Mariana Resources upbeat on Awale prospects

Exploration and development company Mariana Resources updated the market on the Bondoukou gold projects on Wednesday, following the acquisition of Awalé Resources.

The AIM-traded firm said Awalé is a private exploration company focused on high grade gold projects in Côte d'Ivoire.

“Mariana's initial focus will be on the three granted Bondoukou concessions, all of which are located near the the town of Bondoukou and close to the Ghanaian border,” the board said in a statement.

“The Bondoukou concessions lie along the southwestern extension of the Birimian Bole-Nangodi greenstone belt, which is known to host a number of high grade gold deposits in adjacent Ghana.

“Artisanal miners are currently extracting high grade, vein-style gold mineralisation from within the saprolite profile and colluvium at various locations within all three concessions.”

Prior to Mariana's acquisition of its 80% interest in Awalé, that company’s exploration team had been undertaking reconnaissance exploration over the three granted claim blocks.

Work completed during the initial phase of mapping and sampling resulted in the identification of three priority prospect areas within the Bondoukou Est and Bondoukou Nord Est permits.

“The main objective of the Q4 2016 and H1 2017 field exploration programmes at Bondoukou will be to define and prioritize targets for RC drill testing during H2 2017,” Mariana’s board explained.

It said those drill targets will be defined through a combination of cost effective geological mapping, infill soil sampling, auger drilling, and geophysics as appropriate.