VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Sept. 27, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ashanti Gold Corp. (“Ashanti” or the “Company”) - (TSXV:AGZ) is pleased to provide an important corporate update on its gold exploration projects in West Africa.
Mali:
The Company has now released all the assay results from its drill campaign ended in June this year on the Kossanto East Project (the “Project”). The results have confirmed Ashanti’s original acquisition thesis about the Project, namely that: 1) past work had meaningfully de-risked the Project, 2) there is significant upside to expand upon known mineralized zones, and 3) demonstrating the intersection of two major shear zones on the Project would increase the size potential of mineralized zones. Due to management’s confidence about the Project, Ashanti acquired 100% in August 2017 (not including the Mali state 10% carried interest).
To summarize the Company’s view of the Project, currently there are two zones of gold mineralization (Gourbassi East and Gourbassi West) with a combined strike length of 2.3km, between 50m and 100m wide, with mineralization intercepted down to 125m beneath the ground surface. The Company intends to return to the Project site before the end of 2017 and conduct between 7,000m to 10,000m of both diamond and reverse circulation drilling. This drill campaign will increase drill data density on Gourbassi East and Gourbassi West, test for mineralization down to 200m below surface, and test new targets on the Project site. Additionally, the Company will collect mineralized material for metallurgical testing. The Company notes that the top 30 to 40 metres of the Project’s mineralized zones is oxidized material. Additionally, no significant occurrence of sulphide material has been noted in the geology of the Project.
Below are highlight drill results for gold from the June 2017 drill campaign on the Project:
- 41m @ 2.22 g/t, including 12m @ 3.22 g/t (GERC102)
- 47m @ 3.29 g/t, including 12m @ 8.89 g/t (GERC105)
- 25m @ 1.53 g/t, including 7m @ 7.95 g/t (GERC108)
- 25m @ 1.13 g/t, including 5m @ 2.34 g/t (GERC111)
- 13m @ 2.34 g/t, including 8m @ 3.24 g/t (GERC114)
- 33m @ 1.00 g/t (GWRC117)
- 60m @ 1.05 g/t (GWRC119)
- 17m @ 2.74 g/t, including 1m @ 30.13 g/t (GWRC125)
Ghana:
Ashanti conducted a soil sample program on the Anumso project in July and August of this year all along the 8km of untested Banket conglomerate outcropping on the project territory. This soil sample program has identified new priority targets on Anumso. The Company intends to conduct an expanded sampling, trenching and drilling program on these targets in the next 5 – 6 months to assess if gold-bearing material in these target zones is similar to, or exceeds, the grade of material that exists along 2km of outcropping Banket conglomerate that is part of a historic resource (Please see NI 43-101 report on Anumso from August 26, 2016 available on Ashanti’s website and SEDAR). Ashanti has the option to earn-in up to 75% of the Anumso project (not including the Ghana state 10% carried interest, see press release September 15, 2016).
In July the Company sent Anumso material to Blue Coast Group in Parksville, B.C. Canada for metallurgical test work. The test work will establish gold recovery rates as well as be a first step towards building an optimal recovery methodology. Management expects the results of that test work to be available by the end of the year.
Below are highlight drill results for gold from the February 2017 drill campaign on Anumso:
- 8m @ 1.46 g/t (AGZ RC004)
- 6m @ 2.11 g/t and 9m @ 1.60 g/t (AGZ RC005)
- 4m @ 1.73 g/t (AGZ RC011)
- 3m @ 4.95 g/t (AGZ RC018)
Ashanti has been working closely with the staff at the Minerals Commission in Ghana to settle all regulatory questions pertinent to the Kinross licenses in the Ashanti Belt. Ashanti is confident all the Ashanti Belt licenses will meet the Company’s due diligence standards and that it will begin its 100% earn-in option with Kinross (see press release of February 15, 2017).
Tim McCutcheon, CEO, said: “In keeping with our corporate philosophy, the entire team at Ashanti is pushing forward its projects as efficiently as possible to give shareholders the best value. With this corporate update we have articulated our plan for the next two quarters. The past six months have been a whirlwind of activity, and the next six months will be more of the same, namely executing our development plan to find the next major gold projects in West Africa.”
For all drill results posted herein for both Kossanto East and Anumso, the Company advises that drill holes are oriented to intersect stratigraphy at an optimal angle, however true widths cannot be determined as detailed information on the true orientation of stratigraphy at the point of intersection of the drill hole is not available. The Company’s drilling to date in both Ghana and Mali has been exclusively reverse circulation drilling. All samples were collected over 1m intervals and were collected from dry cuttings. Samples were collected from the drill site and transported to the Company’s secure camps and preparation facilities where they were split using a standard universal splitter into lab samples of approximately 2 kg. Remaining material is retained for later resampling or checking.
ABOUT ASHANTI GOLD
Ashanti is a gold-focused, exploration and development company with advanced projects in the northern Ashanti Belt of Ghana and the Kenieba Belt of Mali. The Company targets projects where existing work demonstrates attractive potential for near-term mine development and where it has a competitive advantage due to past work experience of the team and specific project know-how.
On Behalf of the Board of Directors of ASHANTI GOLD CORP.
"Tim McCutcheon"
Tim McCutcheon CEO
For further information, please contact: Ashanti Gold Corp. 2300 – 1177 West Hastings Street Vancouver BC, V6E 2K3 Phone: 604-638-3847
Qualified Person and Quality Control/Quality Assurance
Dr. Paul Klipfel, CPG (AIPG certification #10821), Ashanti’s COO and Chief Geologist is a Qualified Person as defined by Canadian NI 43-101 and has supervised the preparation of the scientific and technical information that forms the basis for this news release. Dr. Klipfel is responsible for all aspects of the work including the Quality Control/Quality Assurance programs. Dr. Klipfel is not an Independent Person, as he is a shareholder of Ashanti.
On Anumso, Ghana, quality control is monitored by the insertion of blind certified standard reference material and blanks at a rate of 1/20 samples. Blind duplicate splits are inserted into the sample stream at the rate of 1/50 samples. All samples have been analyzed by ALS Laboratories in Kumasi, Ghana, an internationally known testing company.
On Kossanto East, Mali, quality control is monitored by the insertion of blind certified standard reference material and blanks at a rate of 1/20 samples. Blind duplicate splits are inserted into the sample stream at the rate of 1/50 samples. In addition, the laboratory inserts their own certified standard and blank samples at the rate of 1/20 samples. All samples have been analyzed by SGS Laboratories in Bamako, Mali, an internationally known testing company.
Cautionary Statement on Forward-Looking Information
NEITHER THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE.
This press release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively, "forward looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein including, without limitation, statements regarding the anticipated content, commencement, timing and cost of exploration programs, anticipated exploration program results, the discovery and delineation of mineral deposits/resources/reserves, and the anticipated business plans and timing of future activities of the Company, are forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as: believe, expect, anticipate, intend, estimate, postulate and similar expressions, or are those, which, by their nature, refer to future events. The Company cautions investors that any forward-looking statements by the Company are not guarantees of future results or performance, and that actual results may differ materially from those in forward looking statements as a result of various factors, including, but not limited to, the state of the financial markets for the Company's equity securities, the state of the commodity markets generally, variations in the nature, quality and quantity of any mineral deposits that may be located, variations in the market price of any mineral products the Company may produce or plan to produce, the inability of the Company to obtain any necessary permits, consents or authorizations required, including TSXV acceptance, for its planned activities, the inability of the Company to produce minerals from its properties successfully or profitably, to continue its projected growth, to raise the necessary capital or to be fully able to implement its business strategies, and other risks and uncertainties disclosed in the Company's latest interim Management Discussion and Analysis and filed with certain securities commissions in Canada. All of the Company's Canadian public disclosure filings may be accessed via www.sedar.com and readers are urged to review these materials, including the technical reports filed with respect to the Company's mineral properties.
