TIDMALO
RNS Number : 8169G
Alecto Minerals PLC
09 March 2015
Click on, or paste the following link into your web browser to
view the associated PDF:
http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/8169G_-2015-3-6.pdf
Alecto Minerals plc / EPIC: ALO / Market: AIM / Sector:
Exploration & Development
9 March 2015
Alecto Minerals plc ('Alecto' or the 'Company')
Strategic Co-operation Agreement signed with Desert Gold
Ventures Inc. to develop the Kossanto East Gold Project and
Farabantourou Gold Permit in Mali towards potential production
Alecto Minerals (AIM: ALO), the AIM quoted mineral exploration
company focussed on West and East Africa, is pleased to announce
that it has signed a co-operation agreement ('the Agreement') with
Desert Gold Ventures Inc. ('Desert Gold') (TSX.V: DAU), a TSX.V
quoted mineral exploration company and titleholder of the
Farabantourou Gold Permit ('Farabantourou') which is situated
adjacent to Alecto's Kossanto East Gold Project ('Kossanto East')
in Mali, with a view to jointly developing both deposits to bring
them into potential production. The Kossanto East project is
comprised of two deposits shown as GRB East and GRB West in Figure
1.
Highlights:
-- Delivering on Alecto's strategy to work closely with owners
of similarly sized gold projects within a 10km radius of Kossanto
East which can potentially be developed collectively towards
production
-- The companies will pool their respective resources and
expertise to assess the potential for developing both deposits into
production through a best endeavours and cost-efficient
collaborative effort
-- Combined, Farabantourou and Kossanto East have a total
estimated resource of over 365,000 oz Au (at a 0.5g/t Au
cut-off)
o Further to a September 2014 filing, the Barani East deposit
within Farabantourou has an NI 43-101 compliant inferred resource
estimate (at a 0.5g/t Au cut-off) of 73,175 oz Au grading at
2.15g/t Au and an NI 43-101 compliant indicated resource estimate
(at a 0.5g/t Au cut-off) of 45,268 oz Au grading at 1.99g/t Au
-- Alecto has a JORC code compliant inferred resource estimate
of 247,000 oz Au grading at 1.14g/t Au at Kossanto East (at a
0.5g/t Au cut-off). Both projects fall within a potential 10km
trucking radius from a central location
-- Both companies have other targets within their respective
permit boundaries which could provide additional tonnage for a
collaborative processing plant
o Upside potential is currently recognised at Alecto's Kossanto
West Gold Project ('Kossanto West'), which is immediately to the
west of the Kossanto East resource
Alecto's CEO, Mark Jones, commented:
"With a combined estimated indicated and inferred resource of
over 365,000 oz Au and falling within a 10km radius of each other,
we believe there is significant scope to develop the Kossanto East
and Barani East deposits into a commercial mining opportunity.
Accordingly, working in collaboration via the sharing of
information and resources with Desert Gold marks a significant step
towards achieving this goal.
"We have already had preliminary discussions with potential
funding partners for this venture and, whilst such discussions
remain at an early stage, the initial interest has been highly
positive. We look forward to working with Desert Gold during 2015
and we hope that this Agreement will lead to a strong and
productive working relationship going forwards as we seek to bring
both deposits into potential production."
Desert Gold's President and CEO, Roeland van Kerckhoven,
commented:
"Our collaboration with Alecto should enable both companies to
benefit from shared knowledge and economies of scale and thereby
create shareholder value more quickly. We have already filed an NI
43-101 technical report for our Barani East deposit and it is only
natural that we should now look at bulking up the resource tonnage
with the concomitant lower unit processing costs. We are excited to
be working alongside Alecto on this collaboration as each party
brings much to the table in terms of experience, resource ounces
and significant further exploration upside potential."
Further information on the Agreement
Figure 1: Map showing Alecto's Farikounda permit which contains
the Kossanto East project (consisting of GRB East and GRB West) and
Desert Gold's Farabantourou permit which contains the Barani East
deposit
The Agreement will enable Alecto and Desert Gold to evaluate how
capital expenditure can potentially be reduced via joint
development activities, with the ultimate goal of bringing both
Kossanto East and Barani East into production. It has been agreed
that all options should be reviewed; from the possibility of a
single processing plant that processes ore from each deposit
through to further asset or project level activity.
Combined, the current known indicated and inferred resource
estimates for Kossanto East and Farabantourou are, in aggregate,
over 365,000 oz Au at a cut-off grade of 0.5g/t Au. Within the
respective permits, both companies have additional exploration
targets which, subject to funding, could add to the size of the
existing resource and hence the size of any joint venture
project.
In addition, within the same 10km trucking radius, outlined in
Figure 1, there are further deposits, owned by third party
companies which could, subject to appropriate agreements being
negotiated, potentially bring the total known resources for the
project to over 500,000 oz Au. Alecto and Desert Gold will continue
discussions with such companies with a view to expanding the
co-operation concept with the potential to significantly increase
the size of their collaborative project.
The Agreement sets out the conditions for the companies to
jointly develop a scoping study for the development of
Farabantourou and Kossanto East, which, if positive, will then pave
the way for a more formal agreement. . Further announcements will
be made as appropriate going forwards.
Further information on Kossanto East
Kossanto East represents approximately one-third of the Kossanto
Gold Project but has been the main focus of our exploration
activities. During the 2013/14 field season, Alecto increased the
JORC compliant inferred resource estimate at Kossanto East by 131%
to 247,000 oz Au at a cut-off grade of 0.5g/t Au (Gourbassi East:
3,080,000 tonnes @ 1.27 g/t for 126,000oz Au and Gourbassi West:
3,638,000 tonnes @ 1.03 g/t for 121,000 oz Au) since its
acquisition in October 2013.
The inferred resource estimate, modelled by Wardell Armstrong
International, falls within two shallow pit shells that are
favourable to low-cost open cast mining. Additionally, preliminary
metallurgical work indicated that the mineralisation has the
potential to be amenable to cyanide leaching, which may provide for
a low-cost production scenario.
Kossanto West is not currently included in the Agreement, but
represents further upside potential in that, if a processing plant
is established at Kossanto East then ore from any resource defined
at Kossanto West could potentially be trucked to the plant with
distances not exceeding 20km.
Further information on Farabantourou
Geologically, Farabantourou straddles the well-known
Senegal-Mali-Shear-Zone (SMSZ) along which the Sadiola, Yatella and
the Loulo-Gountoko mines are situated. The SMSZ is recognised as
the principal geological feature controlling the mineralisation in
West Mali.
Exploration at Farabantourou has identified several zones of
mineralisation with the focus to date being on the Barani East
deposit. Mineralisation at Barani East is hosted in a fault/shear
zone, proximal to the SMSZ. While the Barani East deposit is
presently estimated over a strike length of 400m, to a depth of
220m, the mineralisation may be open at depth.
As identified in the NI 43-101 technical report issued by
Minxcon (Pty) Ltd in September 2014, there is further exploration
upside at Farabantourou which could significantly increase the
resource present including, inter alia:
-- At Barani East there is potential to further define the
resource by exploring along the strike extension of the fault, to
the northeast, over a strike of approximately 3km;
-- At Keniegoulou the possibility of extending the target along
strike to approximately 2km exists. The first 14 lines of drilling
all intersected mineralisation - a NNW trend is observed along an
interpreted fault;
-- At Dambamba it is possible to increase the overall target
strike extent to 2.5km to the south along the interpreted fault
line as it is postulated; and
-- At Kousilli the current drilling in this area intersected
mineralisation in only two of the four fence lines. However, if the
drilling is overlain by the geochemical anomalies including the
interpretation of the Induced Polarisation ('IP') and resistivity
surveys, two NE trending targets may be postulated.
Review of Information
The information in this announcement that relates to Exploration
Results, Mineral Resources or Ore Reserves has been reviewed by
Michael Ware, who is the Company's consultant and a Fellow of the
Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy.
Michael Ware has sufficient experience relevant to the style of
mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the
activity that he is undertaking and is a qualified person as
defined in the AIM Rules for Companies. Michael Ware has reviewed
this announcement and consents to the inclusion in the announcement
of the matters based on his information in the form and context in
which they appear.
Statements in this announcement, other than historical facts,
that relate to exploration activities and mining potential are
forward-looking statements. Although Desert Gold and Alecto believe
that the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements
are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements should not in
any way be construed as guarantees of future performance. Factors
that could cause developments to differ materially from those
expressed include: exploration results; technical analysis; and
lack of availability of the necessary development capital. Each
company is subject to the specific risks inherent in the
exploration and mining business and to general economic and
business conditions in the countries in which they operate.
**ENDS**
For further information, please visit www.alectominerals.com or
contact:
Alecto Minerals plc Tel: +44 (0)20 3137 8862
Mark Jones
Strand Hanson Limited Tel: +44 (0)20 7409 3494
Richard Tulloch
Matthew Chandler
James Dance
Hume Capital Securities Tel: +44 (0)20 3693 1470
plc
Jon Belliss
Abigail Wayne
St Brides Media & Finance Tel: +44 (0)20 7236 1177
Ltd
Elisabeth Cowell
Felicity Winkles
Notes to editors:
Alecto Minerals plc is an African focussed, gold and base metal
exploration and development company quoted on AIM with exploration
projects in Mali, Ethiopia, Mauritania and Burkina Faso.
In Mali, the Kossanto Project has a current independent inferred
JORC code compliant resource estimate of 6.72Mt grading at 1.14g/t
Au for an aggregate of 247,000 oz Au with a cut-off grade of 0.5g/t
Au at Kossanto East. The Kossanto Project is located in the centre
of the Kenieba inlier in western Mali. The Kenieba inlier is a
block of ancient greenstones and granites hosting many significant
gold deposits in Senegal and Mali, making it one of the most
important gold regions in Africa.
The Kerboulé Project, located in the highly prospective
Birrimian-age Djibo gold belt in northern Burkina Faso, is ideally
positioned for the definition of a preliminary JORC resource
estimate, as well as on-going resource expansion, and accordingly
is the near term focus of the Company to provide the basis for
commencing a preliminary economic assessment.
Alecto also owns two prospective gold exploration licences in
Ethiopia, as well as the wholly owned Wad Amour IOCG Project in
Mauritania which is at an exploration stage.
Combined, these projects provide the Company with a strong,
diversified portfolio with exciting exploration upside
potential.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
AGRUGUCPWUPAGAQ
Cradle Arc (LSE:CRA)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2024 to Apr 2024
Cradle Arc (LSE:CRA)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2023 to Apr 2024
