Company Announcements

Historical Drilling at the West Kenya Project

Source: RNS
RNS Number : 2812Y
Shanta Gold Limited
08 September 2020
 

8 September 2020

Shanta Gold Limited

("Shanta Gold" or the "Company")

 

Historical Exploration Drilling at the West Kenya Project

Shanta Gold (AIM: SHG), the East Africa-focused gold producer, developer and explorer, is pleased to provide a summary of historical exploration drilling carried out at the recently acquired West Kenya Project in Western Kenya ("Project") in which Shanta has a 100% interest1.


Background:

§ The Archaean Busia-Kakamega Greenstone Belt ("ABK") is the northern most greenstone belt in the Lake Victoria Goldfield;

§ Shanta has acquired seven licences ("the Project Area") covering the majority of the ABK, extending over 1,161 square kilometres ("km");

§ The ABK lies on the northern edge of Lake Victoria and is of analogous size to the well-known greenstone belts in the Val d'Or District-Abitibi, Canada and the Kalgoorlie District-WA in Australia;

§ The Isulu and Bushiangala deposits ("the Deposits") are located in the Liranda Corridor, a 12 km structural trend in the north-east of the ABK; and,

§ Approximately 220,000 metres ("m") of historical exploration drilling has been completed across the Project Area resulting in multiple discoveries.

 

The Deposits:

§ A NI 43-101 compliant Inferred Mineral Resource Estimate of 1,182,000 ounces gold grading 12.6 g/t was declared in 2018 comprising the Deposits, believed to be one of the highest grading +1Moz gold deposits in Africa (refer to the Company's announcement dated 3 September 2020 for more information regarding the 43-101 Inferred Mineral Resource);

§ A total of 96,390 m of exploration drilling and 190 drilled holes has been completed across the Deposits;

§ Approximately 33% of holes drilled at the Deposits have produced visible gold intercepts with over 85 individual mineralised zone intercepts being recorded;

§ Approximately 60% of holes with visible gold intercepts have returned multiple occurrences of visible gold;

§ The strike lengths of the explored sections of the main mineralised zones vary between 200 m and 650 m and the resource is currently open down plunge;

§ Significant high grade mineralisation has been recorded including the following selection of historical drilling intersections:

Isulu Prospect:

Hole ABKD0018 intersected 10.0 m grading 17.44 g/t Au from 18 m;

Hole ABKD0048 intersected 6.0 m grading 63.08 g/t Au from 35 m;

Hole ABKD0092 intersected 7.8 m grading 18.68 g/t Au from 334 m;

Hole ABKD0051 intersected 6.0 m grading 19.40 g/t Au from 473 m;

Hole ABKD0105 intersected 4.0 m grading 34.00 g/t Au from 302 m;

Hole ABKD0122 intersected 4.3 m grading 25.42 g/t Au from 665 m;

Hole ABKD0083 intersected 6.4 m grading 31.60 g/t Au from 670 m;

Hole ABKD0117 intersected 3.0 m grading 92.38 g/t Au from 537 m;


Bushiangala Prospect:

Hole ABSD004 intersected 19.8 m grading 9.26 g/t Au from 29 m;

Hole ABSD009 intersected 21.0 m grading 5.27 g/t Au from 50.8 m;

Hole ABSD019 intersected 11.2 m grading 9.20 g/t Au from 56 m;

Hole ABKD0061 intersected 7.8 m grading 23.75 g/t Au from 274 m;

Hole ABKD0060 intersected 8.0 m grading 15.49 g/t Au from 366 m;

 

A record of historical drilling intercepts at the Deposits grading 4.0 g/t Au or higher has been provided at Appendix 1. True widths of the reported intercepts range between 60% and 70%.

 

Note 1: The West Kenya Project covers 1,161 sq km of which 1,121 sq km is 100% beneficially owned by Shanta including the Deposits. Three Prospecting Licences (PL 210, PL 211 and PL 212) cover 40 sq km and are 87.16% beneficially owned by Shanta.

 

Future Drilling and Exploration

 

Shanta's Technical Services team has completed exploration drilling plans targeting infill drilling across the oxide and hard rock targets at the Deposits. Procurement of drilling equipment is ongoing and exploration drilling is expected to commence in Q4 2020.

 

Eric Zurrin, Chief Executive Officer, commented:

"Shanta has acquired licences that cover a greenstone gold district similar in size to the great Val d'Or District-Abitibi in Canada. The area is relatively unexplored yet already hosts the Isulu deposit, believed to be the highest grading +1m oz deposit in Africa. We believe the ABK has the potential to host a number of large, high grade deposits similar to the adjoining belt in Tanzania which hosts world class deposits including AngloGold's Geita Gold Mine and Barrick's North Mara gold mine."

 

Enquiries:

Shanta Gold Limited


Eric Zurrin (CEO)

+44 (0) 1481 732 153

Luke Leslie (CFO)

 

 

Nominated Adviser and Broker


Liberum


Scott Mathieson/ Clayton Bush/ Louis Davies

+44 (0) 20 3100 2222

 

Broker


Tamesis


Charlie Bendon/ Richard Greenfield

+44 (0) 20 3882 2868



 

The technical information contained within this announcement has been reviewed by Juma Kisunda (the Company's Chief Mine Geologist) and Paul W. Mbuya (the Company's Exploration Manager), who are Members of The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (Aus.I.M.M).

They have sufficient experience that is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity being undertaken to qualify as a Competent Persons as defined in the 2012 Edition of the 'Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves' and for the purposes of the AIM Guidance Note on Mining and Oil & Gas Companies dated June 2009.

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of Regulation 596/2014.

About Shanta Gold

Shanta Gold is an East Africa-focused gold producer. It currently has defined ore resources on the New Luika and Singida projects in Tanzania and holds exploration licenses covering approximately 1,200km2 in the country. Shanta Gold also owns the West Kenya Project in Kenya with defined ore resources of 1.2Mt grading 12.6 g/t. Shanta's flagship New Luika Gold Mine commenced production in 2012 and produced 84,506 ounces in 2019. The Company has been admitted to trading on London's AIM and has approximately 849 m shares in issue. For further information please visit: www.shantagold.com.

 

Supplementary Geological Information

The Tanzania Craton forms the south-eastern extent of the Archaean Eastern Congo Craton, a 2,000 km long corridor, which extends from Tanzania in the south, northwest into the Central African Republic. The northern part of the craton is composed of a Neoarchaean granite-greenstone terrane of the Lake Victorian gold field, which provides the host environment for the gold deposits in the West Kenya Project.

The Lake Victoria Goldfields comprise seven greenstone belts. The Busia-Kakamega Greenstone Belt lies on the northern edge of Lake Victoria extending northwest from Kakamega in Kenya, into Uganda. It is of analogous size to the well-known greenstone belts in the Val d'Or District-Abitibi, Canada and the Kalgoorlie District-WA in Australia.

The West Kenya Project area covers the majority of the Archaean Busia-Kakamega Belt, the northern most greenstone belt in the Lake Victoria Goldfield. The ABK Belt comprises a sequence of volcanic and sedimentary rocks of Archaean age. Four prospective exploration camps have been recognized across the belt: Kakamega Camp, Barkalare Camp, Yala Camp and Wagusu Camp. The principal prospects within the project are two ore bodies, namely Isulu and Bushiangala, which lie within the Liranda Corridor on the western margin of the Kakamega Camp. The gold mineralisation is classified as orogenic, shear-zone-hosted quartz-carbonate vein subtype and is hosted by sheared pillowed to massive basalts of the mafic volcanic unit, and varies from 0.5 m to 10 m in true width.

Mineralisation is associated with quartz, quartz-carbonate and quartz-vanadium mica veinlets. Sulphide mineralisation is present in the form of pyrite, pyrrhotite, sphalerite, arsenopyrite, and molybdenite. The mineralisation style is classified as orogenic, shear-zone-hosted quartz-carbonate vein subtype. A number of other gold prospects at various stages of exploration exist across the project area.


Appendix 1

Historical drilling intercepts at the Deposits grading 4.0 g/t Au or higher:

Drill

From (m)

To (m)

Interval

Au (g/t)

ABKD0018

18.00

28.00

10.00

17.4


Including:


20.00

25.00

5.00

33.4

ABKD0028

164.00

165.00

1.00

38.3


244.70

245.70

1.00

7.0

ABKD0079

221.80

227.00

5.20

6.67


305.00

310.00

5.00

17.3


357.00

358.00

1.00

8.80

ABKD0057

326.00

329.30

3.30

4.64

ABKD0053

31.50

34.50

3.00

62.3


Including:


33.00

34.50

1.50

123.0


241.00

244.00

3.00

10.8


264.00

276.00

12.00

4.4


Including:


271.00

276.00

5.00

9.0

ABKD0055

560.00

563.20

3.20

5.94

ABKD0051

436.60

440.00

3.40

30.5


Including:


436.60

437.80

1.20

79.1


453.00

457.00

4.00

10.2


461.00

467.00

6.00

4.98


473.00

479.00

6.00

19.4


Including:


474.00

478.00

4.00

28.1


673.00

677.00

4.00

9.9


Including:


673.00

674.00

1.00

36.3

ABKD0075

332.00

333.00

1.00

4.74

ABKD0063

334.00

336.00

2.00

4.46

ABKD0068

748.30

749.20

0.90

10.3

ABKD0072

242.30

245.00

2.70

4.86


270.00

270.70

0.70

4.55


367.80

369.50

1.70

7.49

ABKD0073

489.00

490.00

1.00

7.00

ABKD0074

326.80

328.20

1.40

5.40

ABKD0061

213.50

216.00

2.50

7.8


Including:


215.50

216.00

0.50

22.6


247.40

253.20

5.80

5.5


Including:


251.10

253.20

2.80

11.1


274.20

287.00

12.80

15.3


Including:


274.20

282.00

7.80

23.8


530.00

535.00

5.00

4.11

ABKD0092

334.20

342.00

7.80

18.7


Including:


338.00

340.00

2.00

38.3

ABKD0077

391.00

391.60

0.60

9.30


398.00

398.70

0.70

6.00


411.50

414.00

2.50

25.0


Including:


412.70

413.30

0.60

70.0

ABKD0078

104.70

109.00

4.30

6.5


Including:


104.70

107.00

2.30

10.5


225.70

228.00

2.30

17.3

ABKD0048

31.00

32.50

1.50

13.3


35.50

41.50

6.00

63.1


Including:


37.00

40.00

3.00

125.4


349.20

353.20

4.00

55.5


Including:


349.20

351.20

2.00

85.5

ABKD0082

423.00

427.00

4.00

15.6


Including:


426.00

427.00

1.00

45.9


460.00

463.00

3.00

5.08

ABKD0085

689.90

693.00

3.10

4.2


Including:


692.30

693.00

0.70

14.1


774.50

775.20

0.70

8.30

ABKD0086

521.00

522.00

1.00

11.1

ABKD0088

154.70

156.70

2.00

12.4

ABKD0089

617.40

624.20

6.80

10.4


Including:


623.10

624.20

1.10

59.0

ABKD0060

351.50

352.00

0.50

14.3


366.00

374.00

8.00

15.5


Including:


366.00

369.00

3.00

38.6


366.00

367.00

1.00

91.2

ABKD0076

267.00

267.90

0.90

12.8


280.00

284.00

4.00

9.99

ABKD0083

670.00

676.40

6.40

31.6


Including:


672.00

674.00

2.00

86.4


673.00

674.00

1.00

153


706.20

709.70

3.50

12.3


Including:


709.20

709.70

0.50

63.2

ABKD0098

381.80

383.00

1.20

43.4


429.00

429.70

0.70

127

ABKD0099

372.10

372.80

0.70

6.40


446.30

447.50

1.20

4.32

ABKD0101

437.20

438.00

0.80

13.9

ABKD0104

443.00

446.00

3.00

11.2


Including:


443.00

445.00

2.00

16.2

ABKD0128

407.50

408.20

0.70

7.20

ABKD0106

239.10

239.60

0.50

15.0


251.00

252.50

1.50

4.78


329.60

331.90

2.30

5.0


Including:


329.60

330.60

1.00

9.9

ABKD0108

577.40

578.00

0.60

14.9


616.60

617.40

0.80

12.2


650.00

652.00

2.00

7.80


655.10

656.50

1.40

47.6


664.00

669.00

5.00

6.0


Including:


666.00

667.00

1.00

26.6


666.60

667.00

0.40

63.3

ABKD0117

537.00

540.00

3.00

92.4


Including:


537.80

539.30

1.50

182.9


538.80

539.30

0.50

360


605.50

606.00

0.50

8.72


613.60

622.00

8.40

6.0


Including:


616.00

622.00

6.00

7.4


621.50

622.00

0.50

52.1

ABKD0111

658.00

658.70

0.70

17.9

ABKD0113

558.60

565.10

6.50

5.4


Including:


558.60

561.60

3.00

9.1


687.00

690.00

3.00

8.94

ABKD0114

187.20

191.00

3.80

8.86


331.10

334.70

3.60

14.5

ABKD0116

183.30

186.30

3.00

6.88


322.50

323.50

1.00

8.10

ABKD0109

346.00

347.50

1.50

32.8


427.20

427.80

0.60

13.9


575.00

580.90

5.90

8.0


Including:


579.80

580.30

0.50

40.3


584.20

584.90

0.70

15.6

ABKD0118

519.90

522.70

2.80

8.56


635.00

635.60

0.60

7.50


637.40

639.80

2.40

8.45


641.10

644.30

3.20

11.1

ABKD0119

99.80

101.30

1.50

5.29


106.80

110.10

3.30

4.53


141.90

142.80

0.90

11.5


177.00

179.00

2.00

9.02

ABKD0121

227.30

228.40

1.10

30.4

ABKD0135

213.00

214.00

1.00

8.10

ABKD0123

446.80

447.60

0.80

5.75


469.10

473.00

3.90

6.54


482.90

485.90

3.00

6.94


574.00

576.00

2.00

6.33

ABKD0124

499.40

501.20

1.80

4.17

ABKD0125

208.00

212.00

4.00

4.7


Including:


209.00

210.00

1.00

14.0


294.20

295.00

0.80

14.9


401.00

401.70

0.70

46.4


541.50

542.30

0.80

16.9

ABKD0126

498.20

498.70

0.50

46.8


584.30

585.40

1.10

35.8


Including:


584.30

584.80

0.50

70.2

ABKD0105

302.00

306.00

4.00

33.9


552.00

556.20

4.20

19.0


569.00

570.00

1.00

4.27


576.70

579.20

2.50

76.7

ABKD0130

197.00

200.10

3.10

14.0

ABKD0131

817.00

820.00

3.00

7.5


Including:


819.30

820.00

0.70

21.0

ABKD0132

301.30

302.60

1.30

65.6


446.50

451.20

4.70

14.0

ABKD0133

585.50

586.00

0.50

97.2


753.70

757.00

3.30

10.9

ABKD0122

525.00

526.30

1.30

7.60


637.60

638.20

0.60

4.94


664.90

669.20

4.30

25.4


676.00

677.00

1.00

4.97


686.80

687.30

0.50

25.0

ABKD0136

809.00

811.50

2.50

7.92

ABKD0138

200.00

201.00

1.00

26.0


214.00

216.00

2.00

22.6


221.70

223.20

1.50

5.97

ABKD0140

441.60

443.70

2.10

11.7


482.00

484.30

2.30

15.1

ABKD0141

459.00

462.40

3.40

6.45


700.10

701.30

1.20

12.1


708.00

711.10

3.10

16.1


Including:


710.60

711.10

0.50

94.9


766.30

768.60

2.30

21.2

ABKD0142

157.70

159.00

1.30

22.3


371.30

372.00

0.70

22.9


452.00

452.80

0.80

11.2

ABKD0143

312.00

313.00

1.00

6.57


397.10

398.50

1.40

42.9

ABKD0144

745.00

747.70

2.70

4.32


765.00

768.00

3.00

5.27


807.00

808.60

1.60

6.58

ABKD0144W1

757.00

758.00

1.00

5.69


779.00

782.00

3.00

17.8

ABKD0145

541.50

542.20

0.70

300


561.00

564.20

3.20

14.5


Including:


563.20

564.20

1.00

30.4

ABKD0146

270.70

273.20

2.50

28.5

ABKD0147

132.90

134.20

1.30

12.5


248.60

252.00

3.40

7.2


Including:


251.40

252.00

0.60

39.1


493.20

493.80

0.60

5.38

ABKD0148

358.40

359.20

0.80

6.84


543.50

545.10

1.60

9.39

ABKD0150

157.50

158.20

0.70

8.08


457.20

459.00

1.80

7.56


549.00

550.00

1.00

7.86


558.00

564.00

6.00

6.4


Including:


558.00

560.00

2.00

18.0

ABKD0151

538.90

540.40

1.50

6.21

ABKD0152

133.20

134.00

0.80

25.2


214.00

218.50

4.50

18.8


Including:


214.60

215.50

0.90

48.0


217.50

218.50

1.00

28.2


466.90

468.00

1.10

9.51

ABKD0153

384.00

385.00

1.00

10.6


576.80

578.80

2.00

14.2

ABKD0154

232.70

234.00

1.30

5.33


486.00

487.00

1.00

18.0

ABKD0155

389.00

390.00

1.00

18.4


399.20

400.20

1.00

9.44

ABKD0156

1067.90

1070.90

3.00

9.32

ABKD0156W1

1086.00

1090.00

4.00

17.2

ABKD0156W2

1141.40

1141.90

0.50

12.4

ABKD0157

521.00

522.20

1.20

6.03


532.60

533.20

0.60

8.82

ABKD0158W1

892.00

894.50

2.50

114


898.00

899.00

1.00

11.0

ABKD0158W3

924.60

929.00

4.40

9.03


931.40

932.00

0.60

21.0

ABKD0159

418.00

418.50

0.50

5.53

ABKD0160

264.00

265.00

1.00

4.11


386.00

389.00

3.00

14.0

ABKD0161

1026.50

1028.50

2.00

4.5


Including:


1028.50

1029.00

0.50

16.3

ABKD0161W1

995.30

997.30

2.00

37.0


1003.00

1004.00

1.00

21.5

ABKD0161W3

957.50

959.50

2.00

8.49

ABKD0162W1

846.30

848.30

2.00

7.52

ABKD0163

304.00

309.00

5.00

4.13


375.40

375.90

0.50

4.89

ABKD0165

14.50

16.00

1.50

6.58

ABKD0168

698.00

700.00

2.00

7.06

ABKD0173

39.70

41.20

1.50

4.88


186.90

190.00

3.10

7.07

ABKD0174

149.00

149.70

0.70

7.38


153.60

157.10

3.50

6.70

ABKD0175

122.80

125.80

3.00

55.2

ABKD0176

134.20

135.70

1.50

12.0


175.00

178.10

3.10

12.0

ABKD0177

113.50

115.00

1.50

10.5

ABKD0182

115.60

116.20

0.60

8.19

ABKD0186

113.00

114.00

1.00

6.21

ABKD0189

164.10

166.10

2.00

12.7

ABKD0192

166.10

168.10

2.00

23.1

ABKD0194

96.20

97.70

1.50

37.2

ABKD0200

128.00

130.30

2.30

4.63

ABKD0201

114.00

115.50

1.50

15.2

ABKD0209

207.00

208.80

1.80

5.89

ABKD0210

281.00

282.00

1.00

7.56

ABKD0211

267.00

269.00

2.00

4.64

ABKD0213

374.60

376.00

1.40

4.43

ABKD0216

318.00

318.50

0.50

4.20

ABSD004

29.41

49.22

19.81

9.26


32.41

41.06

8.65

15.2


100.82

101.82

1

1205

ABSD002

103.93

104.93

1

5.21

ABSD003

44.42

47.84

3.42

5.57


91.38

92.04

0.66

6.61

ABSD005

77.95

82.62

4.67

4.92

ABSD009

38.32

44.66

6.34

5.02


50.81

71.8

20.99

5.27


62.25

71.8

9.55

9.35

ABSD010

49.28

59.42

10.14

4.16


96.965

99.89

2.925

7.69

ABSD012

8

13.85

5.85

19.8

ABSD013

4.96

5.96

1

17.1

ABSD014

5.83

8.83

3

10.7


59.96

60.15

0.19

5.43


73.37

74.37

1

17.7

ABSD015

67.25

76.36

9.11

6.88

ABSD020

56.32

57.13

0.81

20.8

ABSD019

53.24

67.25

14.01

7.5


59.65

67.25

7.6

11.8


75.3

76.93

1.63

7.57

ABSD025

2.66

5.86

3.2

19.85

ABSD027

89.73

90.365

0.635

71.5

 

END

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