ASX-listed exploration company Turaco Gold (ASX:TCG) reports it has found ‘compelling’ gold targets following recent geophysics at the Odienne South Permit in Côte d’Ivoire.
The company says the Odienne South permit is emerging as an ‘exciting’ new target area for Turaco with around 10km of ‘high-tenor’, over 80ppb gold anomaly within an anomalous trend over 30km. It also states Odienne has interpreted intrusions coincident with anomalous soils.
Odienne South is located in a region of Côte d’Ivoire that is unexplored but is emerging as a new exploration province where the gold bearing Siguiri Belt of Guinea extends into Côte d’Ivoire.
Turaco Gold Managing Director Justin Tremain says: “Whilst Turaco’s focus has been on its other more advanced projects in Côte d’Ivoire, in particular the new greenfield Satama gold discovery in central Côte d’Ivoire, we have been quietly working up the Odienne Project in northwest Côte d’Ivoire with soil geochemistry and geophysics.
“The geological setting of the Odienne South permit is extremely interesting as has been emphasised by the results of the initial soil geochemistry when overlaid with recent high-resolution geophysics”
The geological setting of the Odienne South permit is extremely interesting as has been emphasised by the results of the initial soil geochemistry when overlaid with recent high-resolution geophysics.
High-tenor soils of over 80ppb gold extend for over 10km within a broader regional gold anomaly extending for over 30km. Given these soil results and the geological setting, the Odienne South permit has large scale gold discovery potential.
We will continue to advance exploration with auger drilling and further soil geochemistry.”
Turaco reports the Odienne Project comprises 2 granted exploration permits covering a combined area of 1,085km square in the northwestern region of Côte d’Ivoire. The permits are under a joint venture (JV) between the Turaco-Predictive JV (Turaco 89%) and a local entity with the Turaco-Predictive JV having the right to earn an 85% interest in the permits.
Geologically, the Odienne Project area lies on the regional scale Sassandra fault which forms the partition between the Archean Kenema Man Domain and the Proterozoic Baoule-Mossi Domain.
Despite hosting comparable stratigraphy to Guinea’s Siguiri basin, the company says the Odienne region remains largely unexplored, though recent exploration success includes Centamin Mining’s (LSE:CEY) 1.2 million ounce Kona gold discovery which is located along strike to the south.
The company states permit wide regional soil sampling on a staggered 500m by 500m grid was undertaken and defined an extensive anomalous corridor (20ppb to 40ppb Au) trending west-northwest.
Within this corridor several zones of ‘higher tenor’ anomalism were partially infilled on a 300m by 200m grid as part of an orientation survey of over 400 samples.
This sampling confirmed anomalism and defined at least one ‘higher tenor’ anomaly (over 80ppb) extending for around 10km.
Turaco reports soil sampling has been integrated with recently acquired high-resolution aeromagnetics and radiometrics, and this data indicates the main 30km anomaly sits on the margin of the reworked Archean margin and extensions of the Siguiri basin into Côte d’Ivoire.
This margin is considered a highly ‘significant’ tectonic domain and host to Predictive Discovery’s (ASX:PDI) recent 4.2 million ounce Bankan discovery along with several other gold occurrences in Guinea.
In addition to this major trend, additional ‘high-priority’ targets include a trend over 5km in the northeastern corner of the permit along strike from historically reported ultramafic volcanics and a prominent circular magnetic and radiometric anomaly in the southeast permit interpreted to be an intrusive unit with coincident anomalous soil geochemistry.
The extent and location of this anomalism is considered ‘highly’ encouraging by the company and as a result a program of auger drilling and more detailed infill soil geochemistry is set to begin shortly.
Turaco reports it is planning to test the coherent central over 3kms of ‘high-grade’ gold in soils with auger drilling. This will commence after the current reverse circulation (RC) program at Satama, along with further infill soils on the remainder of the soil anomalies across the permit.
Turaco Gold is an ASX-listed gold exploration company in Côte d’Ivoire with a tenement package of around 8,300km-square in the Birimian greenstone terrain.
The company’s projects include the Eburnea, Boundaili, Ferke and Tongon North projects.
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