A drill program by Canyon Resources (CAU-X) will test several gold targets at the Megado Serdo property in southern Ethiopia. At the same time, the Denver-based company plans to test two other Ethiopian properties where gold occurrences have been known to occur.
The program is being funded by South African mining house JCI through a joint-venture agreement, and will be operated by Canyon Resources Africa (90% owned by Canyon). At least US$1.1 million will be spent on second-year exploration work at the properties, both of which are in the Adola gold belt.
The region hosts the producing, 2-million-oz. Lega Dembi gold mine, which is being privatized by the government through a tender process. The surrounding area has a 60-year history of gold mining, having yielded more than 1 million oz.
Canyon’s 60-sq.-km Megado Serdo property adjoins the Lega Dembi gold mine. So far, the company has delineated 14 distinct gold anomalies on the property using systematic soil geochemical surveys. A total of 2,324 metres of trenching has tested several of these targets, with gold grades ranging from 0.4 to 4.4 grams per tonne over 1-3-metre intervals. A 10-hole program is testing several of these targets.
The 108-sq.-km Meleka Abeba property, situated some 50 km north of Lega Dembi, also has a history of gold production. Stream-sediment geochemical sampling has delineated several zones with anomalous gold values that will be trenched and drilled, starting this year.
Elsewhere in the country, the joint venture has applied for a mineral licence covering 1,100 sq. km in the Rift Valley. The area under application is reported to contain numerous gold showings with associated alteration. Field work will start as soon as the licence is granted.
In addition to its domestic industrial-mineral operations, Canyon operates the new Briggs mine in California, which is expected to turn out 75,000 oz.
gold annually, and the 22.75%-owned McDonald gold project in Montana, a joint venture with Phelps Dodge (PD-N).
Be the first to comment on "EXPLORATION 1997 — Canyon drills gold targets at Megado Serdo property"