Central Rand Gold

Source: Energy Digital

Date :06/05/2008 15:32:30

Central Rand Gold is still in its prospecting phase but by 2009 its mining operations should be up and running. Exec reports

Written by Jane Fisher and Produced by Alex Smith

Central Rand Gold (CRG) is looking for 20 good years of mining from the programme it hopes to see up and running in 2009, according to CEO Gregory James. The company, which was formed to re-establish commercial gold mining activities in the Central Rand Goldfield of Johannesburg, is currently still in its prospecting phase but aims to have up to 15 production units in operation by 2012, manned by a total workforce of some 4,000 employees.

“We will initially start mining in three different areas in 2009,” James explains. “We hope to be mining 250,000 ounces a year by 2010. “Production will then be built up from approximately 100,000 ounces in 2009 to more than a million in 2012.”

CRG is the holding company for a group of companies engaged in gold mining and exploration. It currently operates gold prospecting operations in two main areas - the historic gold mining area of the Central Rand Goldfield, which lies to the south of the Johannesburg Central Business District, known as the 3Cs (Consolidated Main Reef, Crown Mines and City Deep), and Langlaagte, the farm where gold was first discovered in the Witwatersrand in 1886 by Australian prospector George Harrison.

Significant exploration

The company has consolidated a number of significant exploration permits covering some 730 square kilometers in the most prolific gold producing area of the world, the Central Rand Goldfield.

“The company’s aim is to ultimately bring back commercial gold mining activities in the Central Rand Goldfield by using modern exploration, development and production techniques,” says James. CRG has a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange and a secondary listing on the JSE Securities Exchange. Its operating prospecting subsidiary Central Rand Gold South Africa is 26 percent owned by Puno Gold Investments (Proprietary) Limited, a consortium of seven groups, all of which add value not only to the consortium but to the group as well.

Between 1886 and the early 1970s, the Central Rand Goldfield is estimated to have produced some 247 million ounces of gold at a reported average head grade (run-of-mine grade) of 8.2 g/t. Most of the old mines closed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as they were considered uneconomic at the prevailing gold price.

Further exploration

The group came together after identifying the potential for further exploitation of the Central Rand Goldfield in the current gold price environment, using modern exploration, mining and processing technologies.

The group’s exploration drilling programme commenced with one reverse circulation (RC) percussion drill rig, and subsequently expanded to two RC and two diamond drill rigs. The drill lines are located relative to the outcrop of the major reefs of the Central Rand Group. The primary objective of the drilling programme is to determine the near surface potential of areas that may be mined in the near term.

The initial phase of exploration drilling comprised RC drill lines (referred to as ‘line drilling’), on dip, around 600 metres apart. The actual length of the line and the distance apart was dependant on the infrastructure. RC drill holes were spaced 40 metres apart along the lines, drilled at an inclination of 60 degrees to the north, against the dip.

Each hole was 60 metres long and samples were collected at half-metre intervals to provide a better resolution.

By the end of 2007, 28,785 metres of RC drilling had been completed. A further 2,509 metres of soil drilling and 10,389 metres of diamond drill holes had been completed.

During the course of prospecting, the environmental impact of the programme was also been considered.

Discussions were held with local residents and community groups and central Rand Gold is now satisfied that the return of commercial scale mining to the area will be well received.

“The quality of the gold remains the same as it was when drilling first began back in the 1880s,” says James. “We will be selling to the Rand Refineries and expect to see a lifespan of 20 years.

“Everything is currently going according to plan and we look forward to the moment when mining will begin.”

Click here to view the corporate brochure on Central Rand Gold