Teal grows resource, grades at Namibian project

Teal Exploration & Mining’s (TL-T, TEL-J) Otjikoto gold project in Namibia is demonstrating higher grades and resources, the company reports.

Otjikoto’s indicated resource has grown 128% to 1.05 million oz. gold at a grade of 1.4 grams per tonne, up from 460,000 oz. gold at 1.21 grams gold. An additional 877,000 oz. gold is contained in the inferred category at a grade of 1.41 grams gold.

The overall resource has climbed to 1.925 million oz. gold from 1.78 million oz. and the gold grade has jumped by 13.6%.

The additional ounces are based on assay results from a 50-by 25- metre drilling pattern at the northern end of the deposit.

Otjikoto is within Teal’s 92%- owned Otavi exploration area, a 3,800-sq.-km property in north-central Namibia.

The project is about 300 km north of Windhoek, Namibia’s capital, and between the towns of Otjiwarongo (70 km south) and Otavi (50 km north).

Teal discovered vein-hosted gold mineralization in the Otavi area in 1997 through airborne magnetic surveys that were followed up by exploration and subsequent drilling.

The gold occurs as “free” and often coarse gold within mainly pyrrhotite-magnetite-pyrite-carbonate veins.

Assay results from 408 drill-holes were used for the interim geological model. The holes were drilled at a 50-metre spacing along strike, and 25 metres apart downdip, in the northeastern section of the orebody. The drill grid opens up to 100 metres along strike and 50 metres downdip towards the south and in the southwestern area of the deposit.

Of the 408 holes that made up the resource estimate: 275 were within the deposit’s upper zone; 357 were in the lower zone; 251 fell within the bottom zone wire-frame; 55 fell within the hangingwall zone; and 27 within the footwall zone.

Teal has a portfolio of base and precious metal development and exploration projects in Zambia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Mozambique, as well as Namibia. Its main projects, apart from Otjikoto, are the Konkola North copper project in Zambia and the Kalumines copper-cobalt project in the DRC.

At presstime, Teal traded at about $4 per share in a 52-week range of $3-5.90. The company has 53.9 million shares outstanding.