AZIMUTH Resources Limited, an Australian company exploring in the Omai area of Region 7 (Cuyuni/Mazaruni) has announced the discovery of high-grade gold at Larken prospect.

First assays from shallow reverse circulation drilling at Larken yielded the high grades over substantial widths but the company said best results  were from drill hole LRC007(4.8 grammes per ton) from 12 to 25 metres and from drill hole LRC009 (2.5 grammes per ton) from five to  91 metres.
It is generally accepted that the average gold grade for productive systems in open pit mining in the Guiana Shield region is known to be between 0.8  and 1.5 grammes per ton.
The results from drill holes LRC007 and LRC009, when combined with the recently reprocessed and interpreted aeromagnetics, illustrate the prospectivity of the West Omai region and, specifically, the potential for additional high-grade, gold-bearing structures in close proximity to two other deposits, Smarts and Hicks, the Australian explorer said.
Larken is a small artisanal open pit, approximately 50 metres wide by 120 metres in strike and less than 15 metres deep, that was mined in the middle to late 1990s. It lies approximately 700 metres to the West Omai Hicks prospect and is likely to be a sub-parallel structure to the one that also hosts another northeast of Smarts, Azimuth said.
Recent aeromagnetic processing and interpretation would indicate that there may well be a parallel zone of gold anomalism with a strike of at least three kilometres.
Other holes within the programme, which were successful in intercepting the structure, however, returned low grades.
Potential
Those drill results suggest that there is the potential for ore shoots, similar to others seen within the Smarts deposit, inside the broader swathe.
The geology of the prospect appears similar to that of Smarts, being a volcanic host with abundant quartz veining in a North West trending shear zone.
Azimuth is excited by this discovery as it validates the belief that there are other high grade bearing gold areas separate from the Hicks and Smarts in West Omai, which intercepts are extremely encouraging from the first drilling campaign.
Although further drills outcome are needed to place these intercepts into a definitive geological framework, they are a great starting point for a new, high-priority exploration target expected to be better defined in coming months.
As Azimuth recommences drilling activities in 2013, Larken is a prospect that will receive a more prioritised focus, as together with several other targets generated by the company, it will be further tested in the first quarter of 2013.
In parallel, the company is working diligently towards releasing its upgraded resource statement within the same period, Azimuth said.