Volta Resources pulls golden core from Kiaka

VANCOUVER — A drill program aimed at defining a maiden resource at the Kiaka project in Burkina Faso continues to produce near-surface lengths of gold mineralization for Volta Resources (VTR-T).

Volta is working through a 22,000-metre drill campaign at Kiaka, punching holes 50 metres apart on more than a dozen cross-sections. The latest results come from section 5550, which crosses the northeast-trending mineralized zone two-thirds of the way up its 1.2-km strike.

Hole 53 cut 60.2 metres grading 1.17 grams gold from 91 metres depth, including 11 metres averaging 2.91 grams gold, and then cut 72 metres carrying 1.12 grams gold at 159 metres depth. The hole terminated in mineralization at 275 metres downhole. The core also included mineralization between 45 and 85 metres depth, consisting of 19 metres of 0.96 gram gold and 10 metres of 1.46 grams gold.

The next hole on the section, hole 54, hit gold right from surface: the top 31 metres of core carried 1.28 grams gold. The hole also cut 73 metres grading 0.8 gram gold starting 45 metres downhole.

Volta acquired the Kiaka project from Randgold Resources (GOLD-Q) late last year and the company is still assaying drill samples left behind by the previous owner. Randgold had drilled several holes along what is now section 5550. Hole 6, in the middle of the zone, cut 130 metres grading 0.87 gram gold from 18 metres downhole; less than 10 metres later it cut another intercept of 9 metres at 2.68 grams gold. Roughly 100 metres to the northwest, hole 4 returned 21 metres of 0.62 gram gold from 64 metres depth, then hit 167 metres averaging 0.8 gram gold at 115 metres downhole.

And from 150 metres northwest of hole 4, hole 21 intercepted 11 metres of 2.34 grams gold from 100 metres depth followed by 16 metres of 0.97 gram gold and 28 metres of 1.19 grams gold. The hits in hole 21 are of interest because they came from outside of the interpreted envelope of mineralization. Specifically, Volta believes hole 21 encountered mineralization in a hangingwall zone parallel to the Main zone.

Randgold’s efforts at Kiaka previously identified gold mineralization in both the Main and Hangingwall South zones. The Main zone, also known as Kiaka Main zone or KMZ, has been traced on surface for 2.8 km; within that, drills have encountered mineralization along 1.2 km strike and across roughly 500 metres width. The steeply-dipping structure has produced numerous intercepts grading better than 1 gram gold for more than 100 metres. The Hangingwall South zone, also known as KHZ, is thought to strike for 650 metres; it is narrower but contains higher-grade mineralization than KMZ.

Volta’s rapid drilling pace at Kiaka — the company has two rigs turning — is churning out drill results regularly. Only a few days before the results from section 5550, the company reported its results from the adjacent section 5450, which included 93 metres grading 0.7 gram gold, 34 metres of 1.56 grams gold, 62.2 metres of 2.25 grams gold and 120.5 metres of 0.94 gram gold.

And results from the next line of holes — section 5500 — included 219 metres of 0.9 gram gold, 133 metres of 0.72 gram gold and 90.9 metres of 1.06 grams gold.

Volta was formed in early 2008 through the merger of Birim Goldfields, which held a 7,000-sq.-km land package in Ghana, and Goldcrest Resources, which was focused on Burkina Faso. The emphasis on West Africa, and on Burkina Faso in particular, brought Volta a new shareholder in the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank and the only international finance institution focused exclusively on the private sectors of developing markets. In March, the IFC subscribed for 5.4 million Volta units at 74¢ apiece, a $4-million investment. Each unit comprised a share and half a warrant exercisable at $1.03 for five years.

The merger gave Volta more than just Kiaka. The company is also exploring its other Burkina Faso project, a copper-gold porphyry property called Gaoua. A recent 27-hole reverse circulation drill program at one of the two deposits at Gaoua, called Gongondy, extended the deposit to the south and west.

In early 2009, an initial estimate pegged the inferred resource count for Gongondy at 59.6 million tonnes grading 0.36% copper and 0.48 gram gold. The nearby Dienemera deposit hosts 23 million inferred tonnes averaging 0.5% copper and 0.21 gram gold.

Things are going well for Volta in Burkina Faso, but the company recently encountered a significant obstacle at its Ghanaian projects. In March, the Ghanaian Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) informed Volta that the exploration permits for eight of its prospecting licences and one of its reconnaissance licences would not be renewed. The EPA says the licences lie within an area of influence with respect to the Bui dam, which is currently under construction, and the agency says mineral resource exploitation would have the potential to impact the structural integrity of the dam.

Volta says that, given the uncertainty of the situation, it has elected to write down the value of the contested licences to a nominal valuation. As such, the company recorded a $15.2-million write down. Volta will continue its efforts to secure the renewal of all licences from the EPA, which the company says has not provided any technical justification for its decision.

Volta’s share price lost 2¢ on its latest Kiaka results to close at $1.38. The company has a 52-week trading range of 12¢-$1.70 and 110 million shares outstanding.