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Volta Resources buys Kiaka Property from Randgold

Randgold Resources (LSE: RRS) announced the completion of the sale of its Kiaka project to Volta Resources (TSX: VTR) for C$4 million in cash and 20 million common shares in Volta. In October Volta successfully raised over C$8 million to fund the cash element of the transaction and an aggressive drilling program.

Volta is a mineral exploration company with a strong focus on gold properties in West Africa, where it has active programmes in Burkina Faso, Ghana and Mali. As a result of the transaction Randgold will now own 27.3% of the issued and outstanding Common Shares in Volta. The shares have been placed in escrow pending proof of recordation of the licence comprising the Kiaka Gold Project into Volta's name. The cash consideration will be paid in four equal instalments over the course of the next 24 months.

For Volta the Kiaka acquisition represents a further expansion to its exploration efforts in Burkina Faso, adding to the company’s Kampti Project and Gaoua Project in the African nation. The Kiaka exploration permit covers an area of 244km₂ and is located approximately 120 kilometres southeast of Ouagadougou, the capital city of Burkina Faso.

The Kiaka gold project is located at the intersection of the northeast striking Tenkodogo greenstone belt and the regionally significant north striking Markoye Fault. The Kiaka project is in proximity to some of the larger gold resources discovered in Burkina Faso, including IAM Gold’s (NYSE: IAG) 5 million ounce (Moz), Essakane deposit.

At Kiaka, Randgold has spent in excess of $6 million, undertaking extensive exploration on the permit since 2004.

Exploration work has included geophysics and mapping, along with soil sampling, trenching and various forms of exploration drilling.

According to Volta the gold deposit is located on grain margins and is not occluded within sulphides and is therefore unlikely to be refractory. Preliminary metallurgical test work was also undertaken by Randgold. The results indicate encouraging recoveries with the majority of the samples returning more than 90% recovery.

Volta plans an aggressive drilling program consisting of more than 150 holes for a total of approximately 22,000 metres.  The program has been designed in consultation with SRK Ltd to finalize a National Instrument 43-101 compliant resource at the conclusion of this $4,000,000 program.

Earlier this month, Volta's President and CEO Kevin Bullock commented on the deal and the future exploration plans for the Kiaka project: "The acquisition of the advanced Kiaka gold project is Volta's most important development to date. We will now aggressively explore the Kiaka deposit in order to move the project toward a development decision in the shortest possible timeframe. To facilitate this, a NI43-101 compliant resource estimate is planned to be completed by the end of the second quarter of 2010. We are also delighted to now have Randgold, one of the world's fastest growing gold miners, as a major shareholder in Volta."