Au Au Ag
Description Category Tonnes g/t ounces g/t Ag ounces
-------- ---------- ---- ------- ---- ---------
In-pit lower grade material Probable 7,829,226 0.72 181,200 14.0 3,524,000
-------- ---------- ---- ------- ---- ---------
Dumps Probable 6,320,190 0.53 107,700 8.9 1,802,000
-------- ---------- ---- ------- ---- ---------
Total Probable 14,149,416 0.64 288,900 11.7 5,326,000
-------- ---------- ---- ------- ---- ---------
The existing open-pit design was optimised at a gold price of $450 per troy
ounce and, whilst the pit forms a natural limit to the mineralisation,
there is material within the pit shell that becomes economic at a gold
price of $650 per ounce. In the previous mine plan this rock reported to
the waste heap.
Drilling and channel sampling of historic dumps situated around the deposit
has also defined new resources and reserves. Much of the material would
have to be moved to make space for the planned Certej open-pit.
The rock dump and the in-pit lower-grade materials will be stockpiled and
fed through the mill after the full grade ore from the pit has been treated
in the first eleven and a half years of the life.
The 0.3 million ounces Au and 5.3 million ounces Ag reserves were estimated
using mining costs defined in the Certej definitive feasibility study
published in September 2008 with an additional cost for re-handling taken
into account. A technical report detailing the extension to the life of
mine will be submitted on to the SEDAR website within 45 days of this
announcement.
The Certej definitive feasibility study of September 2008 defined an annual
metal production averaging approximately 160,000 ounces of gold and 800,000
ounces of silver for the Certej project.
With the 32.8 million tonne probable reserve containing 2.1 million ounces
of gold and 12.0 million ounces of silver previously defined at Certej, the
total Certej probable reserves are 2.41 million ounces of gold and 17.3
million ounces of silver.
European Goldfields total reserves of gold are now 10.05 million ounces.
New Prospecting Permits in Romania
The Company has acquired two new prospecting permits totalling some 454
square kilometres. The licences cover two distinct areas. The first area
forms a westward extension to the Company's existing group of licences
centred on Certej. This western extension covers some 317 square
kilometres and is adjacent to the well-known Brad mines which have produced
as much as 20 million ounces of gold according to historic records and were
operated by the Romanian state until 2006. Deposits in this geological
terrain include examples of disseminated gold, porphyry mineralisation as
well as the more prolific and higher grade epithermal deposits. The
Company has also acquired raw data from an airborne magnetic and
radiometric geophysical survey which covers much of the area and will begin
processing this data in early in 2009.
The second area covers some 137 square kilometres and includes the Deva
copper gold porphyry and the Muncel - Vetel massive sulphide deposits. The
Deva porphyry was operated by the Romanian state owned mining company
between 1950 and 2001. During this time it produced some 19 million tonnes
of ore at a grade of 0.7% copper. Gold grades were not recorded
systematically throughout the mine life but are indicated to be
approximately 0.5 g/t gold. The porphyry is defined to a depth of 800
metres and is one of a series of intrusives within a volcanic complex which
is completely under explored. The Muncel - Vitel area hosts known copper,
lead and zinc mineralisation in a series of stacked massive sulphide
horizons recorded as being Volcanogenic Massive Sulphides (VMS) type. The
mineralisation has been traced along more than 5 kilometres of strike
length and the area has never been investigated with modern techniques.
European Goldfields plans to commence reconnaissance mapping, geochemical
and geophysical surveying and sampling of these exciting and highly
prospective areas early in 2009. This will be the first time that modern
techniques have been applied to much of the area acquired and the Company
will capitalise on its knowledge of porphyry and epithermal deposits gained
from its previous work on the Tethyan belt of central and southeast Europe
within Greece, Romania and Turkey.
Commenting on these developments David Reading, Chief Executive Officer of
European Goldfields said:
"We are delighted that our group reserves now exceed 10 million ounces of
gold. Progress made with Certej over the last few months has been
significant, we have added a further 4 years of mine life and are actively
expanding our business in Romania. Romania has the combination of an
excellent mining workforce and prospective geology -- combining these
attributes with our modern mining practices will deliver an exciting and
exemplary project."
Directors Dealings
On 1 January 2009, 100,000 restricted share units granted for nil
consideration in August 2008 to Mark Rachovides (Executive Vice President),
and 75,000 restricted share units granted for nil consideration in August
2008 to Tim Morgan-Wynne (Chief Financial Officer) under the Company's
Restricted Share Unit Plan were redeemed for nil consideration into an
equal number of Common Shares of the Company, from which the Company
withheld 70,000 shares for tax purposes. As a result, Mr Mark Rachovides is
now beneficially interested in 60,000 common shares of the Company
representing 0.03% of the Company's issued share capital and Mr Tim
Morgan-Wynne is now beneficially interested in 135,000 common shares of the
Company representing 0.08% of the Company's issued share capital.
Further to this redemption, Mark Rachovides and Tim Morgan-Wynne do not
hold any more restricted share units.
About European Goldfields
European Goldfields Limited is a resource company involved in the
acquisition, exploration and development of mineral properties in Greece,
Romania and South-East Europe.
Greece -- European Goldfields holds a 95% interest in Hellas Gold S.A.
Hellas Gold owns three major gold and base metal deposits in Northern
Greece. The deposits are the polymetallic operation at Stratoni, the
Olympias project which contains gold, zinc, lead and silver, and the
Skouries copper/gold porphyry project. Hellas Gold commenced production at
Stratoni in September 2005 and started selling an existing stockpile of
gold concentrates from Olympias in July 2006. Hellas Gold is applying for
permits to develop and build the Skouries and Olympias projects.
Romania -- European Goldfields owns 80% of the Certej gold/silver project
in Romania. In July 2008, the National Agency of Mineral Resources approved
the technical feasibility study in support of its permit application and
issued a new mining permit for the Certej project.
Resources & reserves parameters
For additional information on the resource and reserve estimates quoted in
this news release, please refer to the Company's Resources & Reserves
Declaration at www.egoldfields.com/goldfields/resources.jsp. Patrick
Forward, General Manager, Exploration of the Company, was the Qualified
Person under Canadian National Instrument 43-101 responsible for reviewing
the disclosure of resource and reserve estimates quoted in this news
release.
Forward-looking statements
Certain statements and information contained in this document, including
any information as to the Company's future financial or operating
performance and other statements that express management's expectations or
estimates of future performance, constitute forward-looking information
under provisions of Canadian provincial securities laws. When used in this
document, the words "anticipate", "expect", "will", "intend", "estimate",
"forecast", "planned" and similar expressions are intended to identify
forward-looking statements or information. Forward-looking statements
include, but are not limited to, the estimation of mineral reserves and
resources, the timing and amount of estimated future production, costs and
timing of development of new deposits, permitting time lines and
expectations regarding metal recovery rates. Forward-looking statements are
necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while
considered reasonable by management, are inherently subject to significant
business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. The
Company cautions the reader that such forward-looking statements involve
known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the
actual financial results, performance or achievements of the Company to be
materially different from its estimated future results, performance or
achievements expressed or implied by those forward-looking statements and
the forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance.
These risks, uncertainties and other factors include, but are not limited
to: changes in the price of gold, base metals or certain other commodities
(such as fuel and electricity) and currencies; uncertainty of mineral
reserves, resources, grades and recovery estimates; uncertainty of future
production, capital expenditures and other costs; currency fluctuations;
financing and additional capital requirements; the successful and timely
permitting of the Company's Skouries, Olympias and Certej projects;
legislative, political, social or economic developments in the
jurisdictions in which the Company carries on business; operating or
technical difficulties in connection with mining or development activities;
the speculative nature of gold and base metals exploration and development,
including the risks of diminishing quantities or grades of reserves; the
risks normally involved in the exploration, development and mining
business; and risks associated with internal control over financial
reporting. For a more detailed discussion of such risks and material
factors or assumptions underlying these forward-looking statements, see the
Company's Annual Information Form for the year ended 31 December 2007,
filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. The Company does not intend, and does not
assume any obligation, to update or revise any forward-looking statements
whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except
as required by law.
Click on, or paste the following link into your web browser, to view the
associated PDF document.
http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/6697L_1-2009-1-14.pdf
Contact Information: For further information please contact: European Goldfields: David Reading Chief Executive Officer e-mail: Tel: +44 (0)20 7408 9534 Buchanan Communications: Bobby Morse / Ben Willey e-mail: Tel: +44 (0)20 7466 5000 RBC Capital Markets: Andrew K Smith / Sarah Wharry e-mail: Tel: +44 (0)20 7653 4804