Burkina Faso area news !!!!!Volta closes transaction on the advanced Kiaka Gold project in Burkina Faso with Randgold Resources
11/13/2009 3:45 PM - Canada NewsWire
TORONTO, Nov. 13, 2009 (Canada NewsWire via COMTEX News Network) --
<< -Volta to immediately commence an aggressive 22,000 metre drilling campaign- TSX: VTR >>
Volta Resources Inc. ("Volta" or the "Company") (TSX: VTR) announced today that it has received shareholder approval for the Kiaka gold project transaction (the "Acquisition") as well as the previously announced "bought deal" private placement (see Volta news release dated October 21, 2009). As a result, Volta today has completed the Acquisition. The Kiaka exploration permit covers an area of 244km2 and is located approximately 120 kilometres southeast of Ouagadougou, the capital city of Burkina Faso (see Figure 1).
The purchase price consisted of cash consideration of $4,000,000 and 20,000,000 common shares of Volta to be paid and issued, as applicable, over a period of 24 months following closing as follows: (a) 20,000,000 common shares on closing; (b) $1,000,000 cash on the dates that are 6, 12, 18 and 24 months following the Closing Date. All of the shares have been placed in escrow pending proof of recordation of the licence comprising the Kiaka Gold Project into Volta's name.
Volta plans an aggressive drilling program consisting of more than 150 holes for a total of approximately 22,000 metres (see Figure 2). The program has been designed in consultation with SRK (UK) Ltd. in order to achieve the optimal hole placements to finalize a National Instrument 43-101 ("NI43-101") compliant resource at the conclusion of this $4,000,000 program. West African Drilling Services ("WADS") have been selected to undertake the drilling, which will commence within the next week.
Kevin Bullock, Volta's President and CEO, said, "The acquisition of the advanced Kiaka gold project is Volta's most important development to date. We will now aggressively explore the Kiaka deposit in order to move the project toward a development decision in the shortest possible timeframe. To facilitate this, a NI43-101 compliant resource estimate is planned to be completed by the end of the second quarter of 2010. We are also delighted to now have Randgold, one of the world's fastest growing gold miners, as a major shareholder in Volta."
Diamond and RC drilling previously undertaken by Randgold on sections spaced from 80m to 400m apart, has already defined two significant mineralized zones; the Kiaka Main Zone (KMZ) and the Kiaka Hangingwall South Zone (KHZ). The KMZ is a 2,800 metre long, steeply dipping, NE striking mineralized dilation structure with numerous intersections exceeding 100m at (greater than)1g/t. Significantly, there are discrete higher grade zones within this well mineralized envelope that are associated with more intense deformation and alteration, which suggests good continuity. The KHZ is a 650 meter long N to NE striking mineralized structure, which is generally narrower but higher grade than the KMZ. Some of the better intersections from these two zones are:
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172.0 metres @ 1.32 g/t gold from 46.0 metres depth
122.0 metres @ 2.00 g/t gold from 147.0 metres depth
82.0 metres @ 1.55 g/t gold from surface
208.0 metres @ 1.46 g/t gold from 30.0 metres depth
45.0 metres @ 2.62 g/t gold from 114.0 metres depth
70.0 metres @ 1.12 g/t gold from 191.0 metres depth
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All analyses undertaken for Randgold were by fire assay on a 50g charge at SGS Laboratories in Ouagadougou or SGS Laboratories at the Morila mine in Mali. Randgold employed a QA/QC procedure that included the insertion of certified standards. Volta and SRK have reviewed the QA/QC procedures on site and assessed the resultant data and found the results do conform to industry best practice. Intervals are based on drill hole length and true width is unknown at this time. Intersections are based on a 0.5 g/t Au cut-off with no top cut applied. Internal dilution (less than 0.5 g/t Au) has been carried to a maximum of 5m, except for mineralized intervals of 50m or more where dilution has been carried to 6m (KDH05, KDH11, KDH14, KRC03, KRC06 and KRC07) and to 8m in KDH15. All drilling has been undertaken by Randgold but Volta did undertake independent check analyses on all the samples from three of the Randgold holes during the due diligence phase, confirming the accuracy and precision of the original Randgold assay results.
The Kiaka gold project lies at the intersection of the northeast striking Tenkodogo greenstone belt and the regionally significant north striking Markoye Fault, in whose proximity some of the larger gold resources discovered in Burkina Faso so far, have been discovered. These include Iamgold's Essakane deposit (5.1 M oz), High River Gold's Taparko deposit (1.7 M oz), Orezone's Bombore deposit (2.1 M oz) and Etruscan's Youga deposit (1.5 M oz) (see Figure 1).
Randgold has spent in excess of US$6 million undertaking extensive exploration on the permit since 2004, including mapping, ground geophysics, soil sampling, pitting, trenching, RAB drilling, RC drilling and diamond drilling. Randgold has undertaken petrograhic work to study gold deportment. The gold is located on grain margins and is not occluded within sulphides and is therefore unlikely to be refractory. There are also no preg-robbing components. Some preliminary CIL/bottle roll metallurgical test work was also undertaken. The results indicate encouraging recoveries ranging from 80% to 98%, with the majority of the samples returning (greater than) 90% recovery.
There are several other mineralized upside targets identified by soil sampling, pitting and RAB drilling within the immediate proximity of KMZ and KHZ, as well as 5 regional targets, that lie within analogous mineralized environments to the Kiaka Main area, within the property. These targets represent significant additional upside on the property that remain to be tested in future drilling programs.
Under the guidelines of National Instrument 43-101, the qualified person for the Kiaka Gold Project is Mr. Guy Franceschi, Vice President, Exploration for Volta. Mr. Franceschi is a member of the European Federation of Geologists and has reviewed and approved the contents of this news release.
Volta is a mineral exploration company primarily focused on becoming a leader in the identification, acquisition and exploration of gold properties in West Africa. The Company is committed to West African exploration and is Canadian-based with its head office in Toronto, Ontario and operations offices in Accra, Ghana and Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.