|
MONTREAL, QUEBEC--(Marketwire
- April 29, 2009) - MDN Inc. ("MDN") (TSX:MDN) is pleased to
announce that the Tulawaka Gold Mine in
Tanzania produced 20,493
ounces of gold during the first quarter ended
March 31, 2009. Tulawaka gold production now
amounts to 674,860
ounces since the beginning of operations in
March 2005.
For the first quarter, 20,881 ounces of gold were sold into
the spot market at an average price of US$906 for total sales of
US$18.9M. Since the beginning of operations in March 2005, a total of 666,959 ounces
of gold was sold.
For the first quarter, a total of 34,911 tonnes were mined from the
underground mine at an average mine grade of 11.27 g/t gold whereas the
plant facilities processed 101,974 tonnes of ore at an average grade of
6.7 g/t gold and at a gold recovery rate of 93.3%. The difference in
tonnage comes from the stockpile at the plant.
"The fact that the underground operations at Tulawaka
are still in development and therefore limit our access to known
mineral zones explains the use of low-grade ore stockpiled near the
mill and the low tonnage mined underground", said Paul-A. Girard,
President and CEO of MDN.
Total cash costs averaged US$418 to produce an ounce of gold during the
first quarter of 2009. The ROM (Run of Mine) stockpiles at quarter end
were 402,122 tonnes at an average grade of 2.72 g/t gold, representing
approximately 12 months ore supply for the process plant, assuming the
current throughput of 32,000 tonnes processed per month due to the
hardness of the rock on the stockpiles.
Paul-A. Girard, President and CEO of MDN stated: "The production
level and mining operations of the underground mine for the quarter are
as planned. Indeed, approximately 35% of the tonnes processed come from
the underground mine which produces a better grade than the stockpiles
used to fulfill the production capacity of
the mill. The tonnes processed from the underground mine should improve
quantitatively in the upcoming months and given the challenge related
to the beginning of the underground operations, we are pleased with the
results and remain optimistic towards the mining plan aimed at
increasing the reserves and resources, and expanding the mine
life."
The Tulawaka Gold Mine is owned and operated
by Barrick Gold Corporation ("Barrick"), through its Tanzanian subsidiary Pangea Minerals Ltd. Pursuant to a Joint Venture
Agreement Barrick has 70% participating
interest and MDN has 30% participating interest in the Tulawaka Gold Mine. The information disclosed on
the Tulawaka Gold Mine is based on
information provided by the Operator.
MDN Inc. is a Montreal-based Canadian exploration company that holds a
30% participation in the Tulawaka Gold Mine (Tanzania).
Its main exploration activities are carried out in Quebec
through gold and base metal interests and in Tanzania through a majority
interest in 35 mineral licenses, adjacent to the Tulawaka
gold mine.
For more
information, please visit
www.mdn-mines.com
|