ramelius hits high grades at depth....roll on, page-8

Australia's Richest Mines:

Ramelius hits 718gpt gold
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Thursday, 12 August 2010
Kristie Batten

RAMELIUS Resources has posted bonanza gold hits of up to 718 grams per tonne gold at its flagship Wattle Dam underground mine and is expecting a huge increase in profits for the 2010 financial year.

The hits are particularly significant for the company, as they are 100m below the current underground mining operation and represent a repetition of the high-grade lode currently being mined.

Drilling returned intercepts including 3m at 15.5gpt gold uncut from 139m, 8m at 91.2gpt gold uncut from 155m including 1m at 698gpt gold, 15m at 27.3gpt gold uncut from 159m including 0.5m at 718gpt gold, and 9m at 18.4gpt gold uncut from 167m including 2m at 58.4gpt gold.

The current drilling campaign will continue to focus on the new high-grade zone.

Meanwhile, Ramelius said its unaudited consolidated profit before tax for the 2010 financial year is expected to jump to $A28.7 million from $7.1 million last year.

Before a $9.1 million write down in capitalised exploration costs, the unaudited consolidated profit before tax is expected to be a record $37.8 million.

The result is thanks to a 273% jump in gold production for the year to 60,780 ounces after mining moved from open pit to underground.

Gold sales jumped 194% to $58.2 million and the debt-free Eastern Goldfields producer had $94.3 million cash at the end of June.

Shares in Ramelius jumped 10.4% or 4.5c to 47.5c.