New gold intersections including; 4.87m at 2.49 g/t gold and 5.9m at 1.55 g/t gold, are providing evidence that the Viking Ashanti (ASX: VKA) Akoase East gold project in Ghana can increase the existing 500,000 ounce JORC classified gold resource.
These intersections show continuity of the mineralised zones for up to another 50 metres vertically beneath previous drilling, at comparable grades and widths to adjacent drill holes closer to surface.
Importantly, the intersections are approximately 100 metres vertically below surface, which is pushing the boundaries to be classified as near surface but provides enough encouragement for the company to continue drilling deeper.
Peter McMickan, managing director, said "The bulk of the upcoming diamond drilling in coming months will continue to focus on expanding the current resource at depth, while planned reverse circulation drilling will test the near surface strike extensions of the
resource."
The Akoase prospecting licences covers a 106km2 area in the northern part of the Ashanti gold belt, with a number of major gold mines and projects located within this belt including Newmont’s (NYSE: NEM) 8.7 million gold ounce Akyem project, which is located just 25km southwest of the Akoase licences.