Mindoro Resources (ASX: MDO) announced on Tuesday three new high-grade gold intercepts from two further drill holes at its mine in Batangas province in the Philippines. The gold intercepts are part of the infill and extension drilling of the Southwest Breccia (SWB) epithermal gold shoot at the town of Lobo.

Mindoro President and Chief Executive Office Jon Dugdale said the latest gold result confirms the continuity of high-grade, gold shoot from surface at its SWB site.

The Southwest Breccia site has a nine-hole 700-metre drill program that started drilling on Aug. 23, 2011 to infill and extend the high-grade gold shoot and collect samples for metallurgical testing.

A total of eight drill holes for 368 metres of drilling have been completed in the current programme at SWB.

Earlier this month, Mindoro said it was seeking for a strategic partner to help finance the $88-million Stage 1 development of its Agata nickel project, also in the Philippines. A scoping study shows that Agata could yield 600,000 tonnes per year of thermally upgraded high-iron sinter product at a cash operating cost of $32-million tonnes of upgraded product.

The mining company previously said that its Stage 2 hydrometallurgical project prefeasibility study confirmed production of 17,200 tonnes per year of nickel in mixed hydroxide product over 20 years.

The Agata nickel project is estimated to host 42.7 million tonnes of measured and indicated resources in a nickel laterite belt that is largely controlled by Mindoro Resources.

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