COMMODITIES

AMESMESSA

The sheltering desert slowly giving it up

While understanding of the deposit develops,

production at the Amesmessa gold mine in Algeria
increased every month of the final quarter of 2008 as a
result of streamlining of explosives supplies.
GMA

roduction figures for the
quarter October to Decem-
ber 2008 are in line with the
board’s expectations and reflect
the deliveries of commercial quanti-
ties of explosives during November
and December 2008. The supply of
explosives was the primary factor
which depressed production up un-
til December 2008. The shortage of
explosives during 2008 had forced
GMA to concentrate on free-dig and
softer rock, which had a negative im-
pact on the grade of material mined.
Production should now increase to
commercial production levels over
the coming months. Three ship-
ments of 80, 165 and 150 tonnes of
explosives were delivered to Ames-
messa in November and December
and regular monthly shipments are
expected during 2009.
Annual production for Amesmessa
for 2008 was 21 156 oz of gold and
New results are changing the
way we look at the deposit
from a narrow vein system to a
kilometre-wide, mineralised zone
over the entire 80 km
3 748 oz of silver. The reported sil-
ver production for August 2008, as
announced on 7 October 2008, was
290 oz. This production figure was in-
correct and the correct lower figure of
ABOVE Doug Perkins is confident that the
company has put operational difficulties
behind and plan to have production on
target going forward. Cash operating cost
is expected to be US$471 /oz in 2009
136 oz is reflected in the annual figure
above.
Douglas Perkins, chief executive of-
ficer of GMA, said, “The production re-
sults at Amesmessa are ramping up as
a result of explosives deliveries. We ex-
pect this to continue in 2009. We con-
tinue to work on supply chain issues
and cash flow issues in Algeria; how-
ever, both are improving with produc-
tion increases and we expect to reach
steady state production and design ca-
pacity by the end of the first quarter in
2009. The ore continues to leach well

10
10 Inside Mining 02/09
 COMMODITIES

BELOW Individual quartz veins consist of plunging lenses and usually include
shoots of higher gold grade material. The gold mineralisation occurs in the quartz
veins and the metasomatite, in zones that can be continuous for more than one
kilometre on strike and exhibit a width varying from 1 to 12 m

Amesmessa Production for 2008

Jan Feb March April May June July Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Total
Production gold (oz) 1 196 1 929 2 781 2 000 1 327 1 303 1 974 1 404 1 950 1 205 1 550 2 537 21 156
Production silver (oz) 160 316 449 335 354 164 488 136 350 233 293 465 3 748

and we are now able to mine more effi-

ciently with the commercial quantities
of explosives.” The project needs ap-
proximately 120 tpm of explosives to
mine at its full production rate in the
parts of the orebody needed to achieve
the planned grade, a level of delivery
that is now being achieved with some
surplus for inventory build. Sustained
mining on this basis, combined with
the heap-leach reaching its planned
recovery rate of 72%, will yield produc-
tion of 5 000 oz per month of gold.

More good news

GMA
Productions for the quarter being on
target must obviously be good news for
a junior gold miner operating in a juris-
Project Location Tonnage Grade Au Metal
diction which can best be described as
(Tonnes) (g/t Au) (oz x 1,000)
tough-going; however, that is not the
only good news trickling GMA’s way Derregh 14 km S of Tirek 180 000 7,2 42
lately. In Allarene Nord 22 km S of Tirek 195 000 9,7 60
The company had to delay explora-
In Allarene Sud 27 km S of Tirek 30 000 9,8 9
tion due to cash constraints and chal-
lenging operating conditions but lately Timeg Nord 25 km N of Amesmessa 90 000 6,2 18
results coming in from expanded ex- Lardjane 20 km N of Amesmessa 140 000 16,9 76
ploration efforts are returning many
Bouadjla 15 km N of Amesmessa 240 000 8,0 62
new veins in known areas previously
thought barren. Perkins says, “New re- Zone I 8 km N of Amesmessa 30 000 6,8 7
sults are changing the way we look at Zone II 10 km N of Amesmessa 5 000 7,1 1
the deposit from a narrow vein system
TOTAL 910 000 9,4 275
to a kilometre-wide, mineralised zone
over the entire 80 km.” Reported in-situ ORGM resources (C1+C2) at Zita (1999).
Perkins adds, “We are beginning to
understand the deposit now and it is Regional geological setting A series of N-S trending faults, with
very different from what everybody en- The concession is located in the south- accompanying smaller E-W dextral
visaged – the historic model is wrong or western aspect of the large complex faulting and occasional gabbroic/gra-
at best incomplete.” As GMA continues Archaean Tuareg Shield, covering part nitic pods and lenses are associated
a systematic and detailed exploration of a large N-S trending shear zone, with this zone of shearing and associ-
effort over the entire concession the known as the In Ouzzal Deformation ated deformation. The faulting is fre-
true picture is becoming clearer – time Zone (IODZ), this zone is thought to be quently associated with quartz vein-
and good winds also help to coax more several hundred kilometres in length, ing, and dependent on the setting, as-
information from the shifting sands of ranging in thickness from several hun- sociated metamorphism of host rock,
the sweltering desert. dred metres to 1 to 2 km. namely mylonite and gabbro.

Inside Mining 02/09 11

11
COMMODITIES

BELOW GMA Resources has released a production update, showing December production
at its 52%-owned Amesmessa gold project at 2 537 oz. This is the highest monthly
production figure to date. Production increased every month of the final quarter of 2008

associated secondary enrichment in

the altered wall rock; the mineralised
2537 zone therefore ends up being of the
December 465 order several metres (3 to 10 m) in
width. The veins strike N-S, dipping
1550 steeply (65 to 70⁰) to the west. The
293 northern deposits consist of quartz-
November hosted mineralisation with little to
1205 no secondary enrichment in the wall
rock (resultant mineralised zone 30
October 233 Gold(Oz) to 50 cm thickness at Tirek, while up
Silver(Oz) to a few metres further to the south);
the orientation and dip of veins in
0 1000 2000 3000
this area of the deposit are thought
to be more complicated with greater
Mineralisation and those of the northern (Tirek) variation in dip. However, a NNE-
The concession can be roughly split deposits. SSW strike and westerly dip is the
into two styles of mineralisation, that The southern deposits consist of norm. Dextral faulting is quite appar-
of the southern deposits (Amesmessa), quartz-hosted mineralisation with ent, with noticeable offset of veins.

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Inside Mining 02/09
 COMMODITIES

BELOW GMA can potentially turn its concession from a single operation at
Amesmessa into a mining camp comprising several gold mines in time, not to
mention the opportunities to the north and south

GMA in a nutshell

430000 mE

450000 mE

470000 mE
GMA owns a controlling 52% stake in
Indice-02 DJAZAIRIA
ENOR spa, the Algerian-based operating
Indice-03
company for the Amesmessa project, with Indice-04
the remainder owned by Sonatrach, the Indice-05
ZHW1
Algerian state-owned oil and gas company. Indice-06
Indice-08
ENOR holds the exploitation authorisation Indice-09 ZHW2
to the Tirek-Amesmessa property, an area
of some 1 417 km2, located approximately
450 km south west of the city of Taman-
380000 mN
7,5(.
rasset, in southern Algeria. Amesmessa is Indice-18
Indice-22
an open-pit heap-leach gold mine located in CHAMP-A
the extreme south of the permit area. The
DERREG-N 

Tirek gold mine is located in the northern IN OUZZAL

third of the exploration permit area, some
DERREG-S
60 km north of Amesmessa.
GMA Resources remains the only gold
miner in the country that has taken a
deposit to production and invested heavily IN ALARENE-N
in capital to build an operating mine. The
company’s shares are listed on the London 360000 mN

Stock Exchange Alternative market (AIM)

with the code GMA. Mirabaud Securities IN ALARENE-S
Limited valued GMA in January 2009 at
TIMEG
9,1p – a 384% premium to the share price
at the time of 1,88 p.
Iraldiouine LARDJANE
Indice-40
Timeg II S
Visible gold is more prevalent in these BOUADJILA
deposits.
340000 mN

Mysterious Zita ZONE-A I & II

Research to date suggests that the
Zita zone, which lies between Tirek AMESMESSA-N
and Amesmessa, offers considerable
potential for the development of ad-
ditional prospects amenable to open- Gold deposits and showings $0(60(66$
DDH and trenches
pit mining. GMA plans to expand Early exploration stage AMESMESSA-S
upon resources outside of the major Trenches (125VSD
Gold mine
80 km north-south Tirek-Amesmessa
Mining works Date:23/6/2007 TIREK - AMESMESSA
fault and other exploration targets 320000 mN Mineralized spot Author: J.-F. SAUVAGE

Office: Tirek
Map showing gold deposits
and prospects

on the property. The zone between Concession limits (new) Drawing:

Scale: 1:300000 Projection: UTM Zone 31, Northern Hemisphere (WGS 84)
GMA

Tirek and Amesmessa, referred to as 0 2.5 5 10

ZITA, contains a large number of gold kilometres

deposits and showings hosted in the

mylonite of the In Ouzzal deformation
zone.
They have only been partially in-
vestigated by trenching and limited
follow-up drilling by the ORGM. Only
98 core holes totalling 10 314 m and
811 trenches for 6 890 m have been
completed on a zone extending over
60 km along the prospective IODZ. developed on the basis of the ORGM
Consequently, a vast potential remains work. Most of the resources for the
to develop some of those prospects in ZITA zone have been estimated by the
the ZITA zone and to delineate lower- ORGM and are categorised under the
grade, heap-leachable ore that could Russian reporting system. Some of
be rapidly mined in shallow trenches these are likely to be translated into
and open pits. Indeed, a few veins ore reserves by additional sampling
in the ZITA area have already been and drilling.

Inside Mining 02/09 13

13