A RECENTLY completed drilling program at Renaissance Minerals’ Okvau Gold Project in Cambodia has returned outstanding initial results and has confirmed shallow growth potential. The program successfully targets a shallow strike extension of more than 200 metres beyond the existing 1.2 million ounce Okvau resource estimate.

The initial drill holes were testing for northeast strike extensions beyond the current resource. Initially only six holes were drilled to test for near-surface mineralization with a combination of reverse circulation and diamond drilling carried out.

Significant results include 6 metres from 9 metres @ 9.49 grams/tonne gold, 8 metres from 61 metres @ 5.95 grams/tonne, 2 metres from 102 metres @ 5.32 grams/tonne, 10 metres from 24 metres @ 1.36 grams/tonne and 7 metres from 0 metres @ 1.51 grams/tonne.

The average depth of the holes drilled was 125 metres with a maximum depth of 150 metres. Holes were drilled on nominal spacing of about 50 metres along the interpreted northeast trending structure and about 30 metres down dip.

The company is employing a single multi-purpose rig which has now been moved to Area 1 Prospect, about 3km north of the Okvau deposit, in preparation for first pass drilling of this untested prospect. Area 1 Prospect is analogous to Okvau deposit in terms of its geological setting and anomalous soil geochemistry. Trenching and a small infill soil sampling program have recently been completed over the prospect to improve understanding of the geological controls of mineralization.

The detailed BLEG stream survey Renaissance is undertaking over the Okvau and O’Chhung exploration licences is progressing well. The purpose is to extend and infill existing geochemical coverage in a cost effective manner to define new target areas. These areas may be followed up with more specific exploration, such as soil sampling, geophysics and ultimately drilling. The current program will include more than 500 sample sites.

The Okvau and adjoining O’Chhung exploration licences cover about 400sqkm of the total project area and are in the eastern plains of Cambodia in Mondulkiri province, about 265km northeast of the capital Phnom Penh. The topography is undulating with low relief 80 to 200 metres above sea level and there are isolated scattered hills rising to around 400 metres. The area is sparsely populated with some artisanal mining activity. Existing dirt roads and tracks provide for sufficient access for the exploration.