Amanta Resources Ltd. announced on exploration activity at its Luang Namtha project, in northern Laos. The company is currently developing the project under a Joint Exploration Agreement with Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation (JOGMEC) and a 2,000- metre drilling programme has recently been completed. This programme, designed and supervised by JOGMEC's consultants, was to explore for suspected copper porphyry mineralisation under the hydrothermal breccia bodies in the Pakieng target area.

These breccia bodies, encountered in four of the earlier drilled holes are mineralized with commercial grade gold, molybdenum and silver and have been recognized as part of a high sulfidation system. The setting, the alteration and the breccia style suggest the existence of a larger system, nearby. Four diamond drill holes (PK 15, PK 16, PK 17 and PK 18), each 500 metres deep, were completed in the NW Pakieng area to try to confirm the existence of such a system, with one hole located in the centre of the earlier recognized mineralisation and three others at distances of between 100 and 300 metres, to the north, the west and the south.

Two of the holes intersected the gold/molybdenum mineralisation, while the other two were drilled from lower elevations, beneath the area of the breccia deposit, penetrating the northern flank of the Pakieng area. Although one of these holes exhibited anomalous, non-commercial, grade copper over several hundred metres, none of the holes encountered the copper porphyry target. Holes PK17 and PK18 however confirmed the breccia hosted molybdenum, gold, silver mineralisation at fairly shallow depths of up to 160 metres, enlarging the N-S extension of the mineralisation by some 150 metres.

This mineralisation remains open to the north and south. PK 17 included an 8-metre intercept, from a depth of 126 metres, averaging 0.5 g/t gold; 15 g/t silver and 0.07 % molybdenum. Assay results for this hole showed peak values of: 0.9 g/t gold; 38 g/t silver and 0.22 % molybdenum.

PK 18 included a 10-metre intercept, from a depth of 84 metres, averaging 1.1 g/t gold; 16 g/t silver and 0.09 % molybdenum. Assay results for this hole showed peak values of: 3.2 g/t gold; 35 g/t silver and 0.22 % molybdenum. JOGMEC's technical consultants suggest that the Pakieng molybdenum, gold, silver mineralisation shows similarities with the Chatree gold deposit in Thailand, in that it also consists of a series of shallow dipping mineralised breccia bodies.

The Chatree mine has produced over 1,000,000 ounces Au and the remaining resources are estimated (2012) at up to 3,500,000 ounces Au (cut-off grade 0.3 g/t).