Perth based Viking Ashanti (ASX: VKA) has intersected gold in the first of ten reverse circulation extension holes at the Akoase East gold project in Ghana, highlighting the potential of the JORC 500,000 ounce project.
The first hole highlights included; 5 metres at 3.06 grams per tonne (g/t) gold from 44 metres, 6 metres at 1.36g/t gold from 36 metres, and 15 metres at 1.51g/t gold from 59 metres.
If these results are anything to go by, it appears Viking Ashanti is well placed to meet the company’s primary objective of one million gold ounces at the project.
Exploration is extensive with at least 13,000 metres of reverse circulation drilling and 2,500 metres of diamond drilling planned at Akoase in total, with a further 14,000 metres of reverse circulation and 2,500 metres of diamond drilling at West Star and Blue River through to May 2012.
Importantly the projects are close to existing projects and infrastructure, which is rare in West Africa, with the company holding 440 square kilometres of granted tenure.
Boosting the prospectivity of the area is the proximity of Akoase to Newmont Mining's (NYSE: NEM) 8.7 million ounce Akyem gold project, while the West Star/Blue River projects are 15 kilometres from the Adamus Resources (ASX: ADU) 2 million ounce Salman/Anwia project.
Ghana also hosts the AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE: AU) 60 million ounce Obuasi deposit, the 40 million ounce Tarkwa deposit (GoldFields) and the 17 million ounce Ahafo deposit (Newmont).