Explorer strikes gold in Ghana

Canadian explorer PMI Ventures reported yesterday that significant gold mineralisation was discovered in the School Zone East area, comprising the Ashanti II project area, in Ghana.

It also reportedly received further assays from its recent rotary drill programme on the Fromenda concession - one of nine contiguous concessions that comprise the Ashanti II project area, located along a 50 km length on the axis of the Asankrangwa Gold Belt of south western Ghana.


Four short rotary holes were reportedly completed at the School Zone East area, along a line located 50 m to the north east of previously reported holes.


These holes were drilled to test for a northeastern extension of the wide, low-grade gold mineralised zone intersected earlier in the programme.


The assay results from hole 03FBRC69 revealed a tripling of the gold grades from the initial School Zone East discovery holes and now confirm that potentially economic gold grades and widths, comparable with the gold grades and widths in other operating gold mines in Ghana, occur in the School Zone East area.


Drilling will allegedly continue in January - February 2004.

The results of the recent 4 500 m drilling programme on the Fromenda concession have confirmed three new gold discoveries - out of the four areas where drilling was completed.


Each of these new discoveries - the parallel target on the Fromenda Grid 'B' zone, the School Zone North and East zones - and the southern extension of the main gold mineralised area at Grid 'B', will receive additional drilling when the drilling resumes in mid-January 2004.


PMI stated that this year it plans to continue the current drill programme to expand known gold mineralised zones both on strike and to depth together with a significant deep sensing, three dimensional geophysical programme that will be implemented in late January 2004.


This geophysical programme is designed to identify possible gold mineralised structures that exist at depth to be tested by an increased level of drilling in the second quarter of 2004.


The company reported that at present, it has cash reserves in excess of $2,3-million that is adequate to finance the planned exploration activities.