WORK PROGRAMMES AT CAMEROON ’ S MINIM MARTAP PROJECT ADVANCE
• PROJECTS AND EXPLORATION
also the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources for their assistance and co-operation in getting this over the line ,” said Tonno Vahk , interim CEO .
“ The establishment of the mining licence at Abu Marawat , for an initial 20-year period , renewable for a further 10 years , provides Aton with the security of tenure required to proceed with our long-stated plan to develop multiple gold mining operations at Abu Marawat . Aton now becomes the first international company to be issued a licence to mine gold in Egypt since the Sukari mining licence was awarded in 2005 . We are also delighted to have retained large areas of our choosing for additional exploration , including our recent Semna drill discovery . Semna continues to look extremely promising , and we plan to start a second phase of diamond drilling there in the very near future now that the mining licence has been issued and established . We are fully confident in our plan to bring Semna and numerous other exploration projects into the exploitation lease in the coming years , with the assistance of our partners at EMRA . We will certainly be moving ahead at pace now as we look to initially develop the gold oxide cap mineralisation at Hamama West , as per our August 2023 submission to EMRA , which demonstrated the existence of the commercial discovery at the Hamama West and Rodruin deposits .
“ We are also planning an aggressive exploration programme on the remainder of our other most prospective targets in the retained exploration areas , with the clear aim of bringing them into the mining licence area as soon as possible , along with Semna .”
Highlights
• The existence of a commercial discovery at the Hamama and Rodruin projects was agreed by the company and EMRA on 17 January 2024 ;
• The exploitation lease for gold and associated minerals at Abu Marawat was also established and issued on 17 January 2024 , in accordance with the procedures and terms of the Abu Marawat Concession Agreement ( CAAM ), and is named the Abu Marawat Exploitation Lease ;
• The exploitation period will be for an initial 20 years , from the date of the establishment of the exploitation lease , and is renewable for a further period of 10 years ;
• The exploitation lease is comprised of 2 separate sectors , with a total area of 57.66km 2 , and covers the company ’ s main project areas at the Hamama West and Rodruin mineral deposits ;
• The company will also retain selected areas of the Concession for additional exploration , covering a total area of 255 km 2 , for an additional period of up to 4 years . Other areas within the Concession that are not retained for additional exploration will be relinquished and the final exploration period of the CAAM has now automatically expired ;
• Aton will rapidly move to establish a Joint Venture company , which will act as the operator of the exploitation lease under the terms of the CAAM , and which will be equally owned by Aton and EMRA ;
• Aton is obligated to commence commercial production of gold from the Concession within 4 years of the date of establishment of the exploitation lease .
Aggressive exploration is planned for the most prospective targets .
Image by Freepik . com
WORK PROGRAMMES AT CAMEROON ’ S MINIM MARTAP PROJECT ADVANCE
Location : Cameroon Phase : Exploration Resource : Bauxite
At the end of last year , Canyon Resources Limited announced that the completion of the strategic capital investment by Eagle Eye Asset Holdings Pte Ltd ( EEA ) pursuant to the subscription agreement with EEA announced on Thursday , 17 August 2023 had successfully occurred , providing the company with an injection of capital totaling USD24.7-million ( before costs ). The funds will allow it to advance several work programmes at its Minim Martap Bauxite Project in Cameroon .
Exploration underway Exploration work has commenced on the Makan and Ngaoundal permits within the broader Minim Martap Bauxite Project . The programme is targeting new resources to add to the existing 1 027 million tonnes of high-grade bauxite .
The programme consists of a test pitting , sampling and assaying programme across 16 potential targets to identify additional bauxite intercepts for further investigation . As a follow-up investigation , systematic drilling and sampling campaigns across 772 planned drillholes will be undertaken in order to recover and test composite samples with a view to confirming the existence of a high-grade , low contaminant bauxite in the new resource areas . Results from this exploration work are expected to be available this quarter .
New project leaders Patrice L ’ Huillier , project director , commenced his role after arriving in Cameroon on 1 December 2023 . L ’ Huillier has more than 25 years of experience in metals and mining covering aluminium , copper , manganese and iron ore mostly in operations and project execution . He comes with extensive experience in open pit mining , railways and port operation in Commonwealth of Independent States and Africa including Gabon and DRC .
Alain Pfammatter , director of Human Resources and Communities , has accompanied L ’ Huillier to site . Canyon subsidiary , Camalco has also appointed Didier Ouedraogo as head of Geology and Exploration to lead the current drilling campaign and provide technical oversite in the mine development . He is a senior mineral resource geologist , with a broad experience in exploration and mining operation in West and Central Africa , Canada , Saudi Arabia and Sultanate of Oman .
The initial strategic investment by EEA has facilitated the commencement of these plans . •
10 • African Mining • March 2024 www . africanmining . co . za