ERL 97 Annual report to 18 September 1993

Abstract

Exploration completed on ERL 97 during this report year consisted of diamond and RC drilling of the resource, exploration drilling testing the extensions to the mineralisation, metallurgical, ground water and geotechnical test work, excavation of a small test slot and rehabilitation. Exploration to date on ERL 97 has indicated a substantial gold resource in the top 50 meters from the surface. The mineralisation has a known strike length of approximately 1.1 km and is from 10 to 20 meters in width. Preliminary metallurgical, ground water and geotechnical test work gave positive results. Due to the good results obtained by the exploration drilling and the test slot excavation, Northern Gold intends to conduct a trial mining operation in 1993-1994. This will involve the excavation of two test pits to 50 meters in depth to access approximately 100,000 tonnes of ore grade mineralisation. The object of the test pits are to test the continuity at depth of the mineralisation both down dip and along strike, to better understand the structural and geological controls on the mineralisation, to better understand the physical constraints on mining processes and to collect large ore parcels for treatment for grade determination. The timing of the mining of the pits is still to be determined. Information gained by this operation will determine the feasibility of a larger operation. Additional to the trial mining there will be further drilling of the deposit, metallurgical test work on the ore, and other associated programs to advance the status of the project.