PRECIOUS METALS — Birim continues search for Ghanaian gold

Shallow drilling at the Akrokeri property in Ghana, West Africa, has intersected more near-surface gold mineralization for partners Birim Goldfields (BGI-T) and Australian-based Dominion Mining.

The latest program saw 22 reverse-circulation (RC) holes sunk into two prospects that were discovered in a first phase of driling completed in December 1998. That program, totalling 1,774 metres, was aimed at a soil anomaly and the now-confirmed southern extension of a zone discovered on Dominion’s Homasi property to the north.

All holes were drilled to vertical depths of up to 75 metres, faced eastwards and angled at 60 to the horizontal. Gold values ranged from less than one gram to more than 2.86 grams per tonne, and mineralized intersections varied between 2 and 32 metres.

Results include:

• hole 2, which intersected 18 metres (from 2 to 20 metres) grading 1.31 grams gold;
• hole 32, which hit 5 metres (from 3 to 8 metres) grading 2.35 grams and 4 metres (14 to 18 metres) grading 2.54, both of which enclose a 15-metre interval (3 to 18 metres) that averaged 1.71 grams;
• hole 39, which returned 2.54 grams over the final 6 metres (60 to 66 metres) of the hole; and
• hole 44, which returned 1.76 grams over 32 metres (12 to 44 metres).

The mineralization, predominantly oxidized, is associated with a structure extending several kilometres from the historical Akrokeri mine. Between 1904 and 1909, that mine produced 75,000 oz. gold from just over 940,000 tonnes.

A unit of Dominion can earn a 51% stake in Akrokeri by spending US$500,000 over two years. The remaining interest can be bought for US$1.5 million, plus a 1% net smelter return royalty on future production.

Meanwhile, Birim plans to resume drilling at its nearby Dunkwa property as soon as it raises $700,000 through a non-brokered private placement and exercises options. The financing would increase to $800,000 the company’s working capital, while raising to 21.3 million its number of shares outstanding.

The Dunkwa property is southwest of Akrokeri, from which it is separated by the producing Obuasi gold property of Ashanti Goldfields. Since mid-1995, Birim and former partner Battle Mountain Gold (BMC-T) have soil-sampled the entire section of the Ashanti gold belt that passes through the property, and trenched and drilled some of the anomalies discovered. (Battle Mountain canceled its option agreement earlier this year, having spent US$4.5 million on exploration. Offers from other producers are now being considered by Birim.)

The upcoming program will target the more advanced Mampon deposit and total 22 RC holes, adding to the 49 RC or core holes already drilled. Holes will be collared on 25-sq.-metre grids to infill 250 metres of the 400 metres of known strike length and will not exceed 75 metres in vertical depth.

Metallurgical testing will follow.

In all, the Dunkwa property has been drill-tested by 150 RC holes totalling 10,400 metres and 55 core holes totalling 9,452 metres. Intersections at Mampon include 45 metres grading 6.43 grams gold, 27.4 metres grading 11.1 grams and 14.2 metres grading 11.1 grams.

In addition to these properties, Birim owns the Bui concessions, 200 km to the northwest, in west-central Ghana. There, the company has discovered four pronounced soil anomalies along a 10-km-long ridge. The anomalies measure 400, 900, 1,000 and 1,100 metres in length and vary from 20 to 140 metres in width. Grades vary from 0.5 to 3.79 grams gold, with 44 samples grading more than 1 gram.

The Brohani ridge reflects a package of conglomerates considered favourable for paleoplacer gold deposits similar to those found in the Tarkwa district in Ghana and the Witswatersrand basin in South Africa. For instance, mapping shows three distinct cycles of sedimentation in which overlying cycles progressively erode, rework and enrich underlying cycles.

Birim will allocate some of the funds from its financing to advance select targets to the drill stage. This would include closely spaced trenching.