Shanta Gold Ltd said it was encouraged by results from exploration drilling outside existing mineral reserves at the New Luika gold mine (NLGM) in Tanzania.
During the third quarter, 4,505 metres (m) were drilled covering 17 holes at Bauhinia Creek Main, Bauhinia Creek East Area 1 and Luika.
Highlights included 10.56m at 22.67 grammes a tonne (g/t) gold, including 4.30m at 51.65 g/t, at BC East Area 1; and 3.05m at 15.17 g/t gold, including 1.23m at 36.29 g/t gold, at BC Main. While at Luika, drilling intercepted 4.88m at 4.72 g/t gold and 5.44m at 5.84 g/t, including 1.16m at 17.88 g/t gold.
Shanta also reported results from a further 3,733m of reverse circulation (RC) drilling at Porcupine South, located about 22 kilometres (km) from the NLGM processing plant. Highlights included 10m at 2.26 g/t, 13m 3.01 g/t Au and 9m at 2.46 g/t gold.
All of the newly reported drilling intersections are outside existing mineral reserve estimates and will be incorporated into the next update of the mine plan, the AIM-traded company said.
“With another set of encouraging drilling results reported at New Luika, today's update not only adds to our ongoing exploration success this year - strengthened by the discovery of high-grade resources at our West Kenya project - but also reinforces our confidence in our strategy to deliver sustainable growth through exploration,” said chief executive Eric Zurrin.
“The current reserve life at New Luika has been extended to 2026, and we are continuing to invest in exploration programmes aimed at extending the mine life, with recent discoveries at the Porcupine South deposit adding further life to New Luika once incorporated into the mine plan. We look forward to publishing a reserve and resource update for New Luika in Q1 2022,” he said.