TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Gold miner Belo Sun Mining has increased the measured and indicated resources at its Volta Grande gold project, in Para state, Brazil, by about 10% after completing the latest round of drilling.

This updated mineral resource, which was based on results from 94 additional drill holes, or 22 595 m of drilling, and which built on the April mineral resource, contained measured and indicated pit-constrained resources of 5.1-million, grading 1.68 g/t on average.

The inferred pit-constrained resources totalled 2.4-million ounces at an average grade of 1.69 g/t gold.

The deposit has an underground resource of about 14 000 oz of gold at an average grade of 3.01 g/t in the indicated category and 184 000 oz at an average grade of 3.33 g/t gold in the inferred category.

In response to the findings of the prefeasibility study (PFS), two higher-grade domains were modelled on the basis of geological interpretation and grade continuity. The modelled high-grade zones could be traced for 540 m along strike from the surface to a depth of 300 m.

The company said this approach restricted the spatial influence of the higher grade gold mineralisation, providing for a slightly more conservative resource model, while mitigating the risks associated with the local impact of high-grade intervals.

The two high-grade zones contain about 424 000 oz of gold at a grade of 3.09 g/t gold in the measured and indicated categories and 1 400 oz of gold at a grade of 2.52 g/t gold in the inferred category.

"This mineral resource update represents an increase in the measured and indicated category of one-million ounces of gold, when compared with the December 2012 mineral resource update, which was used as the basis of the May PFS.

“[The] Belo Sun team is currently using the current mineral resource estimate in the modelling and mine sequencing for the ongoing definitive feasibility study,” president and CEO Mark Eaton said.