Odyssey on treasure hunt in Morocco

Vancouver — Toronto-based Odyssey Resources (ODX-V) has begun exploring for copper-silver deposits on its newly acquired Alous project in southwestern Morocco.

The effort encompasses surrounding copper-silver properties as well. The combined land package of 34 licences covers 392 sq. km in the Anti Atlas Mountains.

Precambrian-hosted deposits in the region are found in volcanic and intrusive rocks, and are similar to the manto blancos deposits of Chile and Peru. The known Cambrian-hosted deposits are found in conglomerates and siltstones, and appear typical of sediment-hosted deposits.

Odyssey was attracted to the under-explored region by its favorable geology and potential for hosting economic copper and silver deposits. The company views Morocco as a stable nation with excellent infrastructure, and favourable mining, tax and investment laws.

Odyssey secured rights to acquire four blocks of properties from a government agency. Under that agreement, the company must spend US$1.4 million over four years, followed by modest cash payments over four more years. The company can earn 100% of this ground, subject to a 3% royalty. Other properties were staked and registered independently.

The company has since received “expressions of interests” from international mining companies, and signed a confidentiality agreement with one undisclosed party.

The first stage of work, now under way, involves acquiring and digitizing data. The company recently purchased geophysical survey data (aeromagnetic, electromagnetic and radiometric) to refine known targets and identify new ones.

Next, an independent resource calculation will be performed, starting with the Alous deposit.

Alous has a known historic resource (not yet verified to meet Canadian standards) of 6.3 million tonnes grading 0.87% copper and 9.8 grams silver per tonne.

Odyssey is also active in Turkey, and has commissioned a study for its Tavsan gold property.

Tavsan has an inferred resource (estimated by a previous operator) of 11.6 million tonnes grading 1.01 grams gold. This calculation does not yet meet Canadian standards but will be upgraded independently.