Tampering suspected in Golden Rule’s Ghana results

Faced with conflicting results from trench assaying at the Stenpad property in Ghana, Golden Rule Resources (GNU-T) and subsidiary Hixon Gold Resources (HGX-V) are investigating the possibility that their previously reported assay results were artificially enhanced by selective sampling or tampering.

Assays reported by the joint venture were significantly higher than the results released in two recent reports completed by the Ghana Minerals Commission and CME Consulting, a Vancouver-based firm retained by the Commission.

On May 15, the Vancouver Stock Exchange halted trading in Hixon, which had previously closed at $6.40. Golden Rule was halted in Toronto on the same day but resumed trading on May 16; the issue plunged to $2.85 on May 20 from $7.40 on May 15.

In the autumn of 1996, the joint venture reported 100 metres grading 8.8 grams gold per tonne, including 12.35 metres of 27.5 grams gold, for the Agyakra trench 1 (compared with 100 metres of 6.78 grams reported by the Minerals Commission) and 13.6 metres of 16 grams gold at trench 2 (compared with 4.29 grams reported by the Commission).

At Seidu trench 2, the Minerals Commission results were 16 metres of 1.29 grams, compared with the joint venture’s 14.3 metres of 7.3 grams gold. At trench 3, the Commission reported 96 metres grading 3.54 grams, compared with the joint venture’s earlier results of 96.3 metres of 16 grams gold.

The assay results in CME Consulting’s report, carried out at two separate labs, also were significantly lower than those obtained by the joint venture.

CME reported 99 metres of 3.75 grams gold from Agyakra trench 1 at its first lab, and 5.78 grams at its second lab. From Agyakra trench 2, CME reported 14 metres grading 0.29 gram at the first lab and 0.34 gram at the second.

>From Seidu trench 2, CME reported 16 metres grading 3.65 grams gold from lab 1 and 1.86 grams from lab 2. At trench 3, the results were 96 metres of 0.42 gram from lab 1 and 0.41 gram from lab 2.

Calls to Golden Rule and Hixon’s Calgary offices were not returned. But, in a conference call with analysts, Golden Rule President Glen Harper said “selective sampling” was a possible explanation for the variance. “Did the Ghanaian geologist want to keep us happy by putting a whole bunch of quartz that he knew ran [with gold] into our original samples?” he asked. “That is a probability or a possibility, I just don’t know.”

In a statement, Golden Rule and Hixon said they had passed both sets of results to Associated Mining Consultants, with “a mandate to audit sampling and assay procedures and the `chain of custody’ of the initial drill cores.” A report is expected by mid-June.

Golden Rule is operator at the 6,938-ha concession, which is in the Asankranga district of the West African nation, and retains a 50% back-in interest.