Golden Star confirms gold at Mininko (May 20, 2004)

A reverse-circulation drill program by Golden Star Resources (GSC-T) at the Mininko property in southern Mali has proved mineralization at depth below known surface gold occurrences.

The 2,458-metre program at the property’s Nampala prospect tested a zone of gold enrichment in soils discovered by a United Nations Development Program survey in the 1980s. A soil anomaly about 1 km long and 250 metres wide was centred on an area with historical small-scale gold mining.

Of the 16 holes drilled in Golden Star’s program, 14 returned some gold mineralization, mainly at grades in the 1- to 2-gram-per-tonne range. The mineralized intervals were typically 7 to 25 metres in length, though the two longest were 33 metres (with an average grade of 1.9 grams gold per tonne) and 31 metres (averaging 1 gram per tonne).

The mineralization is in carbonatized and sericitized metasedimentary rocks of the Birimian sequence. The known zone strikes northeast for about 800 metres, and is open to both the northeast and southwest. Some holes intersected mineralization as deep as 150 metres below surface, but most of the intersections were within 100 metres of the surface.

Follow-up reverse circulation and diamond drilling are underway, to test extensions to the inferred structure and other zones of gold in soils. Another 2,500 metres of reverse-circulation drilling, and about 700 metres of inclined diamond drilling to investigate structure and lithology, are in the works.

Golden Star is earning an interest in Mininko from privately-held GeoServices International; the amount of the interest will be as low as 64% or as high as 82.5%, depending on how much of the work GeoServices chooses to fund.