Etruscan's Youga Gold Mine connects to power grid
posted on
Oct 06, 2009 09:25AM
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HALIFAX, Oct. 6 /CNW/ - Etruscan Resources Inc. (EET.TSX) reported today that its Youga Gold Mine located in Burkina Faso, West Africa is now receiving grid electrical power from the Société Nationale d'Electricité du Burkina (SONABEL) in partnership with the Ghanaian power utility, the Volta River Authority (VRA). The connection to the northern grid in Ghana provides the mine with a stable, lower cost power supply and places the existing diesel generator power supply units into the backup role for which they were designed. The initial unit rate for grid power is US$0.13/kwh compared to US$0.33/kwh for the diesel generated power. This represents a substantial operating cost savings ranging from US$250,000 to US$350,000 per month when compared to the on-site diesel generated power supply previously used at the mine. << Stephen Stine, Chief Operating Officer of Etruscan, stated: "Connection to grid power is a significant operational improvement to the mine which ensures a more reliable, lower cost power supply. The on-site diesel generators were designed to be a backup power supply source, not the primary power supply. Consequently, reliability had decreased over time resulting in disruptions to the operations. Etruscan's operational team can focus now on continuing to improve gold production without the distraction of an unreliable power supply." >> Monthly production at the Youga Gold Mine continues to perform, with September production of 6,600 ounces from 75,011 tonnes of ore. This is compared to 6,526 ounces produced in August, 6,093 ounces in July and 5,127 ounces in June. The Youga Mine is continuing to work towards achieving a minimum monthly production of 7,000 ounces and plant throughput of 80,000 tonnes. Stephen Stine P.E., the Chief Operating Officer of Etruscan, is the Qualified Person overseeing production at the Youga Gold Mine, and has reviewed and approved this press release. About Etruscan Resources Inc. Etruscan Resources Inc. is a gold focused Canadian junior mining company with dominant land positions in district scale gold belts covering more than 10,000 square kilometers in West Africa. Its principal mine development projects include the Youga Gold Project in Burkina Faso, the Agbaou Gold Project in Côte d'Ivoire and the Finkolo Gold Project in Mali. Advanced and early stage exploration projects are on-going in Burkina Faso, Mali, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana and Namibia. Etruscan also has a 47.4% interest in Etruscan Diamonds Limited which has a dominant land position in the Ventersdorp Diamond District located in South Africa. The common shares of Etruscan are traded on The TSX Exchange under the symbol "EET". More extensive information on Etruscan can be found on its home page at http://www.etruscan.com The common shares of Etruscan are traded on the TSX Exchange under the symbol "EET". More extensive information on Etruscan can be found on its home page at http://www.etruscan.com