THE DRILL SERGEANT: Perth-based Viking Ashanti has intersected multiple zones of gold mineralisation from the first drilling program on the southwest extension of its Akoase East project.

The 500,000 ounce Akoase East gold project is located in Ghana, West Africa.

The first ten Reverse Circulation holes drilled on the southwest extension of the Akoase East gold project all hit encouraging gold intersections including:

– 5m at 3.06 grams per tonne gold, 6m at 1.36 g/t gold, and 15m at 1.51 g/t gold.

Viking Ashanti said the results confirm the potential for extending the existing resource along strike to the southwest.

Other intersections received by the company from this round of drilling include:

– 5m at 3.06 g/t gold and 3m at 1.21 g/t gold;

– 6m at 1.36 g/t gold; and

– 15m at 1.51 g/t gold and 1m at 3.13 g/t gold.

“These holes demonstrate that multiple zones of shallow mineralisation continue for at least 400 metres southwest and immediately along strike of the current resource at Akoase East, and at grades and widths comparable to the existing Akoase East resource,” Viking Ashanti said in its release to the Australian Securities Exchange.

“The company believes excellent potential exists for further extensions of the current resource in this area.”

So far the company has completed 24 holes of a planned 48 RC hole program at 100 metre line spacing.

The remaining holes will be drilled at 200m line spacing along strike to the southwest.

A further 4 strike kilometres of the main Akoase structural trend extending to the southern boundary of Viking Ashanti’s licence area remains to be drill tested.

The company indicated this will done following completion of this current program.

“Viking Ashanti’s primary objective since listing remains to increase the existing 500,000 JORC classified resource at Akoase East and with contributions from its other Ghanaian gold projects including West Star and Blue River, build a gold resource inventory of more than one million ounces by mid-2012,” the company said.

THE DRILL SERGEANT: Perth-based gold exploration and development company Manas Resources had a smile on its collective faces as it reported the second round of results from a drilling campaign at its 100%- owned Shambesai gold project in the Kyrgyz Republic, Central Asia.

The company has been carrying out a program of more than 12,000 metres of resource and development drilling at Shambesai with the aim of rapidly upgrading all resources in the current pit optimisation.

The drilling was also designed to test other areas for further shallow oxide at the edge of the existing resource; Test the fault zone between the deep and main Shambesai zones; and Define the zone at the western boundary of the current pit with the goal of substantially increasing the resource and pit extent.

The highlight result from this current drilling was a wide, high-grade intersection, from outside of the current Shambesai Mineral Resource of:

– 33.7 metres at 10.74 grams per tonne gold from 114.3m.

Other high-grade zones were found to occur within this intersection and included intercepts of:

– 15.8m at 17.81g/t gold from 125m;

– 7.8m at 28.64g/t gold from 133m; and

– 4m at 42.03g/t gold from 136m.

Other significant results from the recent drilling program included:

 -13.9m at 1.78g/t gold from 104m;

– 17.45m at 2.55g/t gold from 14.75m; and

– 5.1m at 4.49g/t gold from 59m.

Manas Resources said it considered all of these results to demonstrate the mineralisation to continue at depth as well as demonstrating continuity of the mineralisation on the contact between the limestone and siltstone.
 
“The wide high-grade intersection…was returned from sulphides in the structural zone separating the Shambesai main and west zones,” Manas Resources said in its ASX announcement.

“The discovery of high-grade mineralisation along this structural zone has the potential to significantly improve the already robust project economics by substantially increasing the underground potential of the project which Manas has recently begun to evaluate.”

The majority of this latest round of Shambesai results were returned from sulphide mineralisation outside of the Shambesai project’s current 645,000-ounce Mineral Resource.

Manas is currently in the process of carrying out further drilling to test the extent of high-grade mineralisation along the Shambesai structural zone and to the west of the structural zone.

The aim of the current drilling program is to increase gold resources and provide additional mineable oxide for the Shambesai gold project.

Drilling is currently occurring at two areas – Shambesai and Pum – with 11,000 metres completed on all areas.

Trading in shares of resource companies listed on the boards of the Australian Securities Exchange has, in recent years, become part of the Australian psyche as a punt on the horses.

There is little wonder this has occurred. Both provide the punter with the challenge of following the form of their respective favourites and dreams of big returns.

If they choose the right bet at the right time the gains can be worthwhile, choose incorrectly, or back the wrong charge and the results can be calamitous.

Chasing the long odds on a horse race is really no different to an uneducated plunge on a three cent mining company stock with the idea that it has to hit ten cents soon.

To give those keen on playing the resources share market industry insider and analyst Dr Allan Trench has put together, A Sharebuyer’s Guide to Investing in the Australian Mining Boom.

I was about half way into the first chapter of Trench’s offering into the machinations of the resources industry when I turned to my partner and said, “This is a really good book”.

Some people may consider that to be a pretty bold statement considering I was only on page eight of what is an almost 500 page tome but there it was – out there – and I still don’t feel any compulsion to withdraw my original declaration.

Trench’s aimed-for-readership are investors he describes as those, “who fall within the spectrum of market participants that lie somewhere between the pure long-term, passive investor and the dedicated follower of day trading”.

In other words anybody who takes on the share market, either because they believe they know what they are doing or believe the “can’t miss” tip they heard in the public bar of their local last Friday night is the sure thing it promises to be.

Trench takes his readers through the different stages of the life of a mining company from early mineral exploration through to the development of an operational mine and the complexities held therein.

He also looks at the different forms of investing that are open to investors besides simply buying shares.

He points to systems of the seasoned investor such as watching when share purchases and sales are made and who is making them, what activities, if any, an exploration company is carrying out.

Techniques that seem simple enough, but are what many potential investors fail to consider or recognise the importance of.

These are followed by profiles on different commodities, many of which feature prominently in the portfolios of junior exploration companies.

Trench then presents a snapshot of several different companies that are chasing these commodities around the country and other parts of the world giving a brief insight to how they’re travelling and what pros and cons each may have to offer.

Throughout he provides an unpretentious commentary on what all investors, from the ingenuous to the sophisticated, should be wary of before they hit the ‘send funds’ button on their internet share trading home page.

Trench’s experience as a geologist and company director for numerous companies over the last 20 years is obvious in the foresight and advice he offers.

If I was to offer any criticism it would be that, at times, the language, especially when explaining technologically-based exploration techniques, could have offered those unfamiliar with the sector greater enlightenment.

However, self-improvement is one of the mantras of the 21st century and if people are reading this book they should also be prepared to undertake further tuition to learn more about what their investment is buying them.

This is a book that not only mining investors, new and old, should read but is one many a hoary old business journalist should place on their night stand as well.

THE BOURSE WHISPERER: Demonstrating that one man’s tax is another’s bonus is wave energy developer Carnegie Wave Energy.

Australia’s most advanced wave energy company greeted Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s new carbon tax price with optimism while adding the new renewable energy funding would provide greater investor certainty.

Wave Energy’s declaration has come as a response to the Australian Federal Government’s new climate change initiative, which includes a price on carbon dioxide as well as the establishment of a Clean Energy Finance Corporation.

The government will also be establishing and the Australian Renewable Energy Agency that will oversee $13 billion of investment in renewable energy.

Speaking at the Boao Forum for Asia in Perth, Carnegie Wave Energy chief executive officer and managing director Dr Michael Ottaviano said he welcomed the carbon price and renewable energy funding policies announced by the Australian Federal Government.

“The policy will provide the platform for Australia to capitalize on its clean energy resources including its world class wave, solar and hot rocks assets,” Ottaviano said.

“In particular, it could provide the focus needed on earlier stage renewable technologies like wave where there is still the opportunity for Australia to lead the world.”

“Whilst a record amount of $240 billion was spent globally last year in clean energy, more than 95% was invested in deploying existing proven technologies.

“Arguably, it is the newer, emerging renewables like wave that have the potential to be game changers, providing high availability, predictable clean energy.”

Carnegie recently announced the completion of Stage 1 of its Perth wave energy project in Western Australia.

The Perth wave energy project is located off Australia’s largest naval base, HMAS Stirling at Garden Island in Western Australia and is the most advanced project of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere.

The project sits offshore from Fremantle in the ocean between Garden Island and Five Fathom Bank at a depth of approximately 25 metres and is supported by a $12.5 million grant from the Western Australian State Government.

Upon completion, it will be Australia’s first commercial scale wave energy project.

THE DRILL SERGEANT: Port Moresby-based junior gold company Highlands Pacific has reported the results of completed in‐fill drilling on its Frieda copper gold project in Papua New Guinea.

The drilling was carried out by Highlands Pacific’s Joint Venture partner Xstrata Copper.

The company is now awaiting an updated resource estimate that is due in August prior to the formal delivery of a Bankable Feasibility Study in January 2012.

The diamond resource drilling, which was undertaken between November 2010 and May this year, hit multiple one per cent copper intersections.

Intersections that recorded results at a 0.5% copper lower cut off include:

– 110 metres at 1.00% copper and 0.60 grams per tonne gold from 8 metres down hole
– 97 metres at 1.05% copper and 0.32 g/t gold from 12 metres down hole
– 140 metres at 1.11% copper and 1.04 g/t gold from 60 metres down hole
– 108 metres at 1.10% copper and 0.20 g/t gold from 82 metres down hole
– 126 metres at 0.81% copper and 0.65 g/t gold from 120 metres down hole

A number of other intersections at a 0.2% copper lower cut off include:

– 456 metres at 0.60% copper and 0.43 g/t gold from 8 metres down hole
– 442 metres at 0.67% copper and 0.58 g/t gold from 168 metres down hole
– 512 metres at 0.62% copper and 0.34 g/t gold from 16 metres down hole
– 270 metres at 0.68% copper and 0.84 g/t gold from 2 metres down hole

Highlands Pacific managing director John Gooding said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange the completion of resource in‐fill drilling lifted the total number of holes drilled into the Frieda copper district to well over 1,300 holes and 270 kilometres at a cost of more than US$250 million.

“These drilling results again highlight the fabulous Frieda deposit as a special copper porphyry giant,” Gooding said.

“Past drilling from surface to 1,000 metres has also highlighted the depths of the deposit.

“The feature of this more recent in‐fill drilling is the quality of grade for the early year starter pits.

“We look forward to receiving an updated mineral resource estimate for Frieda (the Horse‐Ivaal‐Trukai deposits) in August 2011 which is expected to push even more of the current 8.6 million tonnes of contained copper inventory into the higher confidence Measured and Indicated categories.”

The current total economic pit constrained resource of Frieda’s Horse‐Ivaal‐Trukai deposit stands at 1,900 million tonnes at 0.45% copper and 0.22 grams per tonne gold.

Directly adjacent to the Horse‐Ivaal‐Trukai deposits is a further 300Mt of resources at the Nena and Koki deposits which are not in the current mine plan.

Including Nena and Koki, the Frieda district contains 11Mt of insitu copper and 18 million ounces of gold.

A Pre‐Feasibility Study released by Pacific Highlands in November 2010 indicated a 60 million tonnes per annum throughput for the first eight years with output averaging 246,000 tonnes per annum of copper and 379,000 ounces per annuma of gold as part of a multi‐decade operation with cash costs in the lowest 30th percentile of world copper mines.

Highlands has a free‐carried interest through to completion of a Bankable Feasibility Study that is required by January 2012.

At that stage Xstrata will have maintained its joint venture interest of 81.82%. Xstrata Copper has budgeted US$122 million to complete the BFS.