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(Sharecast News) - East Africa-focussed explorer, developer and producer Shanta Gold updated the market on its exploration activities at the West Kenya Project on Thursday.
The AIM-traded firm said that in May, it resumed drilling programmes at the Isulu-Bushiangala and Ramula deposits within the West Kenya Project.
It said the primary objective was to convert inferred resources to indicated resources at the sites.
Additionally, sterilisation drilling was conducted around the Ramula deposit, and early-mid-stage targets around the Ramula potential mining centre were assessed.
During the second quarter, 4,421 metres of drilling from 12 diamond holes was carried out at the Isulu and Bushiangala deposits, while 717 metres of drilling from six diamond holes took place at Ramula.
Sterilisation drilling around Ramula was successful, with 3,717 metres of drilling from 12 diamond holes effectively sterilising the area for potential infrastructure placement.
Shanta said it had already completed 45% of the planned 2023 drilling at Isulu and Bushiangala.
At the Isulu and Bushiangala deposits, gold mineralisation was found in sheared pillowed to massive basalts, surrounded by various geological formations.
The mineralisation is associated with quartz and quartz-carbonate veinlets within shear zones of varying widths, while the strike lengths of the mineralised zones range from 100 to 600 metres.
Infill drilling at Isulu and Bushiangala, which started in 2021, aimed to infill existing modelled zones and achieved an average spacing of 40 metres at Isulu and 30 metres at Bushiangala.
That drilling targeted oxides and sulphides within the zones and resulted in an updated mineral resource estimate announced in January, indicating 1.29 million ounces grading 10.60 grams of gold per tonne, with 721,900 ounces upgraded to the indicated category.
The Ramula deposit, situated within a dioritoid stock and its contact zones, is located near a district-scale fault and unconformity.
Mineralisation at Ramula is hosted in quartz tension veins within the altered dioritoid and surrounding volcanic units, Shanta explained.
The style of mineralisation resembled the Sigma-Lamaque style in Canada's Abitibi Gold Belt.
Shanta's updated mineral resource estimate for Ramula, announced in February, showed 469,800 ounces grading 2.41 grams of gold per tonne.
Notably, Ramula's mineralisation remained open for extension both to the northwest and southeast, with drilling to a depth of 600 metres confirming the potential for underground mineable resources.
"I am delighted to announce an update on drilling at our West Kenya project, the first update since drilling recommenced in May this year," said chief executive officer Eric Zurrin.
"This update follows on from the success announced last year at West Kenya, where we upgraded resources at Isulu and Bushiangala to 1.29 million ounces grading 10.60 grams of gold per tonne, of which 721,900 ounces grading 11.45 grams of gold per tonne was upgraded to the indicated category.
"Meanwhile at Ramula, we upgraded resources of 469,800 ounces grading 2.41 grams of gold per tonne, including 416,700 ounces grading 2.43 grams per tonne."
Zurrin said the 4,421 metres of assays reported following its recent exploration campaign had so far identified visible gold in five intersections from nine holes drilled at Isulu and Bushiangala, as well as at the six holes drilled at Ramula, as the team aimed to convert inferred resources to indicated.
"We continue to believe that the drilling results delivered at West Kenya demonstrate that this project has the potential to become one of Africa's next quality, high-grade gold mines, and we look forward to updating shareholders on this exciting project in due course."
At 1317 GMT, shares in Shanta Gold were down 2.03% at 10.88p.
Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.
