What happened to all the resources? From the previous operators (SAS) estimate, the numbers are substantially lower. For example, these figures are pulled from SAS on Nov 2006:
Reserve/Resource Estimate from former operator: St. Andrews Goldfields-SAS (Nov10/06):
Proven: 51,500 ( 47k tonnes @ 34.05 g/t)
Probable: 82,230 (137k tonnes @ 18.6)
Total P & P: 133,730
Measured: 27,700 ( 23k t @ 36.8)
Indicated: 87,700 (126k t @ 21.6)
Inferred: 46,300 ( 93k t @ 15.5)
Total MII: 161,700
Total P&P+MII= 295,430
Tailings: 30,000 (160k t @ 7.6 g/t, 83% recovery)
Note that these estimates are before the 2007 and 2008 drilling which looked so impressive. In fact, even with gold prices up substantially, they seem to have lowered the estimate.
In addition, FAU had a previous estimate in an older presentation that was similar (sorry, don't have the date). Here are the estimates from that presentation:
Resource Potential from FAU presentation:
Potential above:113,000 ( 84k t @ 43 g/t)
In the Mine: 188,000 (233k t @ 25 g/t)
Tailings: 30,000 (160k t @ 7.6 g/t, 83% recovery)
Total: 331,000
With this release, FAU is now showing only 203,088 ounces, a drop of over 30%! Are my calculations incorrect, or does anyone have an explanation? I got spooked by these numbers and sold my entire position immediately. I'll wait for answers from the company before deciding whether to buy back in.
Any comments would be appreciated.
