Field reconnaissance at Aim- and TSX-V-listed Altus Strategies’ 100%-owned Gabal Al-Shaluhl and Wadi Jundi projects in the Eastern Desert of Egypt have revealed 14 hard rock artisanal gold workings.

The projects fall under the company's 100%-owned subsidiary Akh Gold, which holds four gold exploration projects totalling 1 565 km² in Egypt, where exploration work has unearthed more than 50 hard rock gold workings across the projects to date.

The projects were granted this year as part of a competitive international bid round undertaken by the Egyptian Mineral Resources Authority.

Artisanal workings at the 348 km² Gabal Al-Shaluhl and the 696 km² Wadi Jundi projects are up to 30 m wide and 100 m long, with several being mechanically excavated; leaving at least 35 further remote sensing targets to be assessed.

At the Gabal Al-Shaluhl licence, three of 15 high-priority targets (as defined by desktop studies) have been visited and point to numerous historical artisanal hard rock workings, of which some were mechanised (machinery was found on site), while others were of a smaller scale.

These workings were traced for up to 100 m, associated with shear zones and around granite margins, showing quartz-vein style gold mineralisation – which was both fault and intrusion hosted.

Also at the Gabal Al-Shaluhl licence, Altus observed hydrothermal alteration (silica, carbonate and iron oxide) and visible sulphide mineralisation.

At the Wadi Jundi licence, Altus has visited seven of 35 high-priority targets (as defined by desktop studies), again showing evidence of numerous mechanised and smaller-scale historical artisanal hard rock workings.

At this licence, workings have targeted sheeted systems associated with granitoid intrusions, showing the same gold mineralisation as Gabal Al-Shaluhl.

However, the Wadi Jundi licence hosts hydrothermal alteration with silica and clay alteration and sulphide (pyrite).

Altus notes that these discoveries validate its target generation process in Egypt. 

CE Steven Poulton says the two projects comprise 1 044 km² of Altus’ total landholding of 1 565 km² in the highly-prospective Eastern Desert of Egypt.

“Our initial reconnaissance has underscored the significant prospectivity of the licence areas that Altus has selected and been awarded.

“We have recently established a high-calibre technical and operational team in Egypt, which means we are in a strong position to aggressively advance exploration,” he says.

Going forward, Altus plans to systematically evaluate and rank the projects, while ground work will include reconnaissance mapping, as well as detailed structural, alteration and mineralisation mapping, along with grab and channel sampling.