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Company Information for Banro Corp

Company stock charts - 12 Month chart

Exchange TSX; BAA


View full financial data
Exchange AMEX; BAA


View full financial data

Company Statement

Simon Village, Chairman
Peter Cowley, President and C.E.O.

Banro is a gold exploration and development company which is developing four, wholly-owned properties along the 210 km Twangiza-Namoya gold belt in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  The Company is led by a focused management team with extensive African and gold industry experience

The Company has to date identified 3.70 million ounces of Measured and Indicated Resources, plus Inferred Resources of 6.87 million ounces.

In November, 2004, Banro launched an aggressive exploration program to fully delineate and extend the total resource base. Currently, there are six drilling rigs active on three properties -- Twangiza, Lugushwa and Namoya -- with plans to add a further rig later this year. The Company also plans to begin exploration at Kamituga in 2006. Grades and thicknesses indicate that there is good potential for converting the resources into open pit reserves and the Company believes it can potentially add resources at a cost significantly below that of the industry.

In addition to its current properties, which cover 2,600 square kilometers, Banro has also applied for and is awaiting confirmation of title for Exploration Permits (PRs) covering an additional 6,829 square kilometers of land in the Twangiza-Namoya gold belt.

With its substantial outlined resource base and focused leadership team, Banro enjoys strong support from institutional investors in North America, the U.K., Europe and South Africa. During 2005-2006, Banro successfully completed financings of over $Cdn 87 million, which the Company believes is sufficient to carry it through the feasibility stage in 2007.  
Banro's mission is to unlock shareholder value by increasing and developing the Company's significant gold assets in a socially and environmentally responsible manner.


Current Operations

Twangiza Project
Drilling in 2007 has focused on the northern extension of the main Twangiza trend, including the potential new zone between the Kashegeshe and Lukungurhi workings, with the objective of increasing the total resource base. The initial results of this successful program were announced on June 13, 2007, with the announcement of the discovery of the Twangiza North gold deposit. In addition, the Company in 2007 is commencing exploration on the nearby, major artisanal sites of Mufwa and Tshondo, which are highly prospective and appear to offer potential for expanding the Twangiza asset well beyond the main trend.

In July 2007, the Company announced the successful results of its Preliminary Assessment of Twangiza. The full study can be accessed on the link near the top of this page; the press announcement outlining the results can be accessed by clicking on the link to the July 30, 2007 press release below. Banro is commencing a pre-feasibility study at its Twangiza project. A full feasibility study is expected to be completed toward the end of 2008.

Despite the extensive work that Banro has completed on the main Twangiza deposit, much of the 1,164 square metre property has never been explored. During the March-May period, the Company completed an airborne geophysical survey of the entire property with the goal of identifying new anomalies for future exploration.

Kamituga Project
The Company plans to begin exploration at Kamituga in 2007. Exploration will focus on the disseminated, wall rock mineralization that was neglected during past mining activities when the focus was on high grade, quartz veins and stockworks.

Lugushwa Project
The Company is continuing to drill the G20, G21, D18, D19 and G7 Mapale prospects to test and confirm the existing deposit and will then proceed to a program of infill drilling in this area. Drilling is also planned for the Carriere A prospect and newly identified anomalies within the G20 area and south of Carriere A at Mpongo.

In addition to the drilling program, ongoing exploration is assessing the full extent of the main mineralized trend at Lugushwa. A regional stream sediment sampling program is testing the extension of mineralization to the northeast of Carrier A, where historical data indicates potential for finding further prospects. At the southern end of the Lugushwa property, plans are to extend the soil anomaly to the boundary of the concession. The Lugushwa exploration team will also continue a program of regional spar sampling, mapping and sampling of cuts at the G7 and G8 prospects at the north-end of the concession.

In light of the new understanding on the controls of mineralization, all soil anomalies defined in the soil geochemical program during 2005 and 2006 will be re-evaluated.

Namoya Project
Drilling continues at Namoya with the goal of upgrading remaining Inferred Resource ounces and adding to the Company's total mineral resources. Other exploration activities, including soil sampling and trenching, have been extended to cover the rest of the Namoya property in order to delineate additional targets for drilling in 2007. Of particular interest, the Company has identified anomalies to the east of Namoya Summit which may indicate the existence of a parallel zone of mineralization. This new prospect will be followed up with further exploration in 2007.

In July 2007, the Company announced the successful results of its Preliminary Assessment of the Namoya project. The full study can be accessed through the link near the top of the page. A press announcement outlining the results, dated July 3, 2007, can be accessed below. The Company is commencing a pre-feasibility study of the Namoya project.


Geographical Spread

South Kivu and Maniema Provinces, Democratic Republic of the Congo


Board of Directors and Key Management

Simon Village
Position: Chairman
Simon Village was formerly a Managing Director, World Gold Council, and principal of Exchange Traded Gold, a company responsible for developing and managing a series of direct physical gold investment products that have revolutionised the dynamics of the gold industry. Previous to this he was a Managing Director with HSBC responsible for Global Mining based out of London, and also Head of HSBC's South African Securities business. Simon holds a B.Eng (Hons) degree from Camborne School of Mines, and brings some 16 years of gold industry and investment experience to the Company.

Peter Cowley
Position: Director, President & CEO
Peter Cowley is a geologist with over 35 years international experience in the minerals industry, mainly in Africa. He holds M.Sc and M.B.A. degrees and is a Fellow of I.M.M.M. Prior to joining Banro in June 2004, Peter was Managing Director of Ashanti Exploration, the exploration arm of Ashanti Goldfields Company Ltd where he managed the company's exploration activities throughout Africa. Peter played a major role in the discovery and development of the Geita mine in Tanzania.

Arnold T. Kondrat
Position: Director, Executive VP
Banro's principal founder, Arnold has been involved in corporate finance activities for over 20 years. He is also President and Managing Director of Sterling Portfolio Securities Inc., a private venture capital firm based in Toronto.

John Clarke
Position: Director
John is the President and C.E.O. of Nevsun Resources Limited, an exploration and development company engaged in gold and base metals exploration in Africa. Prior to joining Nevsun in 1997, he was an Executive Director of Ashanti Goldfields and was responsible for strategic planning and business development. John has a Ph.D. from Cambridge University and M.B.A. from the University of Middlesex.

Bernard van Rooyen
Position: Director
Bernard has been a director of Banro since 1996 and has over 40 years experience in the mining industry, mainly in Africa. He is also a director of Mvelaphanda Resources Cementation Company Ltd, Northam Platinum Limited, Ndowana Exploration Limited and Trans Hex Group Limited.

Piers Cumberlege
Position: Director
Mr. Cumberlege is Vice President, Private Equity at Cordiant Capital Inc. He has over 25 years of general management and investment experience covering emerging markets and has held senior positions with such companies as Bombardier, GEC/Marconi and Hawker Siddeley and served on the boards of companies in Africa, the CIS, Asia and Russia. Mr Cumberlege is a graduate of Oxford University.

Richard Lachcik
Position: Director
Richard is a partner in the Canadian law firm of Macleod Dixon LLP which acts as counsel to Banro. He specializes in corporate and securities law.

J. Gregory Short
Position: Chief Financial Officer
Greg is the Chief Financial Officer of the Corporation and a Chartered Accountant by profession. Greg has held senior financial positions in public and private companies in Canada.

Mike Skead
Position: Vice President, Exploration
Mike is a geologist with over 16 years international experience in the mineral exploration field, mainly in Africa. He has a B.Sc Honours from the University of Cape Town and an M.Sc in Mineral Exploration from Rhodes University. Mike was previously Exploration Manager for Samax Resources and was responsible for the discovery of the Kukuluma and Matandani gold deposits in northern Tanzania. Mainly as a result of these discoveries, Samax Gold Inc. was subsequently acquired by Ashanti Goldfields.

Martin Jones
Position: Vice President, Corporate Development
Martin has over 25 years experience in corporate and investor communications. Prior to joining Banro, he was a partner with Advance Planning/MS&L, where he consulted to a number of Canada's leading corporations.

Donat K. Madilo
Position: Treasurer
Donald has over 15 years experience in finance and administration. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Honors) from Institut Supérieur de Commerce de Kinshasa, a B.Sc. (Licence) in Applied Economics from University of Kinshasa and a Masters of Science in Accounting (Honors) from Roosevelt University in Chicago.

Dan Bansah
Position: Mineral Resource Manager
Dan is Banro's Mineral Resource Manager and has over 16 years experience in mineral resource and ore reserve estimation. He has M.Sc in Mineral Exploration with Distinction from the University of Leicester and is a Member of Aus.I.M.M. Dan was previously Group Mineral Resource Manager with Ashanti Goldfields, with responsibilities for the coordination, auditing and compilation of Ashanti's Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves in Africa.

Howard Fall
Position: Chief Geologist
Howard has spent 25 years as a geologist in Africa, mainly in gold exploration. He has a Ph.D. from Sheffield University in the UK, and has managed exploration programs in Ghana, Burkina Faso, Tanzania and the DRC for Gencor, Billiton, Ashanti Goldfields and Anglogold Ashanti respectively. Howard played a principal role in the discovery and exploration of the Yamfo gold trend in Ghana.

Desire Sangara
Position: Administrative Manager
Desire is Banro's Administrative Manager and is based in Kinshasa. He has a Masters degree in management from E.D.C. (Paris) and has over 17 years professional experience in D.R.Congo's exploration and mining sector. He previously held senior positions with the Belgium-Luxemburg mining company, Mindev, and then with Ashanti Goldfields, where for 7 years he was the company's country manager.

Company Address

Corporate Office
Address 1 First Canadian Place
100 King St. West
Suite 7070
P.O. Box 419
Toronto, M5X 1E3

Telephone:+1 416-366-2221
Facsimile:+1 416-366-7722
Email:info[at]banro.com
Website:http://www.banro.com

Additional Address/Key Contact

London UK Office Address
Castle Court, 41 London Roa
Reigate, Surrey
United Kingdom RH2 9RJ
Telephone:+44 (0) 870 351 7904
Fax:+44 (0) 870 351 7905

Year End

December 31

Major Shareholders

Shareholders:
Management: 8%
Institutions: 80%
Retail: 12%

Related News

07/07/08 - Banro’s Twangiza Gold Property Moves Up A Level And Mike Prinsloo Is About To Hit The Road To Tell The World
15/11/07 - Banro Drilling To Upgrade Resource In The DRC
29/05/07 - Banro Expects To Prove Up Plenty More Gold Resources In Congo

Most Recent Statement

16/07/08 - Banro Moves Ahead With Bankable Feasibility Study Of Twangiza And Outlines Intention To Pursue A Heap Leach Option At Namoya
07/07/08 - Banro's Pre-Feasibility Study of its Twangiza Gold Project Indicates Gold Production of 2.3 Million Ounces at Average Operating Cash Costs of Us$345/Oz During 12 Years of Operation
29/04/08 - Banro Intersects 18.62 metres grading 20.15 g/t Au and 7.25 metres grading 73.67 g/t Au in Pre-Feasibility Drilling at Namoya Gold Project
04/03/08 - Banro issues corporate update
06/02/08 - Banro and CARE International to Partner for Sustainable Community Development in DR Congo
15/01/08 - Banro Increases Measured & Indicated Mineral Resources By 23% At Twangiza To 3.9 Million Ounces

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