Alecto Minerals decides on five high priority targets for Ethiopia gold project
Alecto Minerals (LON:ALO) said work to date on its Aysid Metekel gold project in Ethiopia has identified five high priority targets for the 2013 field season.
The process of whittling down the most prospective areas was aided by compiling historical data, using aero-magnetics and taking almost 850 sediment samples.
The follow-up work will include infill soil sampling to accurately locate the source of gold in target areas, mapping, and rock chip sampling.
The company is also considering flying a helimag survey to better identify structures within the licence. A helimag is a high resolution magnetic and sub-audio magnetics acquisition system carried on a helicopter.
Alecto managing director Damian Conboy said: "The Aysid-Metekel gold licence provides us with exposure to a highly prospective and underexplored region of Ethiopia.
"Our technical work to date has not only highlighted the mineral potential of the area but has also focused our work programme for 2013."
Earlier this week the company delivered encouraging updates on projects in Ethiopia and Mauritania.
It said rock chip sampling of the Wayu Boda project, in the Adola Greenstone Belt in Southern Ethiopia, returned grades of up 47.4 grams of gold per tonne.
Samples from artisanal workings, meanwhile, contained up to 31.7 grams per tonne of the precious metal, while trenching returned 1.3 metres at 4.8 grams per tonne, Alecto added.
The group also revealed it has obtained satellite imagery of the licence area.
On-going work includes geophysics, soil sampling and ground magnetics. The results will be published in the first quarter.
Separately, the group revealed it completed trenching on its Wad Amour iron oxide, copper, gold target in Mauritania, which tested the "extent and tenor" of the mineralisation on the Chiron prospect.
The 400 metre trench intersected the flanks of both the southern and northern ridges of Chiron.
Results for the southern portion of the trench were absent high-grade mineralisation, due to its position on the flanks of the ridge.
However, a larger low-grade halo of 93.6 metres was identified at 0.11% copper, including 30m 0.24%, and one metre at 0.7 grams per tonne gold.
