I don't believe that the mentioned "African Gold Zimbabwe" is AFG, but the article does demonstrate rapid resurgence of E&P in Zimbabwe:

Mining Giants Plan Massive Diamond Prospecting

The Herald (Harare)

January 22, 2004
Posted to the web January 22, 2004

Harare

MINING giants, De Beers Zimbabwe Prospecting Limited and Circle Three Mining Corporation are proposing a massive diamond prospecting project that will see the two companies prospecting for the mineral in Gweru, Harare, Bulawayo and Kadoma mining districts.

The two mining companies intend to prospect for diamond in areas covering a total of 448 180 hectares.


Another company, African Gold Zimbabwe, has also undertaken to prospect for gold on two areas measuring 120 550 hectares within the Harare and Gweru mining districts.

De Beers Zimbabwe Prospecting Limited, Circle Three Mining Corporation and African Gold Zimbabwe have applied to the Mining Affairs Board for an exclusive prospecting order for 12 areas under the four mining districts.

In the latest issue of the Government gazette, the Mining Affairs Board said De Beers, Circle Three Mining and African Gold Zimbabwe intend to prospect for diamonds and gold over an area of approximately 568 730 hectares from the three areas.

"The applicants intend to prospect for diamond within the areas, which have been reserved against prospecting pending determination of this application.

"Prospecting authority is sought upon registered base mineral blocks within the reservation," read part of the notice.

One of the two diamond prospecting projects to be undertaken by Circle Three Mining measures 65 000 hectares and is bounded by a line commencing on the Zimbabwe-Zambia border approximating five kilometres.

All areas, which have been earmarked for prospecting are within the 15 000 hectares and 65 000 hectares range and are mostly in the traditional mineral bearing areas of the country.

The proposal to prospect for diamond in the country comes at a time when the US$41 million Murowa Diamond Mine has started to operate following the successful relocation of 141 families which were on the mining site.

Mining is one of the sectors which has been depressed over the last five years but some of the players in the industry have said investors should look at non-traditional minerals.

An example that is often given is that of platinum, which is fast becoming the world's most lucrative mineral.

The mining of diamond in Zimbabwe is also fast gaining pace and it is expected that some of the mining projects would create a lot of employment.

Relevant Links

Southern Africa
Mining
Zimbabwe

Or it could just be the John Teeling AFD factor time will tell.

HT.

African Gold has been a star performer lately and is likely to improved in the short to medium term. The target is 25p.

hlyeo98, where did you get the 25p short/medium target from?

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Now I think, is it a good time to purchase shares in AFG? Anyone!

T Meditator, YES, I think this is a growth stock medium/longterm as we need positive drilling results to find out whether AFG can start making plenty of money. As always DYOR.

Thank you azhar. I rekon fit for the med/long term, more slanting towards the latter.

Right anyway, I was looking for a short term blast of faith. Am wanting to blast up the ladder very quickly but just keep missing the right shares.

All for now, with all the love in the universe.

T Meditator, investors are expecting further news which has been guaranteed my the AFG management. When that comes there will be people trying to make a quick buck and they will and I think the price will stabalise around 14/15p but in the medium term i'd say at least 20p.

Really,! May have a dabble then. Rather :o .

Any views to the recent decline?

Up 10% 2day ppl taking advantage of a bad day I suppose. Still waiting for news!!! Sounds very similar to AFD we had to wait ages for news from management.

PRESS RELEASE 21 May 2004



African Gold plc


African Gold acquires 70 percent of the Konongo/Owere 950,000 oz gold resource
in Ghana

Announces a new NOMAD

Oliver Baring becomes joint Chairman

African Gold is paying US $ 4 m to acquire 70 percent of three mining licences covering 125 sq km in the
Konongo/Owere district of the Ashanti Gold Belt in Ghana and has an option to acquire an additional 10 percent.
Payment will be made in two stages, US $2 million cash plus US $1m in African Gold shares immediately. A further
payment of US $1m cash will be made after 180 days.
An independent report indicates that the licence area contains a resource in excess of 950,000 ounces of gold at
an average grade of 2.30 g/t gold.
The acquisition includes an adjacent prospecting licence covering approx 76 sq km. containing numerous gold
exploration targets.
The bulk of the gold resource is contained in sulfide ore bodies at depths from 70 metres to below 250 metres.
These bodies are similar to the Ashanti-style mineralization mined by Anglo/Ashanti at the Obuasi gold mine.
Diamond drilling will commence in the near future and will focus on converting inferred and indicated ounces to
the measured category.
The joint venture is subject to regulatory approvals in Ghana.
Three other properties in the Ashanti Gold belt are under option to African Gold and are the subject of ongoing
due diligence.


Change of Nominated Advisor

Canaccord have been appointed nominated advisor and stockbroker to the company.
The board expresses its gratitude to Rowan Dartington for their high standard of
service over the years.


Oliver Baring appointment

The board has appointed Oliver Baring as joint-Chairman of African Gold plc. He
is London based and will focus on the development strategy of the company. Mr.
Baring is Executive Chairman of First Africa Group. He has recently retired as
Managing Director of the Corporate Finance Division of UBS, where he held
responsibility for both Africa and Mining. He is a former partner of Rowe &
Pitman, and spent five years with the Anglo American/De Beers Group in the US,
UK and South Africa. He is chairman of the board of directors of Ridge Mining
Plc and an advisor to The Sentient Resources Fund and the Tiedemann Investment
Group.



John Teeling, joint-Chairman of African Gold commented, 'This is the beginning
of the African Gold development strategy. The Konongo acquisition together with
our assets in Zimbabwe gives us a gold resource in excess of 1 million ounces.
The appointments of Canaccord and Oliver Baring and the establishment of a
London office reflects the increased level of activity in London. We have an
active deal flow at present which I am confident will lead to additional
acquisitions in the near future.'




Contacts:

John Teeling + 353 1 833 2833
Oliver Baring + 44 (0)7785 320567

Press Mention: Sunday Times

May 23, 2004

Sharewatch: Mineral rises prompt gold rush
Edited by Frank Fitzgibbon



With precious metals enjoying a new lease of life, it’s hard to see how you can go wrong with a company called African Gold. That’s probably what serial entrepreneur John Teeling thought too when he launched it on Aim earlier this year.
On Friday the shares closed in London at 8p, capitalising the business at 19m (€28.3m). At these levels the company is priced at nearly half the valuation it enjoyed in mid-March.



There hasn’t been much in terms of a news flow from the company since then but last week it announced the acquisition of 70% of the Konongo/Owere gold resource in Ghana at a cost of $4m with an option to acquire a further 10%.

African Gold quotes an independent report which claims the licence area contains a resource in excess of 950,000 ounces of gold at an average grade of 2.30 grams of gold a tonne of ore. The acquisition includes an adjacent prospecting licence covering some 76 sq km and containing numerous gold exploration targets.

The other important announcement is that Rowan Dartington has been replaced as nominated adviser and stockbroker to the company by Canaccord, and Oliver Baring becomes chairman. Baring recently retired as managing director of the corporate finance division of UBS, where he held responsibility for both Africa and mining. Teeling looks like he is getting all his ducks in a row and the price of the shares should reflect these improvements.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,176-1119450,00.html

PARIS (Reuters) - Once the darlings of the market, gold funds have posted significant falls in the last month but according to Merrill Lynch Investment Managers recent gold price falls are simply a correction in an upward trend.

"We're very confident gold is going to remain in a rising trend," Evy Hambro, manager of the Luxembourg-based $1.8 billion Merrill Lynch International Investment World Gold fund told Reuters on Friday.

His fund was down 15.85 percent during April, according to fund research firm Lipper, but is still showing a 54 percent gain in the year to April compared with an average for the precious metals sector of 30.9 percent.

The gold price has tumbled in recent weeks to around $381 an ounce from $426.25 at the end of March due to the recovery in the U.S. economy and the dollar.

Gold is often used as a hedge against the dollar so its change in direction has led speculators to unwind their gold positions.

The fall has hurt French funds invested in the precious metals sector. According to Lipper, this was one of the worst performing fund sectors in April with an average fall of 15.48 percent.

Nevertheless, Hambro remains positive on gold and said there were a number of factors, on both the demand and supply side, supporting a strong price.

"The supply of gold is continuing to fall, there have been few significant gold discoveries in recent years and most of the current mines have been producing gold for around 20 years," he said.

The price of gold hit a low of $252 an ounce in September 1999 because of uncertainty over central bank sales of the yellow metal. Since then, central banks have agreed to cap their selling and at the same time investor demand for gold has risen, from 400 tonnes in 2002 to 900 tonnes in 2003.

Hambro said he expects investor demand to remain strong as more institutions consider gold as a tool for diversification.

Regulations by the Chinese government restricting gold purchases are also being lifted allowing the gold market in China, the fourth largest in the world, to open up.

"Our view on gold is that it's trading too low relative to trading capacity. There's a deficit and that has to be positive for prices," said Hambro.

Minor support showing at 5.5p, Major supprt 4p.Price had no major resistance on the way up from 4p, apart from a couple of daily flags, one which was recently broken the other at 5.5p therefore dont expect to much support on the way down.Will be looking to buy in but not yet.

Company World Gold Council
TIDM
Headline Gold Demand Trends 1Q04
Released 07:00 2 Jun 2004
Number 3012Z


PRESS RELEASE

WGC Reports Gold Consumer Demand Up Q1 2004

London, 2 June 2004: Figures published today by the World Gold Council reveal that consumer demand for gold has improved over the last year. Consumer demand for gold (jewellery and net retail investment) was up by 12% in tonnage terms, and by 30% in dollar terms, in the first quarter of 2004, compared to the somewhat depressed levels of a year earlier.



The World Gold Council reports that although complicated by the sharp upward movement in the gold price, consumer demand for gold actually increased in monetary terms during the period since 2001.



Commenting on the supply/demand dynamics for the first quarter 2004, James Burton, Chief Executive of the World Gold Council (WGC), said: In the face of a 55% rise in the dollar gold price, historically we would have expected consumer demand to recede due to the sensitivity of Asian and Middle Eastern markets to price volatility. Actually this quarter, the money flowing into gold from consumers was 37% up on Q1 2002 in dollar terms, and 25% higher than in Q1 2001, demonstrating a positive underlying trend.



He warns, however, that the global economic and political uncertainty of Q1 2003 depressed the figures of the same period a year ago. It is fair to say that confidence is returning to gold, yet gold continues to face competitive pressures for share of wallet in all of its key markets, he said.



Jewellery Demand

Among the markets participating in the recovery in jewellery demand for gold, strong year-on-year rises were recorded in India (21%), Vietnam (36%) and Turkey (38%) in tonnage terms. Highlights for the largest international markets are:



India and East Asia
- Jewellery demand was up in India by 21% in tonnage terms and 33% in local rupee terms on Q1 2003. This is due to favourable (rupee) price trends, a strong economy, and rural consumers (who account for over 60% of demand) benefiting from the after effects of 2003s generally good monsoon.



- In China demand rose by 6% in tonnage terms and 23% in price (renminbi) terms. Despite the booming economy, demand for gold jewellery is still somewhat dampened by the overhang from the earlier restrictions and state controls. The strongest demand in the quarter was for 18 carat gold. This follows the WGC-backed K gold initiative that promotes 18 carat gold, both yellow and white, in Italian-inspired design. This has been selling well with 60-70% of demand in white gold, demand for which has also been stimulated by the high price of platinum.



Middle East and Turkey
- The strong oil price provided a background of consumer optimism in Saudi Arabia and UAE, where both countries reported strong year-on-year rises in tonnage terms, with an increase of 11% and 22% respectively.



- Jewellery demand showed a 14% recovery in Egypt helped by price trends and by the reduced black market rate for the US dollar. Jewellery imports resumed following the disappearance of the local price discount to international prices and scrap outflows lessened.



- Sustained high economic growth coupled with strong promotional spending and heavy media coverage resulted in jewellery demand in Turkey leaping by over a third in tonnage terms from what was already a strong Q1 in 2003.



USA
- Jewellery demand in Q1 in tonnage terms in the USA was 6% higher than a year earlier (23% in dollar terms). The year started well, albeit from a depressed Q1 2003, with a strong Valentines Day and this positive trend has continued into Q2.



Industrial Demand
The first quarter of this year saw a steady rise (8% in tonnage terms and 26% in dollar terms) in industrial demand for gold. The improvement began in mid-2002 as the beneficial technical properties of gold were increasingly employed within new electronic products, and the electronics industry recovered.



Investment Demand
Net retail investment is up 14% year on year in tonnage terms. Demand in Japan was particularly strong (up 48%) on the back of continued concern over the economy. In Vietnam, demand more than doubled.



After the heady rise seen in 2003, net institutional investment demand paused for breath in the first quarter. Demand was brisk in January fuelled by the markets expectation of further price rises as well as growing interest in commodities and in alternative investments generally. However, the fall-back in the gold price caused a natural shift in many investors attitudes; as existing profits were taken, new investment dried up.



Supply

Overall supply of gold was 7% lower in tonnage terms than one year earlier.



The first quarter of 2004 saw the announcement of the renewal of the Central Bank Gold Agreement (CBGA 2)* in March, confirming the importance of gold as a central bank reserve asset. Net central bank selling of 96 tonnes was lower than a year earlier with sales by Switzerland, Norway and routine sales by the Philippines, partly offset by an acquisition of 28 tonnes by Argentina.



Early indications for Q2 2004



Jewellery
Initial indications are that demand for jewellery continues to remain robust in key markets and comparisons with Q2 2003 will be favoured by the effect of SARS a year ago. Provided there is no sudden price increase, consumer demand should be generally higher in tonnage terms than a year earlier. This is not expected to be the case in India, despite a good May wedding season, because of the exceptional levels of Q2 2003.



Initial import numbers for the US suggest that there has been some recovery in demand, whilst the immediate outlook for all the Middle East regions, including Turkey, is for continued good growth off the back of soaring oil prices and strong economies.



James Burton added: While early indications are positive, it is the World Gold Councils function to play a key role in maintaining momentum, and ensuring that gold jewellery is a desirable and relevant product for women in our key markets. Overall, we anticipate that the results of initiatives with leading retail partners will start to have a positive impact on figures going forward. In addition, our promotional activities in China, which saw the introduction of K-gold in Beijing in the beginning of Q2, and our Italian-designed Gold Expressions range, which has been promoted throughout all of our major markets, will help to build on the early positive results of Q1.



Investment
The speculative sell off of gold investment appears generally to have continued, and may have intensified. However, volumes may be positively affected by the increase of tonnes in trust in the WGC-backed Gold Bullion Securities (GBS). When re-launched in the beginning of Q2 in response to market feedback, GBS saw a doubling of net assets under trust to US$660m**.



Central Banks
In Q2, we will continue to see controlled sales of gold by some central banks within the confines of the Central Bank Gold Agreement.



James Burton commented: Now that the central banks have concluded the second CBGA in a timely fashion, the market is likely to take any further central bank activity in its stride. The renewed agreement has set an official framework and will prove to be a significant anchor for the gold market in the future.


Contact:

For further information, contact Anita Saunders, head of public relations, on 0207 826 4716, or 07769 682373 or e-mail anita.saunders@gold.org.



Footnotes:

* Like its predecessor, Central Bank Gold Agreement (CBGA 2) will run for five years, from September 2004 to September 2009. The maximum amount of gold that can be sold is higher than CGBA 1 at 2,500 tonnes (compared with 2,000 tonnes) over five years. Interestingly, while the first agreement specified that sales each year would be around 400 tonnes, under CBGA 2 sales each year will be a maximum of 500 tonnes.

**Correct as of 26 May 2004.



Notes to Editors:



The demand statistics in this note are compiled by GFMS Ltd for the World Gold Council (WGC). The commentary is supplied by the WGC.



Copyright 2004. The World Gold Council (WGC) and GFMS (Gold Fields Mineral Services) Ltd. All rights reserved.



The use of the statistics contained in this press release is permitted for review and commentary (including media commentary) with the clear acknowledgement of GFMS as their source. Whilst every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of all information used in this document, neither GFMS nor the WGC can guarantee such accuracy and neither GFMS nor the WGC accept responsibility for any losses or damages arising directly, or indirectly, from the use of this document.





World Gold Council
The World Gold Council (WGC), a commercially-driven marketing organisation, is funded by the worlds leading gold mining companies. A global advocate for gold, the WGC aims to promote the demand for gold in all its forms through marketing activities in major international markets. For further information visit www.gold.org.






END

From Saturday's Guardian
"On AIM, African Gold improved 0.25p to 6.75p as a large sell order was finished and rumours of corporate activity did the rounds. According to gossip the firm is in merger talks with a Canadian group."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/story/0,3604,1231964,00.html

African Gold PLC
07 June 2004


7th June 2004
PRESS RELEASE

African Gold PLC

Completion of the Konongo/Owere acquisition

Further to the announcement dated 21st May 2004 African Gold Plc announces the completion of the acquisition of three
mining licences covering 125 sq km in the Konongo/Owere district of the Ashanti Gold Belt in Ghana. As part of the
consideration for the acquisition 22,607,016 new ordinary shares have been allotted and issued to the vendors and the
shares are expected to be admitted to AIM on 8th June 2004.

Following the share issue, Adrian Lungan, the Chief Operating Officer, will hold
10 million shares representing approximately 3.9% in the Company.

-----END-----

short term TA is pointing to bullish trend developing. We need the price to built up on buyers returning at a calm pace for the price to hold until drilling results are out. Once results are out then we have an idea of how worth the company is.

Is there a date for results yet ?