Fairstar to fund Ghanaian exploration

Following exploration of its Benso concession in Ghana, Fairstar Explorations (ME) has entered into a $6.5-million agreement to fund further work.

The 150-sq.-km concession is on the eastern side of the prolific Ashanti gold belt.

The financing will be done by way of private placement to institutional and European investors, the proceeds of which will be used to fund diamond drilling of the Amantin, Subriso and Chichiwelli prospects.

A cluster of five major structures cutting across favorable Upper Birimian metavolcanics and metasediments has been uncovered. Fairstar says the metamorphics appear to be similar to those of the nearby Ashanti gold mine.

About 25 pits, each measuring roughly 2 metres in depth, have been excavated in the Chichiwelli area in an attempt to study the gold content of the alluvial soils. Gold grains are generally fine, though 1-cm-wide nuggets have been found. Fairstar believes the gold is associated with the east-west structures, and it has started a ground magnetic survey to locate targets for diamond drilling.

Shallow, reverse-circulation drilling continues to test two geochemical anomalies, extending up to 2.4 km in a north-northeasterly direction, on the Subriso prospect.

To date, more than 40 shallow holes (each measuring close to 50 metres deep) have been drilled on six sections covering both of the geochemical anomalies, which average 400 metres in width. Assay results are pending, though earlier results indicate the prospect warrants further drilling.

At Amantin, geochemical and geophysical surveys are attempting to locate the source of a large, soil geochemical anomaly. Additional work here is expected to develop a diamond drill target.