JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Aim-listed Ortac Resources’ subsidiary Casa Mining will start additional work programmes at its Akyanga licence area, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, to incorporate parallel extensions to the project, as part of the existing drill programme.
This follows the completion of a review of previous exploration activity at the deposit, which identified significant additional intersected gold mineralisation at Akyanga East.
Another five target areas are also currently under review.
Ortac chairperson Nick von Schirnding noted that the review of previous exploration identified a number of targets where gold mineralisation has been intersected via drilling or trenching.
"Akyanga East is one of the most exciting of these targets and, with significant gold mineralisation already identified, we will immediately start a new trenching programme to determine the extent of the gold mineralisation.
“I expect that as we continue to review the data, further mineralisation will be defined, confirming the view that the Akyanga deposit sits central to what could end up being a 55-km-long, multimillion-ounce gold belt as we work towards our target of securing in excess of a two-million-ounce gold resource at Akyanga."
Casa initially started exploration activity at the Akyanga deposit and subsequently on the rest of its licence area.
The exploration activity comprised geological mapping, soil sampling, regional geophysical surveys and trenching, culminating in a series of drilling campaigns over the prospective areas identified at the time.
In 2012 and 2013, Casa drilled 1 650 m and 13 diamond drill holes at Akyanga East, a parallel structure hosting gold mineralisation several hundred metres to the east of the Akyanga deposit and which has been tested for over 2.5 km of strike extent.