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By Emily Hobbs Goldboro - Orex Exploration recently announced a $31,000,000 investment in development of its Goldboro property thanks to two unnamed investors. The investors have agreed to purchase more than 67,000,000 shares of the company at a price of $US 0.40 per share subject to a 60-day due diligence period. Orex Exploration will use the funding for additional exploration and a feasibility study on the property. Jean Lafleur, mineral exploration consultant with Orex says the company will continue drilling and assessing the quality and quantity of gold at the site. It will take about two years to prepare for a feasibility study. "It's a lot like buying a house," explains Lafleur. "You have to look at budget, finances, the ore itself, how to mine it and mill it. We have to decide if we go for a small project with high grade, or a large project with low grade." Lafleur says the feasibility study will also include environmental assessments and socio-economic studies with local people. "When the financing closes in early November, we'd like to prepare everyone, just so that our voice is heard, that a project is underway," says Lafleur. The type of mine that Orex might eventually develop depends on the type of gold at the site. Lafleur says an open pit mine is a possibility, but it is too early to say for sure if the site will be open pit or underground. Lafleur says the construction phase of the project will employ 200-500 people and the mining phase will employ 150-200 miners and equipment operators. Gordon MacDonald, special projects manager for the Guysborough Regional Development Authority says the investment is encouraging for the area. "The company took some core samples in March and those samples gave them the confidence to take it further and do wider sampling," says MacDonald. "The biggest thing is that the price of gold has stayed high and it looks like something that if the next stage goes well, it will be nice to see gold mining return to the county." To date, Orex has spent over $18.9 million in exploration work on the Goldboro property. The area is known as the Boston-Richardson mine, a mineral belt that was mined between 1893 and 1912 and produced 54,871 ounces of gold. MacDonald says this is the biggest gold investment in the province in a long time, and the largest for Guysborough County since the 1980s. "It's nice to see," says MacDonald. "This is great for gold mining in Nova Scotia," says Lafleur. "Don't forget that Nova Scotia is one of the oldest gold mining camps in Canada. It's been abandoned but there is still quite a bit of gold in Nova Scotia. "I'm hoping people will listen," Lafleur of the investment. "The financial markets in Toronto and the larger companies will hear the call that there is substantial development in Nova Scotia and that's positive." Lafleur says representatives from Orex plan to meet with the Regional Development Authority and the Guysborough
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