Shanta Gold reports first gold pour at New Luika

Shanta Gold, the East Africa-focused gold producer listed on AIM, has seen its first gold pour at its New Luika Gold Mine in south-western Tanzania.

The gold pour was successfully completed at the mine on Friday August 31st, 11 days after the group had announced that production had started.

"This successful gold pour at New Luika is a great milestone achievement for Shanta Gold. We now have made the transition from exploration and mine development to being a fully fledged gold mining company and can now look forward to meaningful gold production from New Luika," said Chairman Walton Imrie.

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"We are delighted to have met the target we had set ourselves of making our first gold pour by the end of August 2012 and are on track to produce 13,000 to 17,500 ounces of gold in Q4 2012."

As of Friday's close, Shanta's share price has jumped 22% over the last month after the company revealed that production had started.

The company also said in late July that the latest independent estimate of resources at New Luika suggests there is 1.48m ounces of in-situ gold at the site, a 52% increase on the previous figure.