Updated results: Zolowo Project
Published by Claire Cuddihy,
Assistant Editor
Global Mining Review,
Altus Strategies Plc (Altus), the Africa-focussed exploration project generator, has reported results from its recently completed first phase exploration programme at its 100%-owned, 466 km2 Zolowo gold project in Lofa County, north-western Liberia.
Chief Executive of Altus, Steven Poulton, commented: “We are very encouraged by the significant number and scale of the artisanal alluvial gold mining operations discovered at Zolowo. It seems likely that the primary source for the gold is associated with the Archaean age greenstone belt that transects the licence for approximately 33 km. The belt sits on the same regional geological trend as the New Liberty Gold Mine which is owned and operated by Avesoro Resources Inc. The Archaean greenstones of western Liberia are still relatively unexplored. This is despite their geological setting being analogous to many famous gold mines and camps such as at Kerr-Addison in Ontario, the Golden Mile in Kalgoorlie and Homestake in the United States. A follow up systematic stream sediment programme is now being planned and we look forward to updating shareholders in due course.”
Reconnaissance exploration programme
According to Altus, Zolowo was selected after comprehensive in-house analysis of available datasets including geological maps, historic mineral occurrences and satellite imagery. An initial reconnaissance exploration programme has now been completed at Zolowo. The objective of the programme was to verify a number of potential artisanal mining sites, as interpreted from the remote sensing programme. The prospecting work has confirmed the presence of numerous artisanal alluvial gold mining sites. Over 50 separate workings have now been visited by Altus to date, clustered within the central part of the licence. Of these, 35 were found to be active and the largest extended for approximately 250 m. At each working up to 25 artisanal miners were found to be selectively mining gold bearing gravels, often at the boundary between saprolite and bedrock. It was reported that gold has been mined in this way from the Zolowo area since the 1930s. As part of the reconnaissance programme a number of hard rock samples have been collected for assaying.
Read the article online at: https://www.globalminingreview.com/exploration-development/24012018/updated-results-zolowo-project/
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