VANCOUVER, BC, May 31, 2022 /CNW/ - Awalé Resources Limited
("Awalé" or the "Company") (TSXV: ARIC) is
pleased to announce that Newmont Ventures Limited, a wholly owned
subsidiary of Newmont Corporation (NYSE: NEM) (TSX:
NGT)("Newmont"), has agreed, subject to certain closing
conditions including Toronto Stock Exchange approval, to make a
strategic investment in Awalé and enter into an exploration
agreement with venture option (the "Exploration Agreement")
on the Company's Odienné Project in northwest Côte d'Ivoire (Figure
1). The Odienné Project currently has two primary targets for
world-class discoveries: i) the gold-rich Empire corridor and ii)
the recently defined Sceptre Iron Oxide Copper Gold ("IOCG")
target, while the remaining 200 km2 of granted tenure
and 400 km2 under application remains underexplored and
has significant IOCG potential.
Link to Figures:
http://www.awaleresources.com/_resources/maps/2022-05-27-Odienne-JV-Figures-Final.pdf
Highlights:
- The terms of the transaction consist of:
-
- A US$500,000 strategic investment
in the Company pursuant to a private placement; and
- Up to US$15 million in staged
exploration funding to earn up to 75% in the Odienné Project.
- The Odienné Project has the potential to deliver "Tier One"
gold and gold-copper assets from the Empire corridor and the
Sceptre target area, respectively.
Previous drilling by Awalé has confirmed high-grade gold
mineralization along the regional-scale corridor at Empire, with
initial drilling at the Charger prospect and regional soil
geochemistry confirming the potential for IOCG mineralization at
Sceptre and elsewhere within the
Odienné Project.
- The combined Odienné East (granted) and Odienné West
(application) permits comprise a total of 800 square kilometres of
highly prospective but underexplored terrain in northwest Côte
d'Ivoire.
Company CEO Glen Parsons
commented today:
"Awalé is a team of proven and active explorers in highly
prospective underexplored regions, and I am thrilled that the
Odienné Project has attracted Newmont, the world's largest gold
producer.
We have always considered Odienné has the potential to
produce a Tier One asset which, based on work performed to date, is
now supported by Newmont through this transaction. Our shareholders
can share in the delivery of a project of this potential
scale.
The setting of the Odienné Project has striking similarities
to major copper-gold producing districts such as the Carajás and
Olympic Dam Iron Oxide Copper Gold provinces in south America and
Australia. The giant Iron Oxide
Copper Gold deposits in these and other similar regions are
significant contributors to global copper and gold inventories and
will continue to be so in the future. We believe the Odienné
province in Côte d'Ivoire can join this family.
The 5 kilometre-long Sceptre Cu-Au IOCG anomaly provides
Awalé an excellent starting point and places us in a unique
position to be drill testing targets that have Tier One potential.
We look forward to developing the Odienné Project into a new
mineralised district in west Africa with Newmont"
Key Transaction Terms
The Exploration Agreement gives Newmont the option to fund
exploration activities up to a pre-feasibility phase and by funding
qualifying expenditures of at least US$15
million to earn up to a 75% interest in the Odienné Project
on the following basis:
Private Placement
- Newmont will invest US$500,000 in
Awalé based on a 30-day volume-weighted average price ("VWAP")
which will be used to fund Awalé's Côte d'Ivoire activities. Based
on the agreed exchange rate, Newmont will receive 3,232,994
Ordinary shares in the Company at a price of $0.197 cents per ordinary share for total
proceeds of C$636,900. Newmont will
become an insider as defined, with an interest in the Company of
10.49% post issue.
Phase 1
- Newmont can earn a 51% interest in the Odienné Project by
funding US$5 million in exploration
expenditures within three years of the effective date of the
Exploration Agreement.
- The Odienné Project will be managed by Awalé during this
time.
Phase 2
- Through funding a further US$10
million in exploration expenditure and defining a minimum
2-million-ounce gold resource, Newmont may earn an additional 14%
interest for a total of a 65% interest in the Odienné Project.
- Newmont has entered into an exclusive option agreement to
purchase the minority 10% interest in the Odienné Project, which,
if exercised, would increase Newmont's interest to 75%.
- Newmont has the option to elect to become project manager upon
commencement of Phase 2.
Post-Phase 2
- Awalé may maintain its 25% project interest by funding its
proportionate cost of a feasibility study on the Odienné Project
and development of a mine.
Next Steps
Over the next 12 months the Company plans to undertake
permit-wide geophysics including detailed airborne
magnetic/radiometric surveys, airborne gravity gradiometry, as well
as geochemical and geological mapping surveys. Further to this,
local targeted programs are planned for the Sceptre prospect with trench and Diamond/RC
drill programs.
Background on Odienné and the
Sceptre and Charger
Prospects
Based on the regional geological setting of Odienné along with
the soil/termitaria data from the Sceptre prospect and the initial drill results
from the adjacent Charger prospect (see Company news releases dated
22nd July 2021 and
13th Jan 2022 and figure
2), the Company interprets the geological setting of the Odienné
district to be comparable to that of other significant IOCG
globally. IOCG deposits are significant contributors to global
copper and gold inventories, and the Company considers the Odienné
Project to contain significant potential for the discovery of the
first major IOCG deposit in west Africa.
Charger Target
High-grade gold mineralization in drilling hosted in sulphide
bearing hematite breccias was reported from RC hole OERC-89 of
1m @ 20.3 grams/tonne ("g/t") Au from
16m downhole, plus 3m @ 9.0 g/t Au from 30
m downhole. These intercepts are contained within a broader
interval of 27m at 13.6 g/t Ag from 9
metres downhole.
ICP data from OERC-89 confirms the presence of elevated Cu, Bi,
and Mo values together with high-grade gold in the sulfide-bearing
hematite rich breccias, with the interval 31m to 32m
returning the highest gold grades of gold (14.6 g/t Au) and copper
(0.66%) identified so far. Chalcopyrite is associated with pyrite
within the mineralized hydrothermal breccia. This
multielement fingerprint is not common for Orogenic systems and
when combined with the hematite bearing breccias and surrounding
magnetite alteration point toward an IOCG model for the Odienné
Project.
Sceptre Target
Infill and extension soil/termitaria sampling has enhanced and
confirmed the 5 kilometer Sceptre
target and has defined two distinct Cu-Au targets within this zone,
now named Sceptre East and Sceptre Main
- Sceptre East (Figure 3) forms a coincident 1.5km long,
>368ppm (parts per million) Cu / >20ppb (parts per billion)
Au footprint with a peak value of 1,776ppm Cu and 554ppb Au.
-
- Comparatively, this anomaly covers an area 4 times the size of
the recently drilled Charger target, which returned 3m at 9 g/t Au and 0.4% Cu within a sulfide
bearing hematite breccia (drill hole OERC-89, release dated
22nd July 2021).
The core of the Cu/Au footprint tested at Charger is a 400m long auger anomaly at >90ppb Au and >
100ppm Cu.
- Sceptre Main (Figure 3 and 4) forms a larger, NE trending 2.6km
long and 1.5km wide >110ppm Cu anomaly with coincident >14
ppb Au anomalism.
-
- The Sceptre Main target is known to contain a series of
polymetallic veins that have returned high grade results with up to
26.7 g/t Au and 1.5% Cu in selective sampling from artisanal
workings.
Background on IOCG deposits and
similarities to the Odienné district.
Precambrian IOCG provinces globally (e.g., Olympic Dam- Gawler
Craton, Australia and Carajás -
Amazonian Craton, Brazil) are
important sources of copper and gold, and are characterized by
their association with iron-oxides such as hematite and magnetite.
These IOCG deposits formed during brief episodes of extension that
postdated accretion of Paleoproterozoic terranes onto an Archean
craton nucleus (Hayward and Skirrow 2010, Porter 2010) Figures 4
and 5 depict the crustal setting of both the provinces and Figure 6
includes Odienné location and as a comparison.
These periods of extension and mineralization in the Gawler
craton were characterized by bimodal volcanism and plutonism
characterized by the Gawler range volcanics and the Hiltaba Suite
plutons. The Olympic dam province hosts Carapateena
(950Mt at 0.57% Cu, 0.25g/t Au, 2.7
g/t Ag – Oz Minerals Resources and Reserves statement June 2020) and Prominent Hill (150 Mt at 0.9% Cu, 0.75 g/t Au and 2.5 g/t Ag –
Oz Minerals Resources and Reserves statement June 2021) along with the giant Olympic Dam
deposit (10.1 Gt @ 0.61% Cu, 0.27 g/t Au, 1.0 g/t Ag, 0.21 kg/tonne
U3O8– BHP Annual report 2021) – Olympic Dam has a current projected
mine life of some 40 years and has been operating since
1988*. All Resources stated above are a 'Total Resource' including
Measured, indicated and Inferred Resources.
The Carajás IOCG province is developed on the NE margins of
Southern Amazonian Craton, although older than the Gawler has a
similar setting is similar with accreted terranes, bimodal
volcanism and plutonism and similar age to the Leo-Man Craton in
west Africa. The deposits are
located within the east-southeast trending 150 km long Itacaiúnas
Shear Belt, which cuts obliquely across the bimodal, but mainly
mafic to intermediate volcanism which overlies the Mesoarchaean
granitoid nucleus of the Amazonian craton (Porter 2010). Combined,
all the Carajás deposit have been estimated to contain combined
resources of >8 Gt @ 0.9 wt.% Cu and 0.2 g/t Au (Xavier et
al., 2010)*.
Awalé has now adopted an IOCG model as the setting of the
Odienné Project which consists of a suite of volcanic and
volcaniclastic rocks of basaltic to felsic composition that are
synchronous or intruded by a series of late plutons. The Odienné
Project sits on the margins of an interpreted deep seated major
crustal structure where Paleoproterozoic rocks have accreted on to
an Archean nucleus (Man Craton) that
extends from Côte d'Ivoire westward into Guinea for over 200km. Recent studies show
that a large igneous intrusive province has formed along this
paleosuture zone, and this province extends through Odienné (see
figure 6).
The similarities in Odienné crustal setting to the Major Olympic
Dam and Carajás IOCG provinces in Australia and Brazil are convincing. The Sceptre and
Sceptre East and Charger Prospects are associated with a sequence
of late bimodal intrusions likely coeval undeformed bimodal
volcanic rocks along with hematite breccia within magnetite altered
diorite at the Charger prospect. When paired with the Cu Au
and Silver (Ag) mineralization and polymetallic zonation containing
pathfinder elements typically associated with IOCG systems
(including bismuth, silver, molybdenum, and tungsten) all provides
compelling evidence for the comparison to the major global IOCG
provinces.
*References made to mines and analogous deposits
provide context to the prospectivity for the Odienné Project but
are not indicative that the Odienné Project host similar tonnages
or grades of mineralization.
References
BHP Annual Report 2021, section 4.6 Resources and reserved pp
245,
https://www.bhp.com/-/media/documents/investors/annual-reports/2021/210914_bhpannualreport2021.pdf?sc_lang=en&hash=15F0B58BC27ADFA860F0BE29B61E199D
OZ Minerals Ltd, Mineral Resource and Reserve Statement and
Explanatory notes, Prominent Hill, 30 June
2021.
https://www.ozminerals.com/ArticleDocuments/362/20211116-2021ProminentHillMineralsResourceAndOreReserveStatement-ASXRelease.pdf.aspx?Embed=Y
OZ Minerals Ltd, Mineral Resource and Reserve Statement and
Explanatory notes, Carapateeena, 30 June
2020.
https://www.ozminerals.com/ArticleDocuments/364/201116_ASX_Release_OZL_Carrapateena_MROR_Final.pdf.aspx?Embed=Y
Porter, T.M., 2010 - Current Understanding of Iron Oxide
Associated-Alkali Altered Mineralised Systems: Part II, A
Review; in Porter, T.M., (ed.), Hydrothermal Iron
Oxide Copper-Gold and Related Deposits: A Global
Perspective, v. 3 - Advances in the Understanding of
IOCG Deposits; PGC Publishing, Adelaide, pp 33-106.
Xavier, R.P., Monteiro, L.V.S., Souza
Filho, C.R., Torresi, I., Carvalho, E.R., Dreher,
A.M., Wiedenbeck, M., Trumbull, R.B., Pestilho, A.L.S. and Moreto,
C.P.N., 2010 - The Iron Oxide Copper-Gold Deposits of the Carajás
Mineral Province, Brazil: an
Updated and Critical Review; in Porter, T.M., (ed.),
Hydrothermal Iron Oxide Copper-Gold and Related Deposits: A Global
Perspective, v. 3 - Advances in the Understanding of IOCG
Deposits; PGC Publishing, Adelaide, pp. 285-306.
Quality Control and
Assurance
Analytical work for auger/soil and termitaria geochemical
samples is being carried out at the independent Intertek
Laboratories Australia Ltd. an ISO 17025 (2017) Certified
Laboratory. Samples are stored at the Company's field camps and put
into sealed bags until collected by Intertek from the Company's
secure Bondoukou or Odienné office and transported by Intertek to
their laboratory in Tarkwa, Ghana
for preparation. Samples are logged in the tracking system,
weighed, dried, and pulverized to better than 85%, passing a
75-micron screen, this pulp sample is then shipped to Australia where 10-gram split is analysed by
ICP/MS with an Aqua Regia digest. Blanks, duplicates, and certified
reference material (standards) are being used to monitor laboratory
performance during the analysis. Analytical work for drill samples
is being carried out at the independent Intertek Laboratories Ghana
Ltd. an ISO 17025 Certified Laboratory. Samples are stored at the
Company's field camps and put into sealed bags until collected by
Intertek from the Company's secure Bondoukou or Odienné office and
transported by Intertek to their preparation laboratory in
Yamoussoukro, Côte d'Ivoire for
preparation. Samples are logged in the tracking system, weighed,
dried, and pulverized to better than 85%, passing a 75-micron
screen, this pulp sample is then shipped to Ghana where a 50g charge is Fire Assayed with
an AAS finish. Blanks, duplicates, and certified reference material
(standards) are being used to monitor laboratory performance during
the analysis.
Qualified
Person
The technical and scientific information contained in this news
release has been reviewed and approved for release by Andrew Chubb, the Company's Qualified Person as
defined by National Instrument 43-101. Mr Chubb is the Company's
Chief Operating Officer and holds an Economic Geology degree, is a
Member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists (AIG) and is a
Member of the Society of Economic Geologists (SEG). Mr Chubb has 18
years of experience in international minerals exploration and
mining project evaluation.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD
AWALE RESOURCES
LIMITED.
"Glen
Parsons"
Glen Parsons, President and
CEO
Forward-Looking
Information
This news release contains "forward-looking information" within
the meaning of applicable securities laws. Readers are cautioned
not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Actual
results and developments may differ materially from those
contemplated by such information. The statements in this news
release are made as of the date hereof. The Company undertakes no
obligation to update forward-looking information except as required
by applicable law.
Cautionary Statement
NEITHER TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES
PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX
VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR
ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE
SOURCE Awale Resources