South Africa police standoff with illegal gold miners escalates
The police sealed off access to the Buffelsfontein gold mine in Stilfontein several weeks ago to deny the miners access to food and other essentials.
Endomines AB announced this week that it has entered into an assignment and assumption agreement to acquire, for $200,000, the Friday open-pit mine lease for the Friday mine from NexGen Mining (OTCPK: NXGM).
“With the addition of the open pit rights, Endomines has now completed the consolidation of the Friday mining rights,” said Greg Smith, the company’s CEO, in a media statement. “[This] represents another step toward our goal of producing 40,000 oz Au per year.”
The 2,720-acre Friday project is located 10 miles to the south-southwest of Elk City in the Orogrande Mining District of central Idaho
According to Smith, the Friday open-pit will provide high-grade ounces surrounding Friday’s current infrastructure, which increases his firm’s exploration and gold production opportunities in the Orogrande mining district.
“By consolidating this land position, we look forward to conducting regional exploration in an area with known mineralization spanning 40 kilometres,” the executive said.
Friday is a high-grade, open-pit gold project representing the mineralization encompassing and surrounding the Friday underground mine located in Idaho and already owned by Endomines.
According to the Finnish firm, the open-pit project has a historical indicated resource totaling 647,000 ounces of gold contained in 20.1 million tonnes of mineralized material, as well as an additional inferred resource of 590,000 ounces of gold in contained in 20.8 million tonnes of mineralized material.
