Reconnaissance work has led Montreal-listed partners Fairstar Explorations and Nora Exploration to acquire the Benso concession in south-central Ghana.
The 58-sq.-mile property, which contains several gold showings, is on the east side of the Ashanti gold belt, where annual production exceeds 1 million oz.
The most advanced showing, the Chichewelli, is in the northern part of the concession and has been partially investigated by 12 drill holes along a strike length of 5,650 ft. Some of the better grades include 0.18 oz. gold per ton over 12 ft., 0.38 oz. over 16.5 ft. and 1.5 oz. over 3.5 ft. The southern portion of the concession contains two distinct gold zones, Amantin and Subriso. The former saw limited production at the turn of the century, and recent sampling has yielded values ranging from 0.167 oz. over 6.5 ft. to 0.041 oz. over 66 ft.
Two major geochemical anomalies have been outlined on the Subriso zone. The first extends over 4,200 ft, with trench samples returning values of up to 0.073 oz. over 30 ft. Quartz vein outcrops within the anomaly have assayed up to 1.46 oz. The second anomaly seems to be more characteristic of a large-tonnage, low-grade deposit, yielding trench samples averaging 0.032 oz. over widths of 165 ft.
To earn a 60% interest in the property, Fairstar must pay US$25,000 to Architect Co-Partners, the vendors, and fund a US$200,000 exploration program in the first year. Thereafter, Fairstar and Nora will form a 60-40 joint venture, with the former as operator. The joint venture will fund an additional US$800,000 in exploration over the subsequent two years, while the vendors will be entitled to a 15% net profits interest.
In addition, Fairstar will issue 155,000 shares to Nora which, in return, will issue Fairstar 50,000 shares and give that company a 2-year option to buy an additional 105,000 Nora shares at 60 cents.
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