AfriOre adds to gold stable

Continuing its move into the gold business, AfriOre (AFO-T) has been awarded a special prospecting licence for the 1,514-sq.-km Siaya gold project in western Kenya’s Kakamega district.

Siaya is home to several gold occurrences and previous gold mining operations. The property is adjacent to the northern and eastern boundaries of AfriOre’s Ndori gold project, where the company has a 5-year option to acquire a 100% interest for US$1 million.

The two properties are underlain by Archean Nyanzian rocks, which extend from the south in Tanzania.

AfriOre has begun a $1.3-million program of sampling, trenching and drilling on both properties. The work will initially aim to identify potential bulk mineable gold targets on the known gold occurrences and mineralized areas.

In northern Namibia, AfriOre has been granted exclusive prospecting licences over two contiguous areas near Otjiwarongo. The Wagner and Capricorn project areas cover about 1,040 sq. km.

Returning to AfriOre’s bread-and-butter business, the company recently began collecting a 3,000-tonne bulk from its Somkele anthracite project, about 60 km northwest of the coal export facility at Richards Bay in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa.

The bulk sample is part of the final stage of a bankable feasibility study underway at Somkele.

A 110-metre long boxcut, reaching depths of around 20 metres, will target a 15-metre-thick zone containing 10 cumulative metres of anthracite. The bulk sample will be trucked to AfriOre’s Springlake plant in South Africa to undergo tests to determine the anthracite’s washing properties. Prospective customers will also test samples.

The bulk sampling will also give an indication of the mining and overburden stripping conditions and will assist in planning open-pit mining operations.

Early testing of core samples from 71 holes indicates that Somkele’s anthracite is suitable for the metallurgical market.

AfriOre is looking for a partner to share construction and development costs, should the feasibility study come back positive.

Plans at Somkele call for a relatively modest production rate of 40,000 tonnes per month. Some 80 million tonnes of low-sulphur anthracite resources defined in the area’s complex geology will initially be targeted by a series of small open pits. Somkele’s low (0.7%) sulphur content makes it a valuable long-term source of blend for Springlake’s anthracite, which averages 1.5% sulphur.

During the three months ended Aug. 31, AfriOre earned $448,462 (or 2 per diluted share) on revenue of $3.2 million, compared with year-ago earnings of $798,222 (4 per share) on $2.6 million. Revenues suffered as more lower-value fine coal was sold to export markets.

For the half-year, earnings came to $772,252 (3 per share), compared with earnings of $979,612 (a nickel per share) the previous year. Revenues slipped almost $700,000 to $4.4 million.