Description
The Bisha Project is a large precious and base metal-rich volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) deposit located 150km west of Asmara, Eritrea, East Africa. Deposit mineralization consists of gold and silver oxides, in addition to copper and zinc massive sulphides.
The Mine went into production in February 2011 and will be a low-cost gold producer for the first two years, and a high-grade copper concentrate and zinc producer for the remaining mine life. Bisha enjoys 12+ years of high-grade resources with metal prices conservatively based on $1,015/oz gold, $2.40/lb copper for the first 5 years ($1.28/lb thereafter), $0.92/lb zinc and $15.85/oz silver. The Bisha mine is expected to produce gold at less than half of the industry average (including all royalties and credits).
The Bisha Mine is expected to produce 1.14 million ounces of gold, 11.9 millio
n ounces of silver, 821 million pounds of copper, and over one billion pounds of zinc. Bisha's mining and exploration licenses cover a contiguous area of 92 km2. The Bisha Main and North West zone are both located within the 16.5 km2 mining license.
Photos of the project can be found here
Map of Eritrea showing the location of the Bisha property.
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Mineral Reserves, Effective Date: 01 January, 2011
For 2012 production guidance, click here
| Ore Type | Ore (kt) |
Au (g/t) |
Ag (g/t) |
Cu (%) |
Zn (%) |
| Supergene | |||||
| Proven | 844 | 0.80 | 43.47 | 4.92 | |
| Probable | 6,537 | 0.77 | 31.29 | 3.77 | |
| Combined (cut-off ~ 0.50 % Cu(2)) | 7,382 | 0.78 | 32.68 | 3.90 | |
| Primary | |||||
| Proven | 521 | 0.78 | 52.51 | 0.91 | 8.09 |
| Probable | 15,759 | 0.72 | 44.12 | 0.97 | 5.31 |
| Combined (cut-off ~ 0.75 % Zn(2)) | 16,279 | 0.72 | 44.40 | 0.97 | 5.40 |
| Total Proven | 2,298 | 2.80 | 36.77 | 2.07 | 1.98 |
| Total Probable | 26,015 | 1.69 | 39.09 | 1.55 | 3.26 |
| Total Combined | 28,313 | 1.78 | 38.90 | 1.60 | 3.15 |
(2) Cut-off is based on NSR, Oxide = $29.03/t, Supergene = $26.57/t, Primary = $26.68/t, cut-off grade values shown above are approximate and may be affected by other metal values in the deposit.