|
Exploration around the Penjom mine remains the Company’s priority in Malaysia, although there continues to be an active but low-key generative programme. The latter has led us to a number of grass roots targets in East Malaysia which the Company will be pursuing in the next year.
The team has focused exploration efforts in the last year on infill drilling to upgrade the confidence in the resource and facilitate improved life of mine planning. This has been a function of the limited depth capacity of the Company’s RC drilling rig.
The Company has purchased a larger multi-purpose drilling rig capable of drilling to 600 metres that will enable exploration of the deeper parts of the ore body along and beneath the persistent Penjom Thrust where there is significant potential for a future underground mining operation.
During the year, the Company completed 31,270 metres of RC drilling at Penjom and spent a total of US$3.2 million on exploration in Malaysia. The budget for the current year is approximately US$3.5 million which will fund an expanded drill programme at Penjom of over 70,000 metres in addition to district and regional exploration initiatives. The latter are contingent on successfully obtaining tenements over selected target areas.
|
