Golden Star enters JVs with Mano River, GSI

Reaching out beyond its major asset base in Ghana, Denver-based gold miner Golden Star Resources (GSC-T) has struck two separate deals to explore for gold in Sierra Leone and Mali.

The first joint-venture agreement allows Golden Star to earn a 51% interest in Mano River Resources‘ (MNO-V) gold properties in Sierra Leone by spending US$6 million over four years.

The properties, named Pampana, Sonfon and Nimini, comprise six licences totalling 500 sq. km in the central portion of the West African country.

Golden Star may further boost its stake to 65% by funding a feasibility study, and to 85% by funding commercial mine development. At that time, Mano River would have a 15% participating interest and a 2% net smelter return royalty.

The deal is expected to close in January 2004, with exploration work set to begin thereafter.

The most advanced property is Pampana, situated 150 km east of the capital Freetown. The geology is characterized by crustal-scale gold-mineralized shear zones found in the southern end of the Sula Mountains greenstone gold belt.

The property includes the Yirisen gold project, which is a 3.8-km-long north-east trending gold system, open along strike, with the zone of mineralization extending to 200 metres in width.

Golden Star’s second joint-venture agreement is with privately held Geo Services International at the latter’s 250-sq.-km Mininko gold property in southeast Mali, 250 km southeast of Bamako in the Morila-Syama corridor within the Southeast Mali Birimian belt.

There, Golden Star may earn a 51% interest by spending up to US$2.6 million, and, subject to certain conditions, an 82.5% interest by funding development of the project.

Work at Mininko in 1980 by the United Nations outlined a 1,000-by-600-metre gold-in-soil anomaly that was confirmed by later work by the UN, BHP Billiton and Newmont Mining.

Further exploration of the property is expected to begin soon.

In Ghana, Golden Star has its 90%-owned Bogoso/Prestea open-pit mine, which is slated to produce at least 160,000 oz. this year at a cash operating cost of US$175 per oz., as well as 90% of the revived Wassa gold project, where the company is putting the finishing touches on a new mine and carbon-in-leach mill.