Canada-based junior exploration company Helio Resource Corp in March reported that it had received an updated National Instrument 43-101-compliant mineral resource estimate for its SMP gold project, in Tanzania, from industry consultants Snowden Mining.

The purpose of the mineral resource estimate was to estimate new mineral resources at the project’s Konokono and Gap deposits and update previous estimates for the Kenge, Mbenge, Porcupine and Snakebite deposits, where additional drilling and updated resource estimation methodologies have been applied.

“The SMP mineral resource indication gives us much greater confidence in the quality of the resource estimation and puts us in the position to advance the project to a production decision through a feasibility study.

“It is our belief that current market conditions favour projects that can supply high-grade process feed material, resulting in low unit costs, with modest upfront capital requirement. We believe that SMP presents such an opportunity,” Helio CEO Richard Williams says.

He adds: “The results from the Porcupine and Konokono drillholes reinforce our view that the SMP project resource base will continue to grow. This drilling, along with the high-grade mineralisation identified at the gap target announced in January, demonstrates the potential to add near-surface and higher-grade underground resources.”

The SMP Gold Project
The SMP gold project is located in the Lupa Goldfield of south-west Tanzania, and is adjacent to the New Luika gold mine, operated by Aim-listed company Shanta Gold. New Luika has a Joint Ore Reserves Committee-compliant probable reserve of 4.950-million tons grading 4.33 g/t of gold.

On February 3, 2014, Shanta Gold released a resource calculation from the Kenge and Porcupine resource areas that focused on the higher-grade resources of the project.

At 1 g/t gold cutoff, the resource reported 9.45-million tons grading 2.1 g/t of gold and a further 3.62-million tons grading 1.5 g/t of gold inferred. The resource work also looked at the potential for higher-grade ounces with potential for underground mining.