For the Q4 and year ended August 31st 2011 Vatukoula Gold Mines plc reported gold sold was 12,066 ounces and 53,461 ounces respectively.
Underground ore delivered increased by 40% compared to the previous year to 336,085 tonnes and increased to 91,753 tonnes in the Q4 as compared to the Q3 of 2011. Underground development for the fourth 3 quarter was 6,751 meters up from 6,349 meters achieved in the Q3.
On an annual basis, underground development for the year was 24,453 meters up from 8,720 meters achieved in the previous year. These significant increases are the result of an on going development program. As a result of the continued development program, roughly 42% of the ore mined in the quarter was sourced from development drives.
The total cost per ton of ore mined and milled reduced from USD 166 per tonne in the third quarter to USD 128 per tonne in the Q4. For the year ended August 2011, the cost per tonne increased to USD 144 tonne from USD 101 per tonne in the previous year, reflecting an increase in underground tonnages mined and milled as a percentage of the total ore processed, and an increase in underground mining costs.
On October 12th 2011, VGM announced the discovery of Baron d'Este a new high grade ore zone at the Vatukoula Mine. This is the first new discovery of a new high grade ore zone at Vatukoula since the discovery of the Prince William ore zone in the 1980's. The Baron d'Este discovery is contained within the current Mining Leases and is approximately 300 meters north of current mine workings.
The three holes drilled targeting this ore zone were completed between the beginning of August 2011 and the end of September 2011 and consisted of a total of 3,116 metres. All three holes intersected mineralized structures with the most significant composite intersections being 124.7 grams of gold per tonne over 0.46 meters; 33.6 grams of gold per tonne over 2.86 meters; 25.46 grams of gold per tonne over 1.07 meters and 39 grams of gold per tonne over 0.48 meters.
Canadian Zinc currently holds 12.57 million shares of VGM, which represents approximately 14% of VGM’s issued share capital. VGM is a UK company listed on AIM which currently owns and operates the Vatukoula Gold Mine located in Fiji. The investment in VGM was acquired during 2009 and represents 100% of the total market value of CZN’s marketable securities at September 30th 2011 of USD 15.7 million. The market value of the Company’s investment in VGM at November 2nd 2011 was USD 15.7 million.
