Gold Reserve starts US$700,000 drill program at Brisas

Spokane-based Gold Reserve (TSX: GRZ) reported Wednesday the start of a US$700,000 drill program at its Brisas gold-copper project in southeast Venezuela. The company will use two drill rigs for 33 core holes totaling approximately 11,500m to increase the deposit's mineable reserves, it said in a statement. The company has not been affected by the review of contracts and concessions ordered by the Venezuelan government, the president of Gold Reserve's local subsidiary, Arturo Rivero, told BNamericas. Venezuela's energy and mines ministry MEM has asked contracts and concessions held by mining companies with state mining Corporation Venezuelan de Guayana (CVG) to be revised, leading to the cancellation of some contracts. "We have not been affected as the company doesn't have contracts with CVG, rather we have areas under concession directly from the ministry," Rivero said. Gold Reserve has already had eight offers from companies to carry out a bankable feasability study on Las Brisas and will be making a further statement about it later in November, he said. Mineral samples are being sent to Canada for studies to define the possibility of producing copper in cathodes from Las Brisas ore, the executive said. Results are expected in early 2004. Las Brisas currently contains reserves of 7.48Moz gold and 490,000t copper. The company is planning a 50,000t/d mining operation to produce 362,000oz of gold and 20,000t of copper annually at cash costs of US$153/oz gold, net of copper credits.