Semafo up 4% after tracing new trend over 10 kilometers in Niger

Semafo Inc (TSX:SMF) added 4% on Tuesday on higher than usual trading volumes, after announcing a promising new mineralized zone  close to its  Samira Hill mine in Niger, West Africa.

According to the Montreal-based company, the Tondé Boubangou Horizon (TBH) is “located 20 kilometers north of the Samira Hill processing plant and has been traced over a distance of 10 kilometers along strike. Results to date have returned values of up to 1.48 g/t Au across 43 meters. Recent core drilling and geological observations suggest that the TBH could have a geological environment similar to the main Samira Horizon, which hosts all of the known gold deposits mined to date on the property.”

By early afternoon the miner was trading up 4% at $5.46  on the Toronto big board, after earlier spiking to $5.65. The mining sector was generally positive on the day with the TSX S&P Global Mining index up 0.71%.  The counter is still showing losses for 2012  – it is down 17% year to date.

The $1.5 billion company  currently operates three gold mines: the Mana Mine in Burkina Faso, the Samira Hill Mine in Niger and the Kiniero Mine in Guinea.

Semafo expects production of between 235,000 and 260,000 ounces of gold for its current financial year.