Ongoing exploration at Allied Gold's Gold Ridge mine in the Solomon Islands confirms extensions of gold mineralization in the Charivunga area, between the four currently defined Gold Ridge pits.

Results for samples from the first four core holes demonstrate encouraging results.

Since April 2011, seven core holes totalling 2,500m have been drilled in the Charivunga Prospect area.

To date, gold mineralisation has been identified over a strike length of 450 meters in a North East-trending corridor up to 250 meters wide.

Australia's Market wire online reports Allied Gold will spend a further 7.5-million U-S dollars over the next 15-18 months on exploration in the Solomon Islands at Gold Ridge and surrounding areas of Guadalcanal.

The Company's gold exploration programme is just one of a few on Guadalcanal, with Newmont and Anglo gold Ashanti also in the area exploring for large scale copper-gold systems.

Allied Gold Managing Director and CEO Frank Terranova said the initial drilling results targeting the Charivunga Prospect area provide significant encouragement for a gold system linking company pits in Gold Ridge.