VANCOUVER, British Columbia, April 08, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Asanko Gold Inc. (“Asanko” or the “Company”) (TSX, NYSE American: AKG) is pleased to announce initial drill results from the Tontokrom exploration target, part of the Asanko Gold Mine (“AGM”) concession area in Ghana, West Africa. The AGM is a 50:50 joint venture (“JV”) with Gold Fields Ltd (JSE, NYSE: GFI) which is managed and operated by Asanko.

Drilling Highlights - Tontokrom Target
•Hole TTPC19-001 intersected 13.0m at 2.62 grams per tonne gold from 128m
•Hole TTPC19-002 intersected 22.0m at 1.24 grams per tonne gold from 156m
•Hole TTPC19-002 intersected 39.0m at 1.82 grams per tonne gold from 189m
•Hole TTPC19-004 intersected 12.0m at 1.45 grams per tonne gold from 199m
•Hole TTPC19-006A intersected 11.8m at 1.69 grams per tonne gold from 182m
•Hole TTPC19-006A intersected 22.9m at 1.48 grams per tonne gold from 242m
•Hole TTPC19-006A intersected 16.4m at 2.38 grams per tonne gold from 280.6m

Commenting on the drilling program, Greg McCunn, Chief Executive Officer, said: “The results from the Phase 1 drilling program at Tontokrom are very encouraging, with results from six of the nine holes drilled confirming the consistency of mineralization along the shear corridor. We believe there is a strong potential for a major discovery at the South Camp and I’m pleased to see the commitment to exploration by our joint venture. We will shortly commence initial drilling on our second target, Fromenda, where historical drilling by a previous owner shows significant promise. The planned 5,000 meter program is designed to both confirm and expand upon previous drilling.”

Exploration Strategy
The AGM JV holds a major land package of 21,300 hectares on the Asankagrawa Gold Belt. In 2017, the Company undertook a prospectivity analysis assessing the potential of identified exploration targets based on structural architecture, geochemistry, geological mapping and topography. An exploration strategy was developed, in collaboration with our JV partner, to test high priority targets in order to replace mining depletion with resources near existing mining operations and infrastructure as well as test potential new discoveries. In 2019, the JV plans to spend US$8 million on exploration including approximately 10,000 metres of drilling as well as additional geochemistry, ground geophysics, field mapping and trenching work.

Tontokrom Target
The Tontokrom target is located on the Miradani Mining Lease, which covers an area of 14.3km2 and is approximately 10km south of the AGM processing plant, along the northeast southwest Asankrangwa structural corridor, which hosts all nine of the AGM’s gold deposits (Figure 1).

The area is highly prospective and the site of major historic small scale and alluvial mining operations. Multiple historical geochemical anomalies are coincident with the target, and primary and secondary structures known to control mineralization in the belt have been interpreted from the airborne VTEM and magnetic surveys and extensively mapped on the ground.
Five historic trenches with encouraging results were excavated in the Tontokrom area by Ashanti Goldfields in the 1990’s. Despite this, the Tontokrom target has not been previously drill tested. The area has been subjected to small scale mining activities for over 25 years, which have excavated a small pit over a portion of the target measuring 320m long by 150m wide and is estimated to be approximately 30m deep from the current land surface (Figure 2).

Phase 1 Drill Program – Tontokrom Target
A Phase 1 drill program was designed to test the approximately 320m strike length of the existing pit. The 3,139m program consisted of 12 holes pre-collared to various depths with reverse circulation (“RC”) drills and completed with HQ diamond drilling (Figure 2). Due to poor ground conditions surrounding the existing pit, drill holes were set back from the pit edge resulting in deeper holes than would normally be drilled in a Phase 1 drilling program. Despite this, of the 12 holes completed in the program, nine were drilled to their intended depth and three were abandoned due to poor ground conditions before reaching their intended targets. Phase 1 drilling has now been completed with results received for six of the nine drill holes (Table 1).

Drilling results are encouraging, with economic intercepts being encountered in five of the six completed drill holes. TTPC19-003 was drilled NE of the existing pit and did not intercept economic mineralization. Significant intercepts encountered in TTPC19-006A, drilled furthest to the southwest, indicate that mineralization is open along strike and will be tested in a Phase 2 drilling program at a later date.

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