Ashanti cuts new gold at Dunkwa

Ashanti Goldfields (ASL-N) has completed a program of trenching on the Aboronye deposit, which is located on a 40-sq.-km portion of the Dunkwa property and was spun off to Ashanti by Montreal-based junior Birim Goldfields (BGI-T) in January 2000.

The trenches targeted four newly discovered mineralized zones along a 700-metre strike length. The zones appear to represent a splay off of the main Ashanti structure.Selected results include:

• Trench 3A — 64.5 metres (across zones 1 and 2) averaging 2.12 grams per tonne;
• Trench 4B — 27 metres (zone 1) averaging 3.97 grams;
• Trench 7A — 40.5 metres (across all four zones) averaging 1.93 grams;
• Trench 9A — 28.5 metres (zone 3) averaging 2.15 grams;
• Trench 13A — 19.5 (zone 2) averaging 1.92 grams;
• Trench 16A — 36 metres (zone 2) averaging 2.63 grams;
• Trench 20A –28.5 metres (zone 4) averaging 3.74 grams; and
• Trench 22A –16.5 metres (zone 2) averaging 2.37 grams.

Of 1,008 samples assayed, 362 returned more than 0.5 gram gold per tonne and averaged 2.04 grams gold. Twenty-five of the samples returned more than 5 grams gold. Thirteen of the trenches failed to cut significant mineralization.

Birim notes that good gold values were encountered along 580 metres of strike length and that the zones exhibited good continuity between trenches.

Ashanti plans to follow up the trench work with reverse-circulation drilling on 36 sites. Drilling will begin shortly. To the south of Aboronye, Ashanti plans more trenching on the Adukrom and Akwaboa prospects. Both also lie in Ashanti’s 40-sq.-km area.

The Aboronye gold prospect lies about 400 metres west of the Mampon deposit, where, earlier this summer, every hole in a campaign of 20 shallow reverse-circulation holes hit economic-grade mineralization. The program was highlighted by hole 377A, which returned 24 metres of 2.67 grams gold and another 44 metres of 9.42 grams gold.

A previous independent study at Mampon delineated a resource of 1.2 million tonnes grading 5 grams gold. Birim notes that the majority of Mampon’s contained ounces fall into the oxide category, which generates a higher royalty for Birim than the sulphide material.