- 19,750 ounces of gold produced in the fourth quarter of 2012
TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Jan. 14, 2013) - Banro Corporation ("Banro" or the "Company") (TSX:BAA)(NYSE Amex:BAA)(NYSE MKT:BAA) is pleased to provide a gold production update for its Twangiza Gold Mine in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (the "DRC").
Twangiza produced 19,750 ounces of gold for the final quarter of 2012. This was Twangiza's best quarterly performance since start-up, which has enabled management to fully assess the expansion potential, and operational issues required to achieve higher levels of productivity.
A comprehensive upgrade of the metallurgical plant is now underway which in brief includes the introduction of a larger front end crusher, as well as increasing the CIL tank volumes and doubling elution capability. The full expansion exercise is planned to be completed by the end of the third quarter 2013. This will increase throughputs to 1.7Mtpa (425,000t/quarter), which is approximately 68% higher than Q4 2012 and, together with higher recoveries expected to be in the 90% range, unit costs will reduce further to US$500-600/oz.
The Company's fourth quarter production results are as follows:
| | Units | Q4 2012 |
| Total ore mined | Tonnes | 370,361 |
| Total ore milled | Tonnes | 252,220 |
| Head grade | g/t Au | 2.98 |
| Recovery | % | 83 |
| Strip ratio | t:t | 0.92 |
| Gold production | Ounces | 19,750 |
| Average gold price received | US$/ounce | 1,711 |
Given the lower than planned throughput, which will be resolved once the additional tank capacity is added, mining sequences over the past quarter were adjusted to optimise grade delivered to the metallurgical plant. This, and the fact that grade control drilling is demonstrating grades of 7% higher than resource model grades, resulted in the higher than planned head grade of 2.98g/t Au for the period. For similar reasons, the strip ratio for the period increased to 0.92, which was previously in the order of 0.4, has been exaggerated somewhat by the fact that only waste was mined during the periods of downtime.
Year end 2012 financial results will be released on March 26, 2012, followed by an investor conference call on March 27.
Qualified Person
Colin J.S. Belshaw, FIMMM, I.Eng., Banro's Vice President, Operations and a "qualified person" (as such term is defined in National Instrument 43-101), has reviewed and approved the technical information in this press release.
Banro Corporation is a Canadian gold mining company focused on production from the Twangiza oxide mine and development of three additional major, wholly-owned gold projects, each with mining licenses, along the 210 kilometre long Twangiza-Namoya gold belt in the South Kivu and Maniema provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Led by a proven management team with extensive gold and African experience, Banro's plans include the construction of its second gold mine at Namoya, at the south end of this gold belt, as well as the development of two other projects, Lugushwa and Kamituga, in the central portion of the belt. The initial focus of the Company is on oxides, which have a low capital intensity to develop but also attract a lower technical and financial risk to the Company and as such maximize the return on capital and limits the dilution to shareholders as the Company develops this prospective gold belt. All business activities are followed in a socially and environmentally responsible manner.
For further information, please visit our website at www.banro.com.