Golld play
y a 'co
ompa
any maker'
Peter Ke
er
June 16, 2011
Crusader Resources' prrayers may hav
ve been answe
ered. Photo: Pe
eter Ker
THE abandoned churcch in the middle of Crusaderr Resources' Brazilian
B
gold play has not hheld Mass for years, yet
est this place is anything bu
ut godforsaken
n.
the latestt results sugge
The resource estimate for the Borbo
orema gold pro
oject was dram
matically upgra
aded yesterdaay, helping to lift
Crusaderr's share price
e by 19 per cen
nt.
The company, whose Brazilian
B
foray
y has been led
d by Melbourn
ne geologist Ro
ob Smakman,, had been hoping its
borema would climb above 1 million ounc
ces.
resource figure at Borb
ay's upgrade more
m
than doubled its foreca
ast to 1.86 milllion ounces off inferred and indicated gold
d,
Yesterda
prompting
g Mr Smakma
an to declare the project - in
n north-eastern
n Brazil - a ''co
ompany makeer''.
''We see that number as
a being a rea
al key,'' he said
d.
mate could imp
prove further in coming mon
nths, with exploration contin
nuing on all siddes of the ore body and
The estim
the resultts from a furth
her 10,000 metres of drilling yet to be considered.
The company has been rapidly acqu
uiring territory around Borbo
orema - from nine
n
square killometres to more than
1200 squ
uare kilometres in six month
hs - and Mr Sm
makman said the
t company would
w
focus oon accelerating
g the
project.
anging hands at
a $1 before th
he upgrade, C
Crusader share
es rose to $1.3
30 yesterday bbefore closing
g at $1.19
After cha
on a day when severall ASX gold sto
ocks sustained
d falls.
Borborem
ma has passed
d through seve
eral sets of ha
ands over the decades, inclu
uding those off Brazil's riche
est man,
Eike Batista.
nces of gold w
were taken outt in the 1980s,, Crusader bellieves a big op
pen-cut
While sevveral hundred thousand oun
expansio
on is needed to
o tap into the best
b
of the de posit.
Mine con
nstruction, which is likely to swallow
s
up the
pected to costt more than $1
100
e abandoned church, is exp
million if a
approved, and
d a definitive feasibility
f
stud y (DFS) could
d be completed
d by the first qquarter of nextt year. A
successfu
ul DFS could result in the first gold being poured in the
e first quarter of
o 2013.
Mr Smakkman said a minor
m
adjustme
ent to an enviro
onmental perm
mit was still re
equired, but thee biggest challenge
would be
e to secure a water
w
supply fo
or the mine.
The author attended a briefing at Bo
orborema. Travvel costs were
e covered by Crusader
C
Resoources.
ore: http://www
w.theage.com.au/business/g
gold-play-a-co
ompany-makerr-20110615Read mo
1g3tg.htm
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