Geological fieldwork in mountainous terrain in the country's west includes mapping and, soon, trenching, at the shallow Korogly and Zehmet EP targets, with the high-grade gold sampled at Zehmet. Anglo Asian said core drill rigs were also being mobilised for summer drilling.

 

"Initial assessment of the results of the aerial ZTEM survey are extremely encouraging," said Anglo Asian director of geology and mining, Dr Stephen Westhead. 

"The survey has successfully identified targets in areas of known mineralisation and has also indicated the presence of mineralisation in areas where there has been no previous exploration.

"This clearly demonstrates the future potential of the Gedabek Contract Area. Assay results from surface grab samples at the Zehmet target have yielded very high-grade gold results, with two significant results being 43 and 95 grammes per tonne.

"Finds such as these are rare in gold exploration and it is now a priority for us to find the source of this mineralisation," he said.

Anglo Asian says its aerial surveys have identified up to 31 new epithermal-porphyry mineralisation and deeper porphyry targets worthy of follow-up assessment.

The company's share price (LSE: AAZ) closed up 10.4% Wednesday at 127p, capitalising it at £131.55 million.