OceanaGold Celebrates
MEDIA STATEMENT 3 July 2007
OceanaGold Celebrates the Commissioning of its Globe Progress Mine
OceanaGold Corporation (OceanaGold) today celebrated the commissioning of its Globe Progress Mine at its Reefton Gold Project with an official opening ceremony in Reefton, attended by some well known locals, including; the Hon Harry Duynhoven – Minister for Mines, the Hon Damien O’Connor – Minister of Tourism, Rural Affairs and Corrections, Major Martin Sawyer – Buller Mayor, members of the local Iwi and descendants of the original Globe miners.
The Globe Progress Mine is situated on the west coast of New Zealand’s South Island. It comprises four open pits; Globe Progress, General Gordon, Empress and Souvenir; and a 1.0 Mtpa crushing, grinding and flotation plant which creates the gold concentrate that is sent by rail to the Macraes pressure oxidation plant for final processing into gold.
The mine is expected to produce approximately 50,000 ounces of gold in 2007 at a cash cost of US$406 per ounce then 82,000 ounces in 2008 at a cash cost of US$252 per ounce. Based on current reserves, the Reefton project is expected to recover approximately 455,000 ounces of gold over 7 years. Exploration is ongoing to convert a portion of the additional 1.1 million ounces of current resources to reserves to extend mine life.
OceanaGold currently employs 147 people in the Reefton area; 47 directly and 100 through contracting firms, which include Stracon Mining.
OceanaGold’s CEO, Stephen Orr commented “The commissioning of Globe Progress takes OceanaGold from a single to a multi mine site producer. With two more development projects underway and on schedule, the company’s production will increase from 182,000 gold ounces in 2006 to approximately 500,000 gold-equivalent ounces per year in 2009. “
OceanaGold is listed on the TSX, ASX and NZX under ticker symbol “OGC”.
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