EXPLORATION 1997 — Viking drilling Svartliden in Sweden

Vancouver-based Viking Gold (VGCN-C) has started drilling its Svartliden gold project in northern Sweden.

The company can earn a 60% interest in the project by spending US$600,000 on exploration, and a further 20% by completing a feasibility study.

The drilling is testing the theory that the property hosts multiple gold zones. Previous work has identified several zones with a strike length of 300 metres that are open in both directions.

The property was explored by Falconbridge in the early 1980s, and results include a 4.5-metre interval grading 10.6 grams gold per tonne. Work carried out by government geologists is reported to have revealed bonanza gold grades from trenching and sampling.