A first wave of rotary-air-blast drilling by Golden Star Resources (GSC-T) has returned some encouraging results from a gold-in-soil anomaly extending 7 km south of the southern-most pits on the Prestea mining lease in Ghana.
The company sank 28,272 metres of RAB drilling in 1,089 holes (plus some reverse-circulation holes) to test the northern half of the anomaly, which parallels the Ashanti gold belt.
The holes generally returned 1-3 grams gold over widths of 2-10 metres. A few holes returned higher grades, such as:
- Hole 288 — 6.3 metres (true width) running 6.4 grams gold per tonne;
- Hole 374 — 12.7 metres grading 9.25 grams gold;
- Hole 393 — 4.5 metres of 13.3 grams; and
- Hole 459 – 21.7 metres of 11.2 grams;
The new zones are situated the site of a proposed second processing plant.
Golden Star is currently testing the down-dip extension of the shallow holes with a reverse-circulation drilling program; the RAB drills have moved on to test the southern half of the anomaly over the balance of the year.
“We are very excited about the relatively high-grade drill results from this extensive mineralization,” says Golden Star CEO Peter Bradford. “The potential to increase our already significant gold reserves and resources at Bogoso-Prestea brings a whole new dimension to the possible size of the property.”
At the end of 2003, proven and probable reserves at Bogoso-Prestea stood at 27.3 million tonnes running 3.3 grams gold, or 2.9 million contained ounces of gold.
In 2003, the operation produced 174,315 oz. of gold at an average cash operating cost of US$166 per oz. The company expects to crank out 185,000-210,000 oz. at US$200-225 per oz. during 2004.
Shares in Golden Star were 26, or nearly 4%, higher at $6.82 in early afternoon trading in Toronto following the news on Mar. 30.
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