Aim-listed Katoro Gold has identified precious, base and strategic metal prospectivity within the boundaries of its Haneti project in Tanzania, and the board is of the opinion that the project is capable of delivering a number of discrete large-scale exploration and development opportunities.

Katoro executive chairperson Louis Coetzee on Tuesday said the project area was about 5 000 km² in size and represented an interesting exploration opportunity.

He added that the company was developing approaches to capitalise on its value.

Haneti is a polymetallic system with identified potential for nickel (sulphide and laterite), platinum group metals (PGMs), copper, gold, lithium and rare earth elements (REEs).

The principle target zone is an 80-km-long ultramafic belt with grades from surface sampling of up to 13.6% nickel and 2.33 g/t combined platinum and palladium.

Nickel and palladium have experienced significant price strength of late, with nickel now trading at about $17 600/t and palladium at $1 637/oz.

Within the ultramafic belt is the principal target, Mihanza Hill, where 2015 geophysical work identified significant extensions to nickel sulphide prospective target rock formations and geochemical interpretation has identified prospectivity for chonolith type nickel/copper/PGMs mineralisation.

Mihanza Hill is believed, based on desktop work undertaken, to have the potential to host a similar style of mineralisation to Sipa Resources’ Akelikongo nickel project, in Uganda.

Also, within the Haneti licence area there is identified greenstone gold potential to the west, where there is extensive artisanal gold mining in an area a few kilometres to the east of Shanta Gold’s 700 000 oz Singida project.

Moreover, the project has the potential for lithium, tantalum, niobium and REE mineralisation demonstrated by host pegmatites in an area where sampling has returned a high-grade sample of 2.6% lithium and strongly anomalous results in niobium and tantalum.