Marshall Minerals (ASE) says new drill results from a large concession on West Africa’s Ivory Coast have expanded the reserve potential on the project’s largest deposit by about 15%. The latest assays are from a 16-hole program targeting the shallow Anuiri deposit which was previously estimated to contain about half a million tons of grade 0.12 oz. gold per ton.
But the last batch of 11 holes that includes a 52.5-ft. intersection averaging 0.20 oz. gold pushes the tonnage potential up to 1.1 million tons, according to Joe Hinzer, Marshall’s vice-president of exploration. Other encouraging Anuiri intersections were 61.4 ft. of 0.20 oz. and 42.7 ft. of 0.19 oz. The deepest hole was drilled to a depth of 163 ft.
The Anuiri is one of several known gold deposits contained within a 5×18-mile concession controlled by Marshall’s 67% owned affiliate Eden Roc Minerals (ASE). Eden Roc owns 90% of the company that holds the concession, and the remaining 10% is retained by SODEMI, an Ivorian government mining concern.
After returning recently from the Ivory Coast, Hinzer said the geology in the concession under Eden Roc’s control is very similar to the Val d’Or, Que., gold camp. “The rocks are pre-Cambrian and situated between an upper volcanic sequence and a sedimentary sequence,” he said.
However, the difference is that weathered bedrock still exists in Africa because surface material hasn’t been scraped away by glaciers. Having spent about $4.5 million within the last 18 months, Marshall is holding talks with officials at the African Growth Fund in a bid to finance construction of a 1,000- ton-per-day heap leach mine.
Meanwhile, Marshall is holding an auction in an effort to find a buyer for its Restigouche zinc property in New Brunswick. The project contains 1.1 million tons of grade 7.72% zinc, 0.32% copper, 5.99% lead, 3.62 oz. silver and 0.035 oz. gold. Marshall values the property at around $27 million. But any future deal may include $5 million cash, a royalty and a collatoralized note.
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