Staff Report

Published Sept. 28, 2012

Two new “high priority drill targets” have been identified at the old Ridgeway gold mine in Fairfield County owned by Vancouver, B.C.-based Strongbow Exploration Inc.

Recent surveys yielded 167 geochemical and prospecting from the target areas, Strongbow said.

One target area – measuring 760 yards by 440 yards – has been identified about 380 yards east of the Ridgeway gold mine's North Pit. A second area – 650 yards wide by 1,110 yards long – was found 1,500 yards east of the North Pit.

Two soil samples from the southern portion of the larger area yielded 400 parts per billion of gold, a indication that mining might be feasible.

Also, soil samples of both new target areas found evidence of arsenic, molybdenum and tellurium – key elements that usually point to the presence of gold.

Strongbow’s Ridgeway project comprises 18 properties covering about 1,300 acres located along Rio Tinto’s past producing Ridgeway gold mine.

The Ridgeway mine became one of the top producing mines in the United States, yielding 1.5 million ounces of gold between 1988 and 1998. It was closed in 1999.

Another gold project is under way in Lancaster County where Romarco Minerals Inc., is exploring the Haile gold mine near Kershaw.

Romarco is now seeking necessary permits so it can begin commercial production at the Haile site. Romarco, which expects to have its first gold pour in 2014, said that total gold resources on the 4,000-acre site stand at 4 million ounces — both measured and indicated — plus another 800,000 ounces of inferred resources.

Romarco projects that the mine could produce an average 150,000 ounces of gold annually for 13 years.

New mining technology and surging gold prices have made it economically feasible for companies to resume exploring the S.C. mines.