No question that Milestone is developing into a good play.I crunched some numbers to get a rough resource estimate based on the drilling to date. I used the map and cross-section figures to get some geometries and used an average grade of 0.8 g/t based on the nine intercepts released.
http://www.usetdas.com/maps/kodiak/kodiakmap.pdf
http://www.usetdas.com/maps/kodiak/KodiakMilestoneCrossSection.pdf
Using 1500 m length, 30 m width, 150 m depth ( MS09-03), 2.7 t/m3, 0.8 g/t grade I get about 470k oz. But this doesn't matter much unless the economics will justify a mine. I have found a pre-feasibility study done last year for an open pit deposit. Sage signed an earn in deal with Gryphon Gold on the Borealis project. Gryphon has posted a pre-feasibility study on Sedar which we can apply to Milestone. They list proven and probable reserves of about 377k oz with an average grade of 0.79 g/t and grade cut-offs ranging from 0.2 to 0.45 g/t depending on the ore type. The gold price used for the calculations was $ 800/oz. The study concluded their project was economically viable and should proceed. Kodiak has demonstrated the same average grade to date and the potential for a much larger tonnage based on the open strike. I expect the current drilling is probably targeted at extending the strike and proving that the average grades will be maintained. MIlestone could replace Hercules as Kodiak's best project. The current Milestone results should also offset potentially poor results from the Hercules resource estimate(only inferred numbers and less than 500k oz). We'll see how the market reacts during the PDAC presentations next week.
