Avion Gold repairs road to Tabakoto/Segala gold mine

2009-10-07 10:49 ET - News Release

Mr. Rene Bharti reports

AVION'S TABAKOTO MINE

Avion Gold Corp. has successfully completed road repair operations along the main access road to the north of its Tabakoto/Segala gold mine in Mali. The main access road to the Tabakoto/Segala gold mine had been degraded by a lengthy period of heavy rainfall, resulting in the near cessation of transport truck movement on the road. The company, along with support from its mining contractor, SFTP, repaired sections of the road to expedite the delivery of supplies that were waylaid approximately 35 kilometres from the mine along the main supply route due to the flooded road conditions. The 2009 seasonal rains in the Malian sub-Saharan African region have been exceptionally heavy. Avion believes that the rainy season is essentially over, and with the road repairs completed over the past few weeks, Avion is optimistic that the normal movement of supplies to site will continue unabated.

Access to the project area is expected to be further improved with the projected late 2010 completion of a new paved road from Dakar to Bamako that will pass approximately 10 kilometres south of the Tabakoto mill. The new road is expected to dramatically improve access to the area, reduce weather issues during the rainy season and lower operational costs.

John Begeman, the company's president and chief executive officer, states, "While we are disappointed by the interruption in supplies to the mine site and temporary shutdown of milling operations that has resulted in reduced planned gold production for 2009, we are hopeful that Avion's revised mine plan will maximize production during the remainder of the year and recover some of the lost production."