Drake Resources expands West African footprint

THE BOURSE WHISPERER: Having acquired a portfolio of prospective gold exploration properties in Mauritania over the past 18 months, Perth-based Drake Resources set out earlier this year to identify areas of high gold potential in other West African countries.

Drake was attracted to West Africa by, what it described as, the region’s outstanding discovery success rate in recent years.

As a result Drake has been investigating a number of areas, the first of which to be finalised is the Samekouta exploration permit in southeast Senegal.

The Samekouta permit covers 325 square kilometres of Birrimian age rocks within a geological province known as the Kenieba Inlier.

The Kenieba Inlier is a prolifically gold mineralised province straddling the Senegal–Mali border and contains a number of world-class gold deposits which are located within 120 kilometres of the Samekouta permit.

The deposits include the 11.5 million ounce Loulo, Sadiola at 4.5Moz, Sabadala at 3.3Moz and Gounkoto – 2.9 Moz at 6.9 grams per tonne gold.

Under the terms of the agreement Drake has the option to acquire 100% of the permit by staged payments over 4 years.

The company has already commenced a program of systematic geochemical sampling over the permit.

Drake has been busy in West Africa and has assembled a neat package of gold exploration permits in Mauritania.

The company currently holds nine granted, or approved for grant, permits covering 8,500sqkm, and a further six applications covering a further 2,800sqkm.

Drake has also announced drilling results at its Conchita gold prospect in Mauritania that intersected extensive mineralised quartz veins targeted from surface mapping.

Intersections included 2m at 10.23 g/t gold and 2m at 6 g/t gold.

Approximately 80% of drill holes returned an intersection of at least 1 g/t gold. The drilling tested approximately 10% of the area of known quartz veins and geochemical anomalies.