan in Q1 2015 (after the release of the FS) with results from the current 21,000 m drill program plus an additional 30,000 m of drill results that were not included in the 2013 resource model.
About Orezone Gold Corporation
Orezone is a Canadian company with a gold discovery track record of +12 Moz and recent mine development experience in Burkina Faso, West Africa. The Company owns a 100% interest in Bomboré which is situated 85 km east of the capital city, adjacent to an international highway. Mineral resources are constrained within CIL optimized open pit shells that span 11 km, and include 4.6 Moz of measured and indicated (140 Mt @ 1.01 g/t) and 0.7 Moz of inferred resources (18 Mt @ 1.22 g/t) with an average depth of drilling to only 120 meters. The Company is continuing with various technical studies in order to be in a position to complete a full feasibility study and an application for a mining permit before year end.
Pascal Marquis, SVP Exploration and Ron Little, CEO are Qualified Persons under National Instrument 43‐101 have reviewed the information in this release.
FORWARD‐LOOKING STATEMENTS AND FORWARD‐LOOKING INFORMATION: This news release contains certain "forward‐looking statements" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward‐looking statements and forward‐looking information are frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate", "potential", "possible" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may", "will", "could", or "should" occur. Forward‐looking statements in this release include statements regarding, among others; completion of a 21,000 m drill program, upgrading the oxide resource at Bomboré, completion of a FS for the Bomboré project, completing geotechnical and metallurgical test work, applying for a mining permit, and becoming a mid‐tier gold producer.
FORWARD‐LOOKING STATEMENTS are based on certain assumptions, the opinions and estimates of management at the date the statements are made, and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward‐looking statements. These factors include the inherent risks involved in the exploration and development of mineral properties, the uncertainties involved in interpreting drilling results and other geological and geotechnical data, fluctuating metal prices, the possibility of project cost overruns or unanticipated costs and expenses, the ability of contracted parties (including laboratories and drill companies to provide services as contracted); uncertainties relating to the availability and costs of financing needed in the future and other factors. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward‐looking statements if circumstances or management's estimates or opinions should change. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward‐looking statements. Comparisons between any resource model or estimates with the subsequent drill results are preliminary in nature and should not be relied upon as potential qualified changes to any future resource updates or estimates.
Readers are advised that National Instrument 43‐101 of the Canadian Securities Administrators requires that each category of mineral reserves and mineral resources be reported separately. Readers should refer to the annual information form of Orezone for the year ended December 31, 2013 and other continuous disclosure documents filed by Orezone since January 1, 2014 available at www.sedar.com, for this detailed information, which is subject to the qualifications and notes set forth therein.