TORONTO, December 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Volta Resources Inc. (Volta or the Company) announces the results from the first 3 holes completed on it's Kiaka Gold Project, located approximately 120 kilometres southeast of Ouagadougou, the capital city of Burkina Faso. Volta acquired the property from Randgold Resources, with the transaction being approved by shareholders on November 13th, 2009. The company commenced an aggressive drilling program comprising more than 150 holes for over 22,000 metres on November 22nd, 2009 (see Figure 1 - http://files.newswire.ca/407/Volta_Resources.pdf). Volta intends to complete the program by the end of April 2010 and to finalize a National Instrument 43-101 (NI43-101) compliant resource before the end of June 2010. To date, 9 holes have been completed.

The results for the first 3 holes drilled on Section 5250N have already been received from ALS Chemex Laboratories in Ouagadougou. The highlights include:

- KRD25 from 0.0 to 136.0m - 136.0m (at) 1.66 g/t gold - Including - 21.0m (at) 3.10 g/t gold - And including - 50.8m (at) 1.78 g/t gold - KRD26 from 1.0 to 166.0m - 165.0m (at) 0.83 g/t gold - Including - 40.0m (at) 1.15 g/t gold - KRD27 from 2.1m - 36.1m - 34.0m (at) 1.40 g/t gold - Including - 14.0m (at) 2.25 g/t gold

Kevin Bullock, Volta's President and CEO, said, These first impressively wide intersections clearly support Kiaka's historical potential outlined by Randgold. More importantly, they bode well for Volta's decision to aggressively focus on Kiaka as its premier development project.

Vic King, Volta's COO, said, The results from Volta's infill drillholes confirm the impressive width of the KMZ zone, previously defined by Randgold on the same section in holes KDH05 and KDH14. More importantly, Volta's closer drill spacing has better defined the continuity on the section of discrete higher grade zones. These were initially observed during Volta's due diligence review of the project. Our logging has confirmed that the higher grade zones can be broadly correlated with brittle-ductile deformation , a strong secondary structural fabric and a distinct alteration assemblage. These relationships will facilitate confidently tracking these higher grade zones from section to section, thereby improving geological modeling and resource estimation, with positive implications for improving overall project economics.

Volta's current drill program will test 1,200m strike of the 2,800m long KMZ zone and 500m of the 700m long KHZ zone. The program will infill and extend drilling such that the KMZ zone is drilled to 50m x 50m spacing from surface to a 150m depth and 100m x 50m from 150m to 200m depth. On the narrower KHZ zone, drill spacing will be 50m x 50m from surface to a 100m depth and 100m x 50m from 100m to 150m. Planning and optimization of the drill program was undertaken with input from SRK Consulting (UK) to ensure that the delivery of the independent resource consultant's NI 43-101 compliant resource is delivered as efficiently as possible.

In order to appreciate the extent and geometry of the mineralization on the 5250N section, the results for the three Volta holes and two of Randgold's holes are highlighted in the Table1 below and on the section (see Figure 2 - http://files.newswire.ca/407/Volta_Resources.pdf). Analyses of the Volta samples were undertaken by fire assay on a 50g charge at ALS Chemex Laboratories in Ouagadougou. Both Volta and Randgold sampling and assay procedures included QA/QC elements that employed the inclusion of certified standards and blanks.

The intersections listed in the Table 1 below are based on a 0.3 g/t gold cut-off with maximum internal dilution of 5m for the lower grade mineralization envelope. In order to highlight the continuity of the high grade zone, a 0.8 g/t gold cut-off with maximum internal dilution of 2m has been used. Details of the drilling are provided in Table 2.

--------------------------------------------------------------------- Hole ID From To Length Grade Company --------------------------------------------------------------------- KRD25 0.00 136.00 136.00 1.66 Volta --------------------------------------------------------------------- KRD25 including 1.20 22.20 21.00 3.10 --------------------------------------------------------------------- KRD25 including 33.20 38.20 5.00 1.13 --------------------------------------------------------------------- KRD25 including 46.20 51.20 5.00 1.95 --------------------------------------------------------------------- KRD25 including 56.20 107.00 50.80 1.78 --------------------------------------------------------------------- KRD25 including 114.00 128.00 14.00 1.39 --------------------------------------------------------------------- KRD25 including 131.00 136.00 5.00 3.95 --------------------------------------------------------------------- KRD25 AND 143.00 152.05 9.05 1.18 --------------------------------------------------------------------- KRD26 1.00 166.00 165.00 0.83 Volta --------------------------------------------------------------------- KRD26 including 2.00 5.00 3.00 1.12 --------------------------------------------------------------------- KRD26 including 13.00 17.00 4.00 2.98 --------------------------------------------------------------------- KRD26 including 20.00 25.00 5.00 3.15 --------------------------------------------------------------------- KRD26 including 28.00 37.00 9.00 1.01 --------------------------------------------------------------------- KRD26 including 40.00 43.00 3.00 1.25 --------------------------------------------------------------------- KRD26 including 53.00 93.00 40.00 1.15 --------------------------------------------------------------------- KRD26 including 151.00 155.00 4.00 2.18 --------------------------------------------------------------------- KRD27 2.10 36.10 34.00 1.40 Volta --------------------------------------------------------------------- KRD27 including 5.10 8.10 3.00 3.73 --------------------------------------------------------------------- KRD27 including 18.10 32.10 14.00 2.25 --------------------------------------------------------------------- KDH05 6.00 16.00 10.00 0.78 Randgold --------------------------------------------------------------------- KDH05 AND 23.00 238.00 215.00 1.42 --------------------------------------------------------------------- KDH05 including 30.00 35.00 5.00 2.93 --------------------------------------------------------------------- KDH05 including 41.00 113.00 72.00 2.17 --------------------------------------------------------------------- KDH05 including 120.00 129.00 9.00 0.89 --------------------------------------------------------------------- KDH05 including 139.00 150.00 11.00 1.11 --------------------------------------------------------------------- KDH05 including 155.00 202.00 47.00 1.57 --------------------------------------------------------------------- KDH05 including 224.00 228.00 4.00 1.44 --------------------------------------------------------------------- KDH14 7.00 22.00 15.00 0.64 Randgold --------------------------------------------------------------------- KDH14 AND 15.00 18.00 3.00 1.48 --------------------------------------------------------------------- KDH14 AND 57.00 61.00 4.00 1.67 --------------------------------------------------------------------- KDH14 including 57.00 61.00 4.00 1.67 --------------------------------------------------------------------- KDH14 AND 87.00 271.00 184.00 1.57 --------------------------------------------------------------------- KDH14 including 88.00 95.00 7.00 1.37 --------------------------------------------------------------------- KDH14 including 124.00 129.00 5.00 2.37 --------------------------------------------------------------------- KDH14 including 132.00 136.00 4.00 1.45 --------------------------------------------------------------------- KDH14 including 155.00 184.00 29.00 2.42 --------------------------------------------------------------------- KDH14 including 192.00 204.00 12.00 1.08 --------------------------------------------------------------------- KDH14 including 207.00 228.00 21.00 2.74 --------------------------------------------------------------------- KDH14 including 239.00 259.00 20.00 4.20 --------------------------------------------------------------------- KDH14 AND 279.00 290.00 11.00 1.31 --------------------------------------------------------------------- KDH14 AND 280.00 286.00 6.00 2.19 --------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTES: 1) Intervals are core length. True width is unknown at this time. 2) Intersections are based on a 0.3 g/t gold cut-off with maximum internal dilution of 5m for the lower grade mineralization envelope. In order to highlight the continuity of the high grade zone, a 0.8 g/t gold cut-off with maximum internal dilution of 2m has been used. No top cut has been applied. 3) The intersections listed in the table represent sections of at least 3m in excess of 1g/t Au and/or sections of at least 10m in excess of 0.5g/t Au. 4) Dry 1m-interval samples were riffle-split to provide 2 kg samples sent to the laboratory. Wet samples were dried in the field, then riffle-split in the same way 5) Samples were sent to ALS Chemex in Ouagadougou for standard preparation followed by Fire Assay on a 50g charge. 6) Certified standards were inserted every 15 samples, field duplicates about every 20 and blanks about every 30 samples. The blanks, certified standards and duplicate assays confirm that all assays used to compile the intersections quoted here have passed Volta's rigorous QA/QC checks. 7) All drill holes were pre-collared in Reverse Circulation (RC) and finished with a diamond tail (see table 2).

The Kiaka gold project lies at the intersection of the northeast striking Tenkodogo greenstone belt and the regionally significant north striking Markoye Fault, in whose proximity some of the larger gold resources discovered in Burkina Faso so far, have been discovered. These include Iamgold's Essakane deposit (5.1 M oz), High River Gold's Taparko deposit (1.7 M oz), Orezone's Bombore deposit (2.1 M oz) and Etruscan's Youga deposit (1.5 M oz).

TABLE 2: Borehole collar coordinates and orientation parameters. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Total Hole Elevat- Depth Dip Azimuth RC DD ID Easting Northing ion (m) degrees degrees (m) (m) ------------------------------------------------------------------------- KRD25 739,297 1,289,324 269.75 155.20 -56 315 72.20 83.00 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- KRD26 739,280 1,289,341 267.43 170.33 -54 135 66.00 104.33 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- KRD27 739,316 1,289,306 266.82 90.20 -52 135 59.10 31.10 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Under the guidelines of National Instrument 43-101, the qualified person for the Kiaka Gold Project is Mr. Guy Franceschi, Vice President, Exploration for Volta. Mr. Franceschi is a member of the European Federation of Geologists and has reviewed and approved the contents of this news release. Volta is a mineral exploration company primarily focused on becoming a leader in the identification, acquisition and exploration of gold properties in West Africa. The Company is committed to West African exploration and is Canadian-based with its head office in Toronto, Ontario and operations offices in Accra, Ghana and Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Forward Looking Information Caution: This press release presents forward-looking statements within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation that involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to the future price of gold and other minerals and metals, the estimation of mineral reserves and resources, the realization of mineral reserve estimates, the capital expenditures, costs and timing of the resources, the realization of mineral reserve estimates, the capital expenditures, costs and timing of the development of new deposits, success of exploration activities, permitting time lines, currency exchange rate fluctuations, requirements for additional capital, government regulation of mining operations, environmental risks, unanticipated reclamation expenses, title disputes or claims and limitations on insurance coverage. Generally, these forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward looking terminology such as plans, expects or does not expect, is expected, budget, scheduled, estimates, forecasts, intends, anticipates or does not anticipate, or believes, or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results may, could, would, might or will be taken, occur or be achieved. Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of Volta to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward looking statements, including but not limited to: risks related to international operations, risks related to the integration of acquisitions; risks related to joint venture operations; actual results of current exploration activities; actual results of current or future reclamation activities; conclusions of economic evaluations; changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined; future prices of gold and other minerals and metals; possible variations in ore reserves, grade or recovery rates; failure of equipment or processes to operate as anticipated; accidents, labour disputes and other risks of the mining industry; and delays in obtaining governmental approvals or financing or in the completion of development or construction activities. Although the management and officers of Volta believe that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions and have attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Volta Resources does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements that are incorporated by reference herein, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. For further information, please refer to our website http://www.Voltaresources.com or contact: Kevin Bullock, P.Eng., President CEO, Tel: +1(647)-388-1842, Fax: +1(416)867-2298, Email: kbullock@voltaresources.com

SOURCE: Volta Resources Inc.