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OceanaGold begins Macraes underground ore production
12 June 2007 - OceanaGold Ltd’s Frasers underground development at its Macraes project in Otago has begun producing ore as it readies for commissioning by the end of 2007.
In its March quarter report OceanaGold said it had begun initial stoping in April in the Frasers underground mine, with ore production of 94,121 tonnes almost doubling expected output.
Underground development continued on schedule with development progressing to a total of 2692 metres. Ground conditions were better than expected during initial stope panel development.
Face sampling for each development face has shown better than expected results in the main decline and the vent decline. This is due to the development occurring at the top of the hanging wall shear where gold grades in the ore body are higher.
OceanaGold said it had also begun a five-hole diamond drilling exploration programme at the Golden Point extension area at Macraes to test the potential to host a new underground mineralised panel.
One full drill hole (RCD4892) was completed in the quarter which intersected the mineralized hanging wall at 294.5 metres comprising a 7 metre wide zone of quartz cataclasite and lode schist (similar to previous drilling in area). Assay results confirm mineralisation at a grade consistent with previous mineralisation in the immediate vicinity.
Source: OceanaGold
