Volta more than doubles Kiaka gold resource

Work at Volta Resources‘ (VTR-T) Kiaka gold project in Burkina Faso has been anything but idle as of late.

Since acquiring the property from Randgold Resources (GOLD-N, RRS-L) in October 2009 for $4 million and 20 million shares, Volta has completed two rounds of diamond drilling totalling 64,484 metres over 365 holes, compiled a maiden resource estimate and raised over $50 million for exploration. It has also just started a third round of drilling which will include another 50,000 metres using three diamond drill rigs.

On June 29, the West Africa-focused junior released an updated resource estimate for Kiaka which saw the open-pit project’s gold resource move into higher categories and more than double in size. Kiaka now boasts 3.01 million oz. gold in the measured and indicated categories spread over 90.2 million tonnes at an average grade of 1.04 grams gold per tonne, as well as another 1.26 million oz. gold inferred over 38.5 million inferred tonnes grading 1 gram gold (up from 1.38 million oz. indicated and 480,000 oz. inferred). The cut-off grade was 0.6 gram gold.

Located nearly 120 km southeast of the capital Ouagadougou, the project lies at the intersection of the northeast-striking Tenkodogo greenstone belt and the north-striking Markoye Fault Corridor, along trend of several of Burkina Faso’s largest gold deposits. Further along the Markoye Corridor is: Orezone Gold‘s (ORE-T) Bombore deposit, home to roughly 3.5 million oz. gold; Moscow-based Severstal Gold‘s Taparko deposit, hosting roughly 1.7 million oz. gold; and Iamgold‘s (IMG-T, IAG-N) Essakane mine, which currently holds 5.85 million oz. gold.

Drilling to date at the 184-sq.-km Kiaka property has delineated a deposit with an overall strike length of 1.5 km and an average depth of approximately 450 metres. The orebody mainly comprises four higher-grade mineralized bands ranging between five metres and 50 metres wide, and extending with good continuity for 100 metres to 400 metres along strike and 50 metres to 200 metres downdip. The bands are further hosted in a lower-grade mineralized halo within a structural corridor approximately 100 metres to 250 metres wide. Average grade for the mineralized bands is roughly 1.4 grams gold per tonne, whereas the halo mineralization averages around 0.8 gram gold.

Volta considers Kiaka to be open along strike both north and south, and says there is potential to further extend the deposit at depth as well. Its current round of drilling is designed to test for these extensions and explore other local targets identified through mapping and sampling within a three-kilometre radius of the deposit. Minor scout drilling on other regional targets farther away will also occur.

Investors can expect drilling to continue until the onset of seasonal rains in mid-July, which will halt exploration for about two months. The company then plans to start a prefeasibility study in the second half of the year that will incorporate advanced metallurgical testing and project-specific operating parameters. Early metallurgical results from last year using gravity and carbon-in-leach processing showed recoveries up to 97% for the higher-grade mineralized bands and up to 93% for the halo mineralization.

Commenting on Volta’s recent progress, president Kevin Bullock noted, “The Volta team has once again delivered the estimate on time and on budget. The extent of the current resource upgrade elevates the Kiaka deposit to the next category in terms of quality and size. Notwithstanding the success of the phase 2 campaign, the Kiaka deposit is not closed off yet, with further potential indicated along strike and downdip.”

Shares of the Toronto-based explorer gained 19¢ to $1.56 after releasing the resource estimate on June 29 with 2.9 million shares traded. The stock has a 52-week range of $1.12-$2.65.