Vector Resources Ltd. awarded the diamond drilling contract for its Maniema gold project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to African Drilling Ltd.

The 4,000-meter drilling program will include the initial six holes approved at the advanced Kabotshome gold prospect, to test and confirm previous high-grade intercepts at depth and along strike.

The Kabotshome prospect has a JORC-compliant inferred resource of 6.97 million tonnes at 1.9 g/t of gold for 421,000 ounces, and remains open along strike and at depth.

Drilling will also focus on the Mitunda and Namoya West gold prospects, where previous work has identified visible gold and high-grade stream sediments.

The drilling program is expected to be completed within three months, according to the Aug. 8 release.