Montage Gold Corp. announced that, following a competitive tender and due diligence process, Montage has secured five greenfield exploration permits (the ?Permits?) covering an area of approximately 2,103km in a highly prospective region of Mauritania. Mauritania, a well-established mining jurisdiction with notable operations including Kinross Gold?s Tasiast gold mine and First Quantum Minerals?
Guelb Moghrein copper-gold mine, is endowed with significant exploration potential. Paleoproterozoic, Birimian rocks containing multiple intrusives and greenstone belts, which are the target for gold exploration, have been mapped across the north and northeastern extents of the country, whilst the juxtaposition of Archean supracrustal rocks creates the ideal geological conditions for orogenic-type gold deposits. As shown in Figure 1, the Permits cover a total surface area of approximately 2,103km and are located in the Western and Eastern Reguibat regions of northern Mauritania.
The Permits are favourably situated along a juxtaposition between extensive Paleoproterozoic Birimian domains and Archean supracrustal rocks, alongside anastomosing shear zones and deformation structures, the combination of which are the target for orogenic-type gold exploration. Four tenements have been secured in the Sfariat exploration block, whilst a further permit has been secured within the Zednes exploration block, both of which are underexplored. the Permits can be characterized into three broad geological domains:PR3798 (Zednes permit), a 476km tenement, is located on the contact between the Archean Western Reguibat and Paleoproterozoic Eastern Reguibat, interpreted to be a major Mesoarchean-Paleoproterozoic contact or shear zone;PR3794, PR3796 and PR3797 (Sfariat permit), respectively 491km, 342km, and 400km tenements, are located along the Sfariat shear zone, a major structure feeding from the Mesoarchean-Paleoproterozoic contact to the south.
The permits exhibit strongly deformed mylonites, shearing and folding structures throughout a series of Paleoproterozoic metasediments that include quartzite, schists and marble, often at the border with older felsic intermediate intrusives; andPR3795 (Sfariat permit), a 394km tenement, located at a triple junction between the trending Mesoarchean-Paleoproterozoic and the intersecting Sfariat shear zone. Montage will own a 100% interest in the Sfariat permits, which it was directly awarded. Montage entered into an agreement to obtain an 80% interest in the Zednes permit with SOCIEX, who was awarded the permit, which remains subject to customary approvals.
Under the Zednes permit agreement, Montage will fund all exploration activities until an exploitation permit is awarded, at which point, SOCIEX has the right to either contribute its pro-rata share of development expenditures or convert its ownership into a 1.0% NSR.
