Shanta Gold upbeat on latest drilling results from New Luika

The AIM-traded firm said a total of 4,505 metres was drilled, covering 17 holes at Bauhinia Creek Main, Bauhinia Creek East Area 1, and Luika, on the mining licences at the New Luika Gold Mine.

At BC Main, it said hole CSD294 intersected 3.05 metres at 15.17 grams of gold per tonne from 110.2 metres, including 1.23 metres at 36.29 grams per tonne.

On the BC East Area 1, hole CSD251 intersected 10.56 metres at 22.67 grams of gold per tonne from 98 metres, including 4.3 metres at 51.65 grams per tonne.

At Luika, hole CSD227 intersected 4.88 metres at 4.72 grams of gold per tonne from 529.2 metres, including 2.12 metres at 8.07 grams per tonne, while hole CSD269 intersected 5.44 metres at 5.84 grams of gold per tonne from 539.92 metres, including 1.16 metres at 17.88 grams per tonne.

The company said the reported results were over strike lengths of 160 metres, 270 metres, and 320 metres for BC Main, BC East Area 1, and Luika, respectively.

A further 3,733 metres of reverse circulation drilling was undertaken, covering 47 holes at Porcupine South, about 22 kilometres from the New Luika Gold Mine processing plant.

Of that drilling, hole PSRC049 intersected eight metres at 2.60 grams of gold per tonne from 53 metres, including one metre at 5.02 grams per tonne and three metres at 4.23 grams per tonne, and hole PSRC066 intersected seven metres at 2.38 grams of gold per tonne from 53 metres including two metres at 4.75 grams per tonne.

Hole PSRC051 intersected 10 metres at 2.26 grams of gold per tonne from 53 metres including four metres at 4.07 grams per tonne, and hole PSRC088 intersected 13 metres at 3.01 grams of gold per tonne from 167 metres including five metres at 5.06 grams per tonne.

On Hole PSRC089, the company intersected nine metres at 2.46 grams of gold per tonne from 58 metres including three metres at 5.63 grams per tonne, and at hole PSRC090 it intersected seven metres at 2.25 grams of gold per tonne from 93 metres, including three metres at 4.49 grams per tonne.

The results were over a strike length of 600 metres at targets on the western extension of Porcupine South.

All of the newly-reported drilling intersections were outside existing mineral reserves, and would be incorporated into the next update of the mine plan.

Mineralisation at Luika and at the western extension of Porcupine South remained open at depth, the board said.

“Exploration drilling and mine life extension are core value drivers for Shanta,” said executive chairman Eric Zurrin.

“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.

“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.”

Zurrin said the company would publish a reserve and resource update for New Luika in the first quarter of 2022.

“As we transition to a 100,000 ounce gold producer in 2023, ongoing exploration will play a critical role in sustainably extending and adding to Shanta's production profiles over time to maximise the social impact of our assets on the ground and in returns for shareholders.”

At 1447 GMT, shares in Shanta Gold were down 2.8% at 11.57p.