Walkabout Resources Ltd's (ASX:WKT) initial reconnaissance soil sampling program completed at the 100%-held Amani Hard Rock Gold Project in southwest Tanzania, has identified multiple gold anomalies which it believes confirms the hard rock potential of the project tenure.
The Amani reconnaissance soil sampling program was specifically designed to focus on mapped and inferred structures, and shear zones along strike of known hard rock artisanal workings which were interpreted to be possible feeder zones to the alluvial gold workings in the larger project area.
Soil sampling identified 10 distinct gold-in-soil anomalies within the licence area and of these anomalies, seven higher priority targets, Ulembo 1 to 7, correlate with mapped and interpreted shear zones, geological contacts and major structures.
The largest of these new gold soil anomalies is the Ulembo 1 anomaly, which is around 2.4 kilometres in strike length and up to 900 metres in width at its widest point.
"Optimistic about potential scale"
Walkabout technical director Andrew Cunningham said: “This first round of reconnaissance exploration is highly encouraging as the large gold-in-soil anomalies coincide with some of the mapped and interpreted regional geological structures and features in the region that are thought to be favourable settings for orogenic gold mineralisation.
“These structures are similar to those in both the Mpanda and Lupa goldfields towards the north where Shanta Gold is operating.
“Given the wide distribution of gold throughout the wider project area, we’re very optimistic about the potential future scale of hard rock gold mineralisation to be found at Amani.”
Amani tenure displayed on the regional DEM image with soil sampling areas shown on PL11469/2020 with regional structural trends and major faults indicated.
First mover advantage
The immediate vicinity of PL11469/2020 was the focus of a mini alluvial gold rush in the 1990s when it is estimated that more than 2.5 tonnes of coarse gold nuggets were recovered by artisanal miners.
These were recovered from a 2-kilometre stretch of riverbed in only one of the alluvial mining areas in the project area.
The company is confident it has first-mover advantage as the area has never before been exposed to a systematic modern exploration program focusing on the hard rock provenance of the abundant alluvial gold in the area.
During a field visit this month new occurrences of historical and currently active gold workings were encountered almost 10 kilometres away from the original gold-rush area at Amani and in a range of catchment areas, indicating that the alluvial gold workings are far more widespread than originally thought, which highlights the large scale-gold potential of the area.
Next steps
The seven coincident gold-in-soil anomalies have been prioritised for follow-up sampling and mapping with the aim of increasing sample density and confidence, and sampling of these areas is underway.
Additionally, a more regional stream sediment sampling program is planned for the near future and enquiries are being made into the possible acquisition of remote sensing and/or geophysical datasets for the larger project area.
The results from the various on the ground sampling and mapping programs and the remote-sensing/geophysical datasets will put the company in a better position to prioritise work areas and programs with the ultimate aim of drill testing priority targets for vein and shear zone hosted gold occurrences.