Pangea, Anglo expand near Lake Victoria — Possible extension for Chocolate Reef structure

Toronto-based Pangea Goldfields (PGD-T) and joint-venture partner Anglo American have increased their land holdings in the Lake Victoria greenstone belts of northern Tanzania.

Eight new licences have been acquired, six of which serve to expand the size of the Kahama gold project to 773 sq. km. Anglo has a 70% stake in that property; Pangea holds 30%.

The acquisition agreement requires that Anglo American incur all exploration costs on these six licences and arrange for project financing. Already, about 4,200 metres of rotary air blast drilling, as well as geochemical and geophysical surveys, have been completed on two of these licences. Results are pending.

The two remaining licences are within a 20-km radius of Kahama and will be explored by both partners, with each company having a 50% interest.

Exploration and development costs will be shared equally.

The new acquisitions have the potential for extending the Chocolate Reef deposit and other similar structures, Pangea reports.

In late 1997, Chocolate Reef was subjected to a prefeasibility study, data from which are being analyzed in an attempt to update the resource calculation.

At last report (T.N.M., May 5/97), the resource stood at 25.3 million tonnes grading 1.74 grams gold per tonne, equivalent to 1.4 million contained ounces at a cutoff grade of 0.5 gram. At a cutoff of 1 gram, the figure changes to 12.8 million tonnes grading 2.73 grams gold, equivalent to 1.1 million contained ounces. Both drill-inferred resource calculations include a high-grade core of 2.1 million tonnes grading 8.16 grams gold, equivalent to 540,000 contained ounces.

The geology at Chocolate Reef is described as simple. Disseminated gold mineralization is associated primarily with pyrite and some chalcopyrite, and is hosted by a felsic intrusive lying near a contact with an ultramafic unit. The mineralized intrusive dips about 70 to the east, strikes north-south and is not folded.