🕐25.10.12 - 16:54 Uhr
METALLURGICAL TEST WORK COMMENCES ON NEW FLOWSHEET FOR ESAASE GOLD PROJECT
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Re: News Release - Thursday, October 25, 2012
Metallurgical Test Work Commences on New Flowsheet for Esaase
Gold Project
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Highlights:
.Metallurgical test work designed to optimize the flotation flowsheet
will form an integral part of the current Pre-Feasibility Study
.Test work will be completed on higher average grade material recently
announced in the upgraded resource statement
.Test work designed to substantially reduce project design and
operational risks
.Test work to confirm earlier metallurgical work which indicated high
gold recoveries, substantially lower up front capital and significant
environmental advantages
Vancouver, British Columbia, October 25, 2012: Keegan Resources Inc.
(TSX and NYSE MKT: KGN - "Keegan" or the "Company") is pleased to
announce that an integrated metallurgical test work program on the new
Esaase flowsheet has commenced at Amdel Mineral Laboratories, Perth,
Western Australia.
The results from this program are integral to the
final metallurgical design input parameters that will be needed for the
completion of the recently commenced Pre-Feasibility Study ("PFS").
The
PFS is due for completion in the first quarter of 2013.
Keegan has issued a number technical News Releases in the past two
months.
The first related to the re-examination of the development
options for the Esaase gold project (refer to Keegan News Release dated
September 6, 2012).
This release described a new flowsheet using
flotation technology resulting in lower capital costs and environmental
advantages.
The second release reported a substantially upgraded
Mineral Resource Estimate ("MRE") which showed a 57% increase in the
Esaase gold grades whilst increasing Measured and Indicated gold ounces
by 5% (refer Keegan News Release dated October 10, 2012).
Based on these releases Keegan has now embarked on an extensive
metallurgical testing program at Amdel Mineral Laboratories designed to
confirm the following:
.Earlier and extensive metallurgical test work showed that the Esaase
ore body is amenable to recovery via the use of flotation.
.Examination of those results showed that this flowsheet could be further
optimised through grind optimization tests, free gold recovery, flotation
reagents suites and residence time in the float and leach plants.
.Having recently upgraded the MRE it is clear that the expected float
results could improve as the Esaase gold grades are now considerably
higher than previously modelled.
.Extensive tailings characterisation tests will also be completed on the
Esaase material.
The new flowsheet should improve environmental impacts
for the project.
.Part of this program will re-evaluate the CIL flowsheet from previous
work completed by Keegan.
.The sample being used for this test program closely resembles the mine
plan for the first four to five years of production and includes weathered,
transition and fresh ore.
The integrated metallurgical test work program has been designed to run
for the next 12 weeks and should be completed early in 2013, well in
time for the scheduled completion of the on-going PFS.
On Behalf of the Board of Directors,
Peter Breese
President & Chief Executive Officer
About Keegan Resources Inc.
Keegan is a gold development company focussing on near term gold
production at its high grade multi-million ounce Esaase gold project in
Ghana.
The Company offers investors the opportunity to share ownership
in the rapid exploration and development of high quality pure gold
assets.
Keegan is focused on its wholly owned flagship Esaase gold
project (3.83 million ounces of gold in the Measured and Indicated
category with an average grade of 1.73 g/t Au and 1.25 million ounces
of gold in the Inferred category at an average grade of 1.75 g/t Au,
based on a 0.8 g/t Au cut-off) located in Ghana, West Africa; a highly
favourable and prospective jurisdiction.
Managed by highly skilled and
successful technical and financial professionals, the Company is well
financed with no debt.
Keegan is also strongly committed to the highest
standards for environmental management, social responsibility, and
health and safety for its employees and neighbouring communities.
Keegan trades on the TSX and the NYSE MKT under the symbol KGN.
More information about Keegan is available at www.keeganresources.com.
Forward Looking and other Cautionary Information
This release includes certain statements that may be deemed
"forward-looking statements".
All statements in this release, other
than statements of historical facts, that address estimated resource
quantities, grades and contained metals, possible future mining,
exploration and development activities, are forward-looking statements.
Although the Company believes the forward-looking statements are based
on reasonable assumptions, such statements should not be in any way
construed as guarantees of future performance and actual results or
developments may differ materially from those in the forward-looking
statements.
Factors that could cause actual results to differ
materially from those in forward-looking statements include market
prices for metals, the conclusions of detailed feasibility and
technical analyses, lower than expected grades and quantities of
resources, mining rates and recovery rates and the lack of availability
of necessary capital, which may not be available to the Company on
terms acceptable to it or at all.
The Company is subject to the
specific risks inherent in the mining business as well as general
economic and business conditions.
For more information on the Company,
Investors should review the Companys annual Form 20-F filing with the
United States Securities Commission and its home jurisdiction filings
that are available at www.sedar.com.
Neither Toronto Stock Exchange nor the Investment Industry Regulatory
Organization of Canada accepts responsibility for the adequacy or
accuracy of this release.
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Copyright (c) 2012 KEEGAN RESOURCES INC.
(VEN) All rights reserved.
For more information visit our website at
http://www.keeganresources.com/ or send mailto:
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