Descubrimiento de una nueva estructura aurífera marroquí
In mid-January, the Alawi kingdom granted four exploration licences for gold mines to Canada-based Stellar AfricaGold Inc, with the aim of obtaining reserves of the precious metal from the Moroccan subsoil. The Canadian company, which also operates in West Africa and Quebec, announced last Monday the discovery of a third gold mineralised structure, the discovery is part of the Tichka Est Gold Project in Morocco, specifically in the initial stream sediment sampling programme.
The new structure is located in a mountain pass 80 kilometres southeast of Marrakech and the Canadian company will continue to explore the area under the supervision of Oro Tichka Est. The discovery represents Zone C of the project, covering more than 1,000 metres of gold reserves, which is in addition to the 1,200 metres previously found by the company, which would be Zone A and Zone B. The structure will remain open for exploration under the supervision of the company. The structure will remain open for exploration to quantify its exact size, according to the Canadian company's statement.
"I am delighted to see that the potential of the Tichka Project is blossoming with the discovery of another new structure within the Tichka Est permits," said Maurice Giroux, Stellar's vice-president of exploration and chief operating officer. "This third structure, called the C Zone, is located east of the B Zone and exhibits similar mineralogy, gold grades and structural width as the previously reported B and A Zones. The Zone C structure adds 1,000 metres of gold mineralisation to the previously announced 1,200 metres of Structures A and B, for a combined total of 2,200 metres. This important new structure remains open to the east and at depth. Stellar has a permanent geological team in Morocco and exploration of Zone C is ongoing. Results will be released as assays are received and analysed," Giroux added.
As stated by Stellar's VP of exploration and COO, the C-Zone trenching programme consisted of a six hand-dug trenching process to a depth of one metre. This was achieved through a quartz-ankerite sulphide structure with apparent sulphides, pyrite, arsenopyrite, chalcopyrite and iron oxide exposed in a highly broken and deformed shale. The new mineralised reserve comprises a gold structure over one kilometre in length, plus trenches up to 5.81 g/t Au.
The mining company currently has seven available exploration permits in the High Atlas Mountains region, covering an area of 82 square kilometres, which were signed with Morocco's National Office of Hydrocarbons and Mines in August 2020. Stellar AfricaGold had launched a sampling programme in 2021, where it discovered two gold structures, the aforementioned Zone A and Zone B. "Two of the four additional licences are strategically located in relation to the two recently discovered A and B gold structures, which were discovered through Stellar's extensive prospecting and trenching programmes," the Canadian company informed.
In this way, the North African country continues to boost its mining industry through the exploitation of natural resources, a very positive action for the development of the Moroccan economy. All this would not be possible without the work of Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch, who promotes the development of the energy and mining industry in the Alawi kingdom.