LSE-listed gold, copper and cobalt producer Red Rock Resources has submitted applications for five exploration permits through a wholly-owned Côte d’Ivoire subsidiary LacGold Resources (LacGold).

Red Rock chairperson Andrew Bell says exploration of some of the largest parts of the West African greenstone belts, and particularly in Côte d’Ivoire, has lagged far behind that of Ghana and even Mali.

Red Rock has partnered its Côte d'Ivoire-born geologist and data manager in London – Ali Barro – with Côte d'Ivoire-based Koffi Gbamele, a geologist with 30 years of gold experience including at Newcrest and at Taurus Gold.

“Gbamele has engaged in exploration through [his] different stages at well-known mines such as Bonikro, Dougbafla, Hiré and Afema, conduct[ing] near-mine development, and has in addition substantial administration and community and government relations experience,” says Bell.

He adds that, following a detailed study, an application has now been made for five areas Red Rock believes holds the “pedigree and potential for significant discoveries”.

“The team's aim is to create and rapidly list a quality West African standalone independently financed gold play focussed on Côte d'Ivoire,” says Bell.

The first area applied for is the 384 km² Djekanou-Taabo project, located 148 km north of Abidjan, 21 km northeast of the Agbaou gold mine and 20 km east of the Bonikro, Dougbafla and Hiré gold mines.

This project is located on the southern part of the Oumé-Fetékro granite greenstone belts. And between the Fetekro greenstone belt and the North-South Dimbokro faults.

At this site, regional soil sampling carried out in 2005 by a previous company showed regional geochemical anomalies of 1 km long up to 12 parts-per-billion (ppb) surface gold, 1.2 km long up to 12 ppb surface gold and peak values returning 1 236 ppb.

The second area of interest is the 399 km² Yamoussoukro project, located 245 km north of Abidjan, and roughly 10 km northwest of Yamoussoukro and parallel to the Bandama river.

This project is 12 km northeast of the Yaouré gold mine and on the same northeast-trending shear zone. All the three main groups of northwest structures delineated at the Yaouré gold mine crosscut the Yamoussoukro project.

The third area of interest is the 399 km² Korhogo project, located 600 km from Abidjan, and 30 km east of Korhogo, as well as being on the same shear zone as the Nako gold deposits.

Historical data around the application area shows regional geochemical anomalies open towards the Korhogo project.

The fourth area of interest – the Nassian project – consists of one exploration permit, covering about 393 km², located at the southern border of the Comoè National Park and about 475 km north of Abidjan. The application is 3 km north of the city of Nassian.

Geologically, Nassian lies entirely within the Tonalite-Trondhjemite-Granodiorite domain, between the Boromo-Batie greenstone belt in Burkina Faso crosscutting the Bouna and Bondoukou region, and the Tehini-Hounde greenstone belt to the west.

The fifth area of interest is the 329 km² Tienko project, consisting of one exploration application and located 851 km north of Abidjan at the southern border of Mali.

This project is located between the Siekerole shear zone and the Bannifin shear zone in southern Mali and is a possible large splay off the Bannifin shear zone.

This application is 50 km from the Marvel gold deposit, where 910 000 oz have been discovered recently on the Tabakorole gold project.