11 Oct 2011 07:00
Alecto Minerals plc / EPIC: ALO / Market: AIM / Sector: Exploration & Development
11 October 2011
Alecto Minerals plc ('Alecto' or 'the Company')
Positive Results from Phase Two Exploration at Mauritanian Gold and Base Metal Assets
Alecto Minerals plc, the AIM listed resource company, is pleased to announce positive results from Phase Two of its exploration programme primarily undertaken at the Company's Wad Amour (615 sq km) and Zreibya (529 sq km) gold and base metal licences located in the prospective Mauritanide mobile belt of Mauritania.
Overview
·; Soil geochemistry, rock chip sampling, trenching, geophysical surveys and mapping undertaken by SRK Exploration Services
·; Focussed on and along strike from previously identified Chiron, Oued d'Amour and Barkeol 001 targets
·; Best rock chip samples returned grades up to 5.8% copper, 0.66 g/t gold and 13.9 g/t silver at the Chiron target at Wad Amour Licence
·; Geophysical surveys and satellite imagery demonstrates the mineralisation to have a strong structural control worthy of further exploration
·; Recommendation to advance to Phase Three of exploration to include a ~1,500 metre drill programme at the Chiron anomaly to test the mineralisation at depth
·; Phase Three to also include further geophysics, airbourne electromagnetic work and further soil and rock chip sampling
Alecto Executive Director Damian Conboy said, "These highly encouraging results from our Mauritanian gold and base metal assets continue to highlight the prospective nature of our licences, which are located in a mineral-rich and underexplored region. Work to date has demonstrated the presence of up to 5.8% copper, 0.66 g/t and 13.9 g/t silver at the East-West trending Chiron anomaly which has anomalous copper values over 800m. This target will be the main focus of exploration over the coming months as we build upon this initial exploratory work through the implementation of a scout drilling programme. This will be conducted in tandem with further geophysics, airbourne electromagnetic work and sampling focussed on driving value across our assets."
Phase Two Work Programme
As part of the Phase Two exploration programme a six week field programme was conducted consisting of soil geochemistry, rock chip sampling, trenching, geophysics and mapping primarily at the Wad Amour and Zreibya licences. The main type of mineralisation targeted during the exploration was Iron Oxide Copper Gold ('IOCG') style mineralisation. Previous exploration had produced three targets on which the majority of the exploration work was conducted; the Chiron and Oued d'Amour targets, located within the Wad Amour Licence, and the Barkeol 001 target, located within the Zreibya licence.
The soil sampling and mapping activities were focussed on and along strike from previously identified mineral occurrences and prospects. A total of 1,401 samples were taken and analysed over three grids. 249 rock chip samples were collected predominantly from two sampling grids over the Chiron and Oued d'Amour targets. A total of nine trenches were excavated, six at the Oued d'Amour target and three at the Barkeol 001 target. At Chiron, the detailed rock chip samples were taken in part in lieu of trenching which is difficult in the area due to hard rocks near surface. Ground based magnetic and electromagnetic ('EM') geophysics surveys were conducted at both the Chiron and Oued d'Amour targets.
Positive exploration results were returned for the Chiron target in the central region of the Wad Amour licence where mineralised haematite breccia ridges with copper oxides were encountered during previous exploration. 177 rock chip samples were taken from these ridges on a 10 x 20m grid and returned grades up to 5.8% Cu, 0.66g/t Au and 13.9g/t Ag, with anomalous results occurring over a straight line distance of 630m. Best results include:
Sample ID | Cu % | Au g/t | Ag g/t |
CR035 | 1.7 | 0.66 | 3.39 |
CR036 | 1.1 | 0.15 | 3.57 |
CR046 | 1.7 | 0.05 | 3.49 |
CR048 | 0.5 | -0.01 | 1.51 |
CR049 | 0.3 | 0.01 | 1.28 |
CR050 | 5.0 | 0.53 | 13.88 |
CR054 | 0.7 | 0.01 | 1.57 |
CR060 | 0.5 | 0.05 | 1.56 |
CR062 | 1.8 | 0.06 | 3.47 |
CR063 | 5.8 | 0.02 | 6.03 |
CR064 | 0.2 | 0.41 | 3.02 |
CR071 | 1.7 | 0.06 | 1.64 |
CR074 | 0.3 | -0.01 | 2.78 |
CR076 | 2.2 | 0.20 | 4.56 |
CR078 | 1.6 | 0.08 | 2.97 |
CR083 | 0.3 | -0.01 | 1.18 |
CR085 | 0.6 | 0.04 | 1.58 |
CR086 | 0.8 | 0.01 | 2.77 |
CR097 | 4.5 | 0.15 | 6.37 |
CR100 | 0.3 | 0.10 | 1.27 |
CR102 | 0.4 | 0.01 | 2.19 |
CR103 | 0.9 | 0.01 | 3.38 |
CR108 | 0.6 | 0.01 | 1.68 |
CR138 | 2.2 | 0.02 | 2.66 |
CR142 | 0.6 | 0.22 | 4.37 |
CR153 | 1.0 | 0.03 | |
Geophysical surveys and satellite imagery showed the mineralisation to have a strong structural control with mineralisation occurring at the intersection of north-east trending structures with major north-west trending structures. The geophysics showed there to be a conductivity high close to the mineralised areas which may relate to the mineralisation. Additional anomalous areas are present to the north. Soil sampling showed areas worthy of follow up soil sampling in the Chiron area, within the Wad Amour licence.
The mineralisation at Chiron is considered to be identical to that seen at Peaks Mining Kadiar prospect 56km to the south, with surface mineralisation appearing to be greater in extent than the 500m visible at Kadiar. Both properties have similarities to First Quantum's Guelb Moghrein mine 315km to the north-west, near Akjoust. At Guelb Moghrein mineralisation is hosted in carbonate pods that at surface are covered by resistant iron-silica caps, similar to the haematite breccia bodies observed at Chiron and Kadiar. On either side the carbonates are hosts to metamorphosed basic-intermediate volcanics and epiclastics sediments, which is similar to the situation in the Oued d'Amour licence. Within the north-western haematite breccia at Chiron there is evidence of the presence of carbonate that may have existed before the development of the haematite ridges, this includes samples such as CR147 that graded 24.7% calcium believed to result from calcium carbonate alteration.
Phase Three Work Programme
Alecto intends to follow up on the latest phase of work by drill testing the Chiron target with a small scout drill programme up to 1,500 metres to test the mineralisation at depth. The aim of the drill programme should be to assess grade within the surface oxide zone and to test if the mineralisation continues into carbonate bodies at depth as is the case at First Quantum's Guelb Moghrein mine. The drill programme should have a secondary aim of assessing whether the discontinuous bodies at surface are connected at depth and to test the conductivity highs generated from the EM34 surveys.
Additionally, the Company intends to undertake further exploration of the target by expanding the ground geophysics to cover a wider area to identify any nearby conductive zones. Regional exploration should continue by flying all licensed areas with an airborne EM survey and by the continuation of soil sampling and general reconnaissance activities.
**ENDS**
For further information, please visit www.alectominerals.com or contact:
Damian Conboy | Alecto Minerals plc | Tel: 020 3006 0260 |
Greg Kuenzel | Alecto Minerals plc | Tel: 020 3006 0260 |
Jonathan Evans | Fox-Davies Capital Ltd - Nominated Adviser & Broker | Tel: 020 3463 5000 |
Ewan Leggat | Fairfax I.S. PLC - Broker | Tel: 020 7598 5368 |
Katy Birkin | Fairfax I.S. PLC - Broker | Tel: 020 7598 5368 |
Hugo de Salis | St Brides Media & Finance Ltd | Tel: 020 7236 1177 |
Elisabeth Cowell | St Brides Media & Finance Ltd | Tel: 020 7236 1177 |
Notes:
Alecto Minerals Plc is an AIM listed exploration company focussed on Africa with a diverse portfolio of exploration assets in Mauritania and Ethiopia. In Mauritania, it has three gold and base metal development licences totalling 1,902 sq km and two uranium licences totalling 1,592 sq km in the highly prospective Mauritanide mobile belt. It also holds the 1,953 sq km gold exploration licence in the highly prospective Aysid-Metekel region of north western Ethiopia.
The Company is committed to conducting exploratory work across its portfolio, designed to strengthen its knowledge of the assets and delineate targets for further exploration. In tandem, the Board continues to evaluate a number of synergistic assets to build shareholder value.