TSX Venture Exchange-listed gold hopeful La Quinta Resource Corporation is so excited about the outlook for its exploration properties in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) that the company is looking for a partner to take on its other asset, a gold prospect in Mexico, so that it can direct 100% of its efforts on the central African nation.

The Orofino gold property, in Mexico's Sonora province, is still seen as a solid project, but the general message from investors was that they would prefer to see the company focus on its large land package in the mineral-rich DRC, La Quinta senior VP Glen Watson told Mining Weekly Online.

“And so we're looking for potential strategic partners on the project,” he said.

Back to the DRC, chairperson and CEO Malcom Swallow is clearly enthusiastic about his company's prospects in what he terms “the last great jewel box” of the world.

“I've never, ever seen a country with the grades and with the mineral availability that you get in the Congo,” he commented in a presentation in Mississauga, Ontario.

“The whole country, from a minerals point of view, is remarkable...the law within the country is starting to be applied...the minerals law is working."

Vancouver-based La Quinta has now finalised a joint venture agreement with Wa Balengela Kasai-Investments Congo (WBK), a local firm which holds the licences to 7 010-km2 of land in the north-east of the country - La Quinta can earn up to an 80% stake in the property by funding $10-million in exploration expenditure over five years.

WBK formally received the exploration permits under the DRC's new mining regime in March and the deal with La Quinta received the go ahead from the TSX Venture Exchange last month.

(Investors also need not be concerned by the mining contract review under way in the country, mainly because because there is no State-owned company involvement in the property, and secondly because WBK's licences have now been awarded by the government under the new mining law.)

The property, on the Maniema-South Kivu gold belt, is largely unexplored using modern technology, although a number of sites were mined alluvially in the former Belgian Congo, before Congolese independence in 1960.

The land also holds the appeal of what Swallow calls 'closology', as it abuts two of fellow Canadian Banro Corporation's projects, which already have NI 43-101-compliant resource estimates totalling some 8-million ounces.

Banro is actually expected to publish the results of a prefeasibility study into its Namoya property, to the south west of the WBK-La Quinta property, within the next few weeks.

Moving forward, La Quinta will focus its exploration efforts on the past producing alluvial sites on the property, as well as a number of anomalies which have already been identified on the large land tract.

The firm hopes to get some drilling under way by the end of the year, Swallow said, and access to the property will soon be much improved, as the Chinese-built N2 highway currently under construction will run straight through the WBK land.

“And that makes a huge difference to us because it obviously aids us with infrastructure.”

La Quinta is happy that a dispute between WBK and Banro, which claims it had a previous agreement with WBK on the licences, is behind it, although it should be mentioned that a Banro spokesperson said last month that the company was still pursuing the matter.

The firm announced plans earlier this month to raise about C$900 000 in a nonbrokered private placement of shares and warrants, although Swallow indicated on Thursday that it may have to relook at the pricing of the fundraising because of the difficult market conditions facing junior miners at the moment.

To subscribe to Mining Weekly's print magazine email subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za or buy now.