Volcanic Gold Mines (VG.V) has already started a drill program on the 75%-owned Mandiana gold project in Guinea which was recently acquired in a deal with London-listed Sovereign Mines of Africa (SMA.L).
The project is located close to the border with Mali, and covers a surface area of 300 square kilometers in a prolific zone which hosts several multi-million ounce gold projects such as The Tri-K project owned by Avocet Mining and the Siguiri mine owned by AngloGold Ashanti. The previous owner has completed in excess of 16,000 meters of drilling in the property with results like 28 meters at 1.66 g/t, 40 meters at 4.49 g/t and 28 meters at 6.44 g/t gold. Very decent grades for what appears to be an open pit project (although there will definitely be a need to remove overburden as the mineralization generally started 100 meters down-hole in the previous exploration programs.
Volcanic will now start a 1,700 meter reverse circulation program to get a better understanding of the geological structures wherein the current inferred resource estimate is defined. Additionally, some holes will also be drilled as infill holes which should make it easier for Volcanic to upgrade the resources to a measured and indicated status later on.
On top of the drill program, Volcanic will also explore for more artisanal workings which seem to be located on a north-south trend along both sides of the current resources, whilst a third (parallel) trend is located further to the west.
The author has a long position in Volcanic Gold Mines. Please read the disclaimer
