Resource World Magazine

j u n e / j u l y 2 0 1 4 www.resourceworld.com 45 MINING Good karma at true Gold Mining by Jennifer Getsinger, PhD, PGeo True Gold Mining Inc. [CXN-TSXV] is a development-stage, Canadian mineral exploration company with the goal of becoming an emerging mid-tier producer based on their Karma Gold Project in Burkina Faso, West Africa. A Feasibility Study, announced in December 2013, supports development of a simple operation using a low-cost, open-pit, heap leach process. The Feasibility Study shows a mine life of 8.5 years with a yearly production of 97,000 troy ounces of gold, which could be scaled up with the discovery and development of further explo- ration targets. Highlights from the Karma gold project include probable mineral reserves of 33.2 million tonnes grading 0.89 g/t gold containing an estimated 949,000 ounces. Payback is expected within two years (assumed gold price at US $1,250/oz). With per- mits in place and construction on schedule, a strengthened mine building team on site, and strong metallurgical results (more than 90% gold recovery) in a positive gold mining jurisdiction and excellent infrastructure, the Karma Project is advancing toward producing gold commercially by the end of 2015. West Africa has seen historical gold production for millennia, financing Mediterranean empires for centuries. Artisanal mining as well as modern exploration continue in deeply weathered lat- eritic soil developed over Precambrian basement rocks within the West African Precambrian craton. As in several adjacent countries, Paleoproterozoic Birimian supracrustal rocks in contact with granodioritic intrusions (aged around 2 billion years) contain mesothermal shear-hosted lode gold deposits, particularly at favourable intersections of defor- mational structures such as the Ouahigouya Shear Zone (in the vicinity of the Karma Project). Gold mineralization occurs in asso- ciation with sericite-carbonate-silica hydrothermal alteration and quartz-carbonate-sericite pyrite-arsenopyrite veins, with a clear correlation between gold and arsenic, according to a NI 43-101 technical report (December 2013). Active modern mining work has made Burkina Faso into the fourth largest gold producer in Africa, accounting for 20% of the country's GDP. With gold as its primary export, Burkina Faso has permitted nine gold mining projects in the past eight years. In an area of several well-known gold mining projects, True Gold Mining also holds a 100% interest in the Liguidi Project southeast of the capital, where a gold-in-soil anomaly has been traced for 17 km. However, the almost 900 km 2 land package of the Karma Project remains its most important focus at present. "We believe the Karma property has the potential to be a dis- trict in the making," said Dwayne Melrose, President and CEO of True Gold Mining. "There exists widespread potential for resource growth across the property, which could significantly add to the base-case scenario outlined in our Feasibility Study. The 1.7 million ounces of gold we recently added at North Kao (47.8 million tonnes inferred at 1.1 g/t gold), which is currently undergoing a scoping study, is a perfect example of the potential to build new resources into the Karma Mine plan for a phased development approach." In 2014, True Gold is launching an expanded $5.6 million explo- ration program designed to add new targets and thus additional resource definition to the known ore. Five pits have been identified as mining locations already, among about 40 known gold showings. On the Karma property there are three major gold trends, structur- ally controlled by intersecting fault zones. The Kao gold trend is at least 10 km long and remains open, with 410,000 ounces, and the Golden Arch is 28 km long and 3 km wide, containing some 539,000 ounces of gold. Both figures represent probable leachable reserves to date. The third trend is called the Rounga Domain, and consists of multiple northeast trending shear zones associated with a regional structure prospective for gold. True Gold Mining was named a leader in corporate social responsibility among 100 of the largest junior exploration, devel- opment and production companies by MacCormick International Mining Consultancy. True Gold was ranked No.2 overall and received top-level honours in local community development, con- sultation, local employment, monitoring and evaluation, and code of conduct. The company is making positive efforts in training, health and safety, maintaining cultural heritage, and community devel- opment. One project that may have a long-lasting impact is the building of a year-round fresh water reservoir called a barrage, currently being constructed at Karma Project site. True Gold Mining's Karma property seems to be well named. n An RC drill rig at the North Kao deposit where True Gold recently defined a new resource estimate, doubling the in-pit leachable ounces at the adjacent Kao deposit, the largest of five deposits currently in the Karma mine plan. Photo courtesy True Gold Mining Inc.

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