Gold and copper exploration company Kefi Minerals said Wednesday its Jibal Qutman Licence in Saudi Arabia has delivered 'encouraging' results after completing the initial phase of drilling.

Its 40% owned licence with Saudi partner Abdul Rahman Saad Al-Rashid & Sons
Company returned a positive outcome from a scoping study for an open cut heap leach operation.

Drilling showed intersections of gold including 4.5m at 17 grams per tonne (gt), 12.75m at 3.78gt and 13m at 2.35gt.

Gold recoveries from four composite pulp samples of quartz vein style mineralisation revealed 54%, 74%, 76% and 90% gold recovery using a 250 parts per million cyanide solution over a one hour period.

"The initial phase of diamond drilling at Jibal Qutman has been completed with encouraging early results for an open cut heap leach mining operation," Managing Director, Jeff Rayner, said.

"These results have been achieved in just four months since drilling started in mid-September 2012. Further drilling is planned to extend the gold potential along strike in all three zones and to further define the gold recoveries with detailed metallurgical testwork, in [the first half of 2013] and to possibly commence a pre-feasibility study in [the second half of 2013]."

The group has also started the second phase of drilling at its Selib North Licence.

They will test several anomalies identified in the geophysical survey completed in December 2012 and the gold mineralisation intersected in the first phase diamond drilling at the Camel Hill prospect.

Shares fell 0.61% to 4.10p at 9:57 Wednesday.

RD

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