May 15 2020
Loncor Resources Inc., a Canadian gold exploration company, has provided an update on its exploration activities performed within the Ngayu Greenstone Belt.
Ngayu Belt. Developing Prospectivity, Work Programs and Drill Targets for 2020 (From Barrick Q1 2020 joint venture report). Image Credit: Loncor Resources Inc.
At the Ngayu Greenstone Belt, Loncor Resources has a dominant stake via its joint venture with Barrick Gold (Congo) SARL and also on its own majority-owned exploitation concessions and exploration licenses, including its 100% owned exploration license comprising the Makapela deposit and the Imbo exploitation concession (76.29%) containing the Adumbi deposit.
Recently, Loncor Resources received the quarterly exploration report from Barrick Gold—its joint venture partner—for Q1 2020.
As declared in February 2020, the joint venture partner and operator Barrick Gold had detected several priority drill targets inside the 1,894 km2 joint venture land package located at the Ngayu Greenstone Belt, and drilling was scheduled to begin in March.
Certain delays were faced at the border because of further permitting requirements ensuing from the COVID-19 crisis; however, both drill rigs are currently at the Kibali mine site and scheduled to be mobilized to the Ngayu Greenstone Belt in Q2 2020.
It is anticipated that the first drill target will be performed at Anguluku, wherein an initial six core holes have been planned. Based on the outcomes, more holes will be drilled at Anguluku or alternatively, the drills will be shifted to Salisa/Lybie where an initial 12 holes have been planned. Yambenda and Yasua are the other targets to be drilled.
A huge component of Barrick Gold’s Q1 2020 exploration program was targeted on reconnaissance follow-up. The aim of these reconnaissance analyses was to define the latest targets for prioritization and evaluate the prevalent targets to remove them from the resource triangle or improve them to the drilling stage.
During the time of reporting, 8 of the 11 Areas of Interest discovered during the previous quarter had been assessed for the possibility of hosting tier 1 deposits. Two of the eight assessed areas failed to pass the initial indicators to host tier 1 deposits.
Additional assessment of this quarter was finished on the Zunguluka, Andagbowa, Imva South, and Makapela West blocks. Two new targets were defined at Andagbowa for a follow-up work.
Andagbowa is characterized by complex structural and lithological settings and is situated to the northeast corner of the Ngayu concession and approximately 32 km northeast of the Mambati base camp. These structural and lithological settings contain fractured and folded banded ironstone formation (BIF) and also the hinge of a belt scale fold.
Historic work has demonstrated intense alluvial artisanal activities, localized low-grade BLEG anomaly basins, and the absence of quartz pebbles in the streams, potentially indicating disseminated style gold mineralization.
The objective of the exploration fieldwork concluded during the quarter at Andagbowa was to gain the area’s geological properties to assess its perspectivity and potential for the upcoming comprehensive work. The fieldwork that was performed involved initial exploration study, integrating structural, geological, as well as alteration mapping and sampling for gold analysis.
In addition, structural data validated the inferred open folding system with NNW fold axis taking place inside the region near the Makapela Intrusive.
The discovered NW-SE, NE-SW, and E-W moderate-to-steeply dipping mineralized sheared zones are parallel to the inferred domain boundary subsidiary fault and aligned along the regional fold. The subsidiary fault could play a role in managing the distribution of gold mineralization, either by serving as a conduit for hydrothermal fluids or by hosting mineralization.
At Andagbowa area, the initial exploration work exposed two promising prospects for upcoming, such as Tozali and Bon Marche. Both prospects are defined by brecciated and sheared rocks such as BIF comprising stockworks of quartz veinlets, or sheeted stringers of silica related to weak disseminated fine-to-coarse sulfides and pervasive sericite.
Bon Marché prospect is situated approximately 5 km east of Bole Bole village; the region occurs structurally in the inferred regional hinge and is defined by:
- ENE and NE trending mineralized shear zones (up to 12 m wide) comprised sheeted stringers of quartz and veinlets related to pervasive sericite hosted by metasediment rock. Each of the two shear zones is excavated along a length of 100 m by artisanal miners. Assay results of up to 2 m at 1.07g/t gold (Au) were intercepted from channel sampling.
- Folded and fractured BIF, stretching to 2.5 km, contained weak disseminated sulfide and pervasive silica with 0.83 g/t Au from litho samples.
- At Bon Marche, the potential hinge is situated 1.5 km north of soil anomalies localized virtually inside the same hinge zone.
The Tozali prospect is situated 6 km south-east of Bon Marché and revealed:
- 1.5 km prospective NW-trending brecciated BIF comprising disseminated boxworks as well as stockworks of quartz-carbonate stringers. The received results demonstrated anomalized values of up to 0.76g/t Au.
At the start of the quarter, Light Detection and Ranging remote sensing (LIDAR) surveys were also carried out on four exploration blocks in the joint venture. The advantages of the LIDAR data in comparison to the conventional aerial-photo-based interpretation include more in-depth identification of potential surface deposits, mapping structures, lithology¸ and more accurate edging of the geomorphologies, which are likely to hold large-scale deposits.
In addition, this technique reflects the real ground surface more precisely, especially in regions of thick vegetation. The outcomes of the LiDAR surveys are being compiled with other prevalent geophysical and geological layers to additionally create and prioritize more number of targets.
Imbo Exploitation Permit (Loncor 76.29%)
Beyond the Barrick joint venture, exploration activities have progressed on Loncor Resources’ Imbo exploitation concession (76.29%) in the east of the Ngayu Greenstone belt.
Fieldwork done by geologists at Loncor Resources has targeted the Imbo East prospect located 12 km west-southwest of Adumbi along the same mineralized structural trend. Gridding and rock and soil sampling are being performed across a strike length of 3.6 km. Further follow up will depend on the pending assay results.