Has this (very promising) article already been mentioned here? Guess not....
Sams Reef is under a re-evaluation Ross Louthean 24 September 2010
A slumbering giant on the South Island will be prodded some more before owner OceanaGold Corporation (ASX, NZX & TSX: OGC) makes a decision on its progress.
OceanaGold has a team undertaking a review and sampling work on the Sams Creek gold deposit in the North West Nelson region.
The Mineral Resources of New Zealand database (produced by NZResources.com) shows the deposit has an inferred 13.5 million tonnes grading 1.78 grams/tonne for a contained 770,000 ounces of gold.
The companys chief operating officer for New Zealand, Mark Cadzow, said that a report on the Sams Creek study should be provided before the end of this year.
He would not speculate on the potential outcome but it is known to this writer that at various times the project has been placed on the market for sale or joint venture and, with the strong gold price, the company has received overtures recently.
Sams Creek was a discovery by CRA Exploration which was an exploration arm of Rio Tinto and it was sold to a corporate forerunner of Oceana in the package that included the Reefton goldfield.
About 10 years ago a concerted exploration programme was carried out that dramatically lifted the deposits resources but the programme was put in mothballs to allow the company to focus on commissioning the Globe-Progress open cut at Reefton.
Without any additions it is now the largest undeveloped gold resource in New Zealand. The deposit is excised from a national park.
