# Georgian Mining Corporation 2018 Technical Work Program at Kvemo Bolnisi Au-Cu Project

- Link: https://www.directorstalkinterviews.com/georgian-mining-corporation-2018-technical-work-program-kvemo-bolnisi-au-cu-project/412757180
- Published: 2018-08-24T07:25:46+01:00
- Author: Giles Arbor

**Georgian Mining Corporation** (LON:GEO) announced today a progress report on technical
work being carried out on the Kvemo Bolnisi East gold-copper project, in preparation
for resource infill and development drilling, infrastructure sterilisation drilling,
and commencement of the feasibility study.

> **Mike Struthers, Georgian Mining Corporation Chief Executive Officer said:** “
> Whilst we wait for the approvals for the exploration permits, I am pleased that
> our team in Bolnisi is using its time constructively to prepare for the work ahead.
> The recent work has been updating pit optimisations at KBE and developing new 
> concepts for layouts of surface facilities and haulage routes to the processing
> facilities at the neighbouring operations. These have all been done internally
> and are particularly interesting as we are now starting to see what the future
> KBE operation will actually look like. And all of this is also contributing to
> the future work programme.
> “In respect of the exploration permits, the Company has recently held meetings
> at senior levels with Government to highlight our application and the urgency 
> to have this resolved. Given the excellent support that we have in Government 
> circles for the Company and our application, we remain very confident that we’ll
> get the positive news we are seeking and will be able to re-start work soon.
> “I want to thank our existing shareholders for their considerable patience while
> we strive to resolve this situation.”

The focus of the recent work has been on:

A resource model review and modelling training for increased in-house capabilities

Much of the resource modelling and estimation work for the Company in the past has
been done externally, but there are significant advantages in terms of the creative
processes and quality control if a large component of this can be done in-house,
whilst still maintaining independent review and Competent Person sign-off for any
formal resource updates or other material reporting. Recent training in geological
modelling of the targeted low sulphidation epithermal systems and in resource modelling
and estimation have resulted in a team who are now able to fully utilise their knowledge
of the mineralised system in producing a more robust and flexible resource model
suitable for engineering optimisation.

The KBE mineralised system has been reviewed in detail and work is now extending
to introduce geo-metallurgical factors into resource models.

All of the above allows the upcoming infill drilling to be optimised for maximum
benefit to improve model confidence in preparation for mine optimisation and feasibility
studies.

An in-house engineering review of the KBE project, including pit optimisation and
production scheduling sensitivity studies.

The technical team based in Bolnisi has been further strengthened by the addition
of an experienced Georgian mining engineer with strong regional and international
experience on resources, reserves and planning studies in these types of projects.

In-house engineering expertise enables the Company to accelerate production planning
and scheduling scenarios designed to:

· Increase understanding of the anticipated project footprint as a base for mineral
inventories used for initial pit optimisations, including production scheduling 
and sensitivity studies.

· Develop concepts for the future operation in terms of on- and off-site infrastructure
required, most notably the haul road from KBE to the Madneuli plant. This improves
estimations of costs, and ensures the ESIA covers all aspects of the operation in
line with international best practice.

· Understand the potential scale of the project as a combined gold oxide/copper 
sulphide open pit, including future-proofing for potential upside from resource 
expansions following the planned infill and KB exploration drilling.

· Optimise the design of infill and infrastructure sterilisation drilling for a 
range of possible open pit scenarios based on input sensitivities.

Developing concepts for pit designs and surface infrastructure in parallel with 
the infill drilling programme and in advance of the Feasibility Study will ensure
the latter is well designed and future-proofed for the expected size of operation.
It also allows other investigatory work to be carried out as early in the project
development schedule.

Interesting observations from the studies to date:

· An important aspect of the planning and review process has been to confirm how
the oxide gold material at surface best adds value to then allow expanded open pits
on the primary copper-gold material.

· The vertical control on the primary copper-gold sulphides tends to create discrete
open pits to extract each mineralised “core” but this provides focus for drill testing
of potential mineralisation between the vertical structures which will support expanded
mining scenarios.

· Resource expansion on the KBE prospect has shown that the operation rapidly increases
in size and scale with targeted drilling confirming the geological model.

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