SALANIE GOLD PROJECT (GABON)
The Salanie Gold Project is located 16km from the major town of Lambarene, and less than 2km from the sealed N1 highway and lies within the Company’s 100% owned Keri Permit (G4-456).
Historical mining at Salanie in the mid-1950’s produced over 20,000 ounces of gold at 12g/t Au from quartz veins and alluvial workings. Reports indicate that 10g/t Au was sent to tailings during this period. The area has been untested by modern exploration for over 70 years.
Highlights
- 12km trend of Archaean greenstone with gold occurrences (alluvial and hard rock) noted along the trend
- Two mineralised areas confirmed (Salanie Fault and P6 Prospect) containing high-grade gold samples within an open 12km gold trend.
- Multiple occurrences of visible goldin quartz veining – assaying up to 429g/t Au and 53g/t Au over +2.5km wide in veining
- A1 is a key defined prospect:
- The A1 Prospect is part of the 1.5km long ‘Salanie Fault’ vein system identified in historical mapping from mid-1950’s with numerous gold occurrences noted along the trend;
- Field work has confirmed a strong broad structure at A1, with trench results of 2m @ 17g/t Au within 10.3m @ 3.4g/t Au; and separately 1.4m @ 15.7g/t Au
- Mapping indicates a 20m+ wide zone that extends for over 250m
- Soil geochemistry displays an open 1.3km gold and multi-element anomaly to the south of the Salanie Fault.
- A 1.5km controlling structure from A1 to A5 has been identified through noted visible gold and numerous rock chips along trend returning >10g/t Au
- Historical A3 Pit target yet to be tested
Visible gold at the A1 Prospect – 429g/t Au (Refer Table 1).
Alluvial gold from A3 Prospect.
Figure 1: Salanie interpretated geology with gold prospects and peak sampling results.
Figure 2 : Historical Mining Operations in the A3 Vein Area at Salane (c.1950)
The Salanie Gold Project is comprised of Archean migmatites, amphibolite and granitic porphyry intrusions. The area is known as the Lambarene Horst and is an area of metamorphosed Archean greenstone units flanked by Cretaceous sediments of the Cotier Basin. The main structural trends are parallel to the regional Ikoy-Ikobe Shear in a NNW-SSE direction. Mapping undertaken by Apollo has identified sheared felsic gneiss, granitic units, amphibolites and minor ultramafic units with multiple styles of quartz veining.
Mineralisation Style
The gold mineralisation is hosted with quartz- sulphide veins within the migmatites. Sulphides identified within the veining are chalcopyrite, galena, pyrite and marcasite. Quartz veins have been mapped up to 5m wide with orientations ranging from vertical to almost flat. The areas of previous gold mineralisation identified and mined are the Salanie Fault (A1, A3) A5 and the P6 areas. The A1 quartz veins are reported to be glassy and very hard with irregular mineralisation whereas A3 vein is saccharoidal, containing visible gold, with frequent mineralisation including galena and chalcopyrite. The P6 vein has sulphides (pyrite & chalcopyrite), appears laminated and is very hard with rare visible Au.
Results of the rock chip sampling by Apollo has been highly successful in highlighting mineralisation over a 400m trend with grades up to 429g/t Au and 125g/t Au associated with visible gold and numerous high-grade samples including 306g/t Au, 111g/t Au and 59g/t Au at the A1 Prospect; and an 80m trend with grades up to 184g/t Au at the P6 Prospect. Additionally, elevated silver grades of up to 247g/t Au (R0355) are present.
Chip sampling of the exposed P6 vein showed 53g/t Au over a 2.6m+ wide channel sample (R0373) of the southern end of the vein.
Figure 3: Rock chip sampling over historical geological observations at the Salanie Fault.
Soil geochemistry has also identified numerous gold in soil and multi-element anomalies including along the Salanie Fault and an open ~1.3km anomaly to the south of the Salanie Fault.
Apollo exploration plans to expand the current geological knowledge of the Salanie Gold Project through the commencement of mechanical trenching, sampling and track access to facilitiate drilling.
Mapping indicates that mineralisation is open at depth and drill programs will be planned to define trend and depth extents, with a goal to targeting high-grade mineralisation.