Drilling results from three targets forming part of the Ramula Camp at the West Kenya project, in Kenya, confirm Aim-listed Shanta Gold’s long-held belief that the project has the potential to become one of Africa’s next quality, high-grade gold mines, CEO Eric Zurrin says.

“The team has encountered excellent intersections from three new targets at the Ramula Camp that, in time, may see the resource potentially increase from the original maiden inferred resource of 434 000 oz, grading 2.08 g/t, to at least another plus-1.5-million-ounce gold camp within West Kenya.

“Alongside the Ramula Camp and its growing resource, we have the 1.2-million-ounce resource already established at the Isulu/ Bushiangala Camp,” Zurrin outlines.

“We look forward to providing shareholders with a mineral resource update from Isulu/ Bushiangala before the year end. Our focus will then turn to updating the market on the Ramula mineral resource in the new year where we have confidence in a material upgrade to indicated resources,” he adds.

The three new and recently reassessed targets, Anomaly 22, the Miruka system, and the Ochiegue system, situated within 5 km radius from Ramula deposit, present several exciting additional openpit and underground development options for the company in what is a large prolific district owned by Shanta, says Shanta exploration head Yuri Dobrotin.

“As the team makes great progress in upgrading a portion of the Ramula deposit from inferred to the indicated category, we are confident that these proximal targets will be advanced by additional drilling and that the growth potential is only starting to be realised,” he adds.

The drilling programme at the Ramula deposit is aimed at the conversion of the inferred resources to indicated.

Resource conversion drilling by Shanta at Ramula and proximal targets has only begun in the last 12 months and confidence has increased towards the line of sight to a plus-1.5-million-ounce resource.

Drilling has now expanded to district targets within the wider Ramula Camp, currently including high priority targets Ramula, Miruka, and Anomaly 22; reassessment of the Ochiegue target is ongoing, which was previously drilled by Acacia.