Volta defines initial copper-gold resource in Burkina Faso

Vancouver – A few days after its joint-venture partner returned full ownership of the Gaoua copper-gold property in Burkina Faso to Volta Resources (VTR-T) the junior announced a sizeable initial resource for the porphyry project.

Volta, the child of an early 2008 merger of Birim Goldfields and Goldcrest Resources, completed close to 28,000 metres of drilling in 107 holes, the majority of which were core holes, to define two open-pittable deposits at Gaoua. Together, the two deposits now host 82.6 million inferred tonnes grading 0.4% copper and 0.4 gram gold per tonne for 725 million lbs. copper and 1.07 million oz. gold.

The 688-sq. km Gaoua project in southern Burkina Faso covers a 35-km long porphyry trend that Volta defined clearly with a high-definition airborne geophysical survey in 2008. The two deposits – called Dienemera and Gongondy – sit on the trend, with Dienemera 7 km north of Gongondy. Both are characterized by the presence of copper-gold mineralization hosted by hydrothermal breccias.

In its 2008 drilling, Volta significantly expanded the Gongondy zone to the west with results such as 27 metres grading 0.72% copper and 1.23 grams gold starting 8 metres down hole GRC4. The intercept in hole GRC4 started below surface alluvium, which masked the deposit’s geochemical signature in soil sampling. Copper and gold mineralization has now been traced in a sideways J-shape at Gongondy, stretching across the zone and then wrapping northward around the intrusive gabbro body that seems to separate Gongondy from Dienemera in the north.

Volta has not, though, given up on the strike between Dienemera and Gongondy. The company plans to drill the 7 km between Dienemera and Gongondy to test the concept that regolith – transported laterite and alluvium – may have masked the geochemical response of buried mineralization connecting the two deposits. At the same time Volta will continue exploring the western side of the post-mineralized gabbro at Gongondy in the hopes that, if they do not connect along strike, the deposits connect in a semi-circle around the gabbro unit.

In addition, Volta has identified several geophysical signatures along the 35-km long porphyry corridor similar to those at Dienemera and Gongondy, which the company wants to test.

And other recent holes confirmed the potential to expand the Gongondy zone to the south; drilled on the southern edge of the zone hole S63 returned 124 metres grading 0.56% copper and 0.34 gram gold. At Dienemera, drilling indicates expansion potential to the north and down-dip to the west, where the zone remains open.

It was Goldcrest Resources that brought Gaoua into Volta’s project portfolio. Goldcrest moved into Burkina Faso in 2000 and picked up a number of exploration properties, including Gaoua. When in late 2007 Goldcrest sold its Youanmi gold project in Western Australia to Apex Minerals (AXM-A) for some A$20 million in cash and shares the company started looking for expansion possibilities. That’s when Goldcrest’s president and CEO Kevin Bullock ran into an old friend, Birim Goldfield president and CEO Victori King.

Birim was loaded with projects in Ghana but was short on cash. A friendly merger of the two companies was a perfect fit and Volta Resources debuted on the Toronto Stock Exchange in the spring of 2008. Gaoua was one of the new company’s key projects.

In late January Volta’s joint venture partner at Gaoua, Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold (FCX-N), decided to drop the project. Freeport was earning a 51% interest in Gaoua by spending US$5 million on exploration and paying Volta US$225,000 in payments over three years. The major also had the option to increase its ownership to 70% by funding the project through to the completion of a feasibility study.

According to Volta, which operates the project, Freeport has spent more than US$2.5 million at Gaoua over the last year. By dropping its contributions Freeport has relinquished its interest in Gaoua completely, leaving Volta at the project’s sole owner.

On news of the Gaoua resource Volta’s share price gained 4.5¢ to close at 19.5¢. The company has a 52- week trading range of 5¢ to $1.10 and has 53 million shares outstanding.