AFRICA SPECIAL — Alpine and Robex work Malian play

Partners Robex Ressources (RBX-M) and Alpine Exploration (AXC-V) have begun exploring the Baroya gold property in Mali.

The government of Mali recently granted the joint venture an exploration permit for gold and precious metals convering a 7.6-sq.-km area in the country’s western region.

Alpine, as operator, holds a 65% interest in the property, with Robex holding 25%. The remainder is held by a Malian company.

The Barova property is underlain by Precambrian-age Birimian greywackes and conglomerates that are locally intruded by younger granite, diorite, and diabase intrusions and dykes. Regionally, these intrusions occur in a tectonic belt that exhibits major shear and tension zones.

Gold mineralization occurs in pyrite- and arsenopyrite-bearing quartz veins and quartz stockworks cutting Birimian greywackes and argillites.

Artisanal workings consist of extensive pitting to the east and, in an alluvial-covered area, to the south.

In the past, geochemical work yielded several samples grading better than 100 parts per billion gold.

The initial exploration phase will entail boundary surveys, geological mapping, geophysical surveys (ground magnetometer, very-low-frequency and induced-polarization), soil geochemistry and auger drilling. Trenching and additional drilling will follow.