this might get a few more punters on board, page-3

tentimes this might be it
http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,21598,22041583-951,00.html

Joachim Azzopardi

July 08, 2007 10:00pm
THE long-dormant Kalgoorlie gold mine Frog's Leg is to work again after tests this week revealed it has twice as much gold as previously thought.


Owner Dioro Explorations has joined forces with Toronto-based La Mancha Resources to revive the project, 25km west of Kalgoorlie, with the first gold expected early next year.

Dioro holds 49 per cent of the Frog's Leg deposit, and La Mancha has the remaining 51 per cent.

Frog's Leg, once an open-pit mine that produced 117,000 ounces of gold, is an underground operation with a known resource of 723,000 ounces.

After a $5 million drilling program in March indicated a resource of 369,000 ounces, the figure increased by 95 per cent on Friday when tests revealed high-grade mineralisation averaging 7g a tonne.

Dioro managing director Rhod Grivas said he was delighted the project was making progress after years of frustration.

"We are very excited with the massive resource upgrade and are confident that the sharp
increase in resource will have a significant impact on the profitability of the project,'' he said.

"The opening of the portal (on Friday) at the project is another significant milestone in our progress towards production at Frog's Leg.

"And while mine development has commenced, we are continuing to get very encouraging results from our exploration program, which demonstrates the potential for further upgrades in the future.

"Both Dioro and La Mancha are very excited by the prospect of converting an excellent,
robust resource into a very profitable underground mine, while at the same time continuing to grow the known resources at the project.''

The known amount of gold could increase when another study is conducted in September.

The companies might extend the mine's boundaries, which could make it one of the biggest gold projects in the eastern Goldfields.

La Mancha managing director Bill Plyley said he chose the eastern Goldfields because it had infrastructure and a workforce in place.

"The fact that we are a 20-minute commute from Kalgoorlie, which is a major mining region by world standards not just Australian standards, has encouraged us to operate here,'' he said.

La Mancha has committed $9 million to exploration in Australia, with the majority believed to be at Frog's Leg.

"These kinds of mines tend to grow quite substantially from this stage of their development,'' Mr Plyley said.

"This is still a young mine. It has been around for a while, but it hasn't had the exploration so really it's at the stage where it could grow by another two-thirds or more.''

Mr Grivas hoped Frog's Leg would provide the cash flow for more intensive exploration in the region.

"If we do some more exploration along the strikes from here there will be more to be found. You just need to take the time and spend the money,'' he said.

"We will leverage from Frog's Leg into other exploration opportunities and I think we will become a much bigger company.''

Dioro's other projects include the eastern Goldfields gold mine Penfold, which has a resource of 267,000 ounces at an average grade of 2.2g to the tonne.

Its Penfold Nickel Project, which it bought from South African company Harmony Gold, has 480sq km of prospective nickel and gold dirt 12km from Kambalda.

Dioro also recently pegged more than 50km of uranium-bearing ground in the Kunderong region.

The Sunday Times