SOUTHEAST ASIA SPECIAL — Quebec-based junior company targets Solomon Islands

The Solomon Islands are known more for their idyllic beaches and wartime history than for gold, more for copra than for copper.

However, a small Quebec-based mining company expects to change that perception.

In April, Acabit Exploration (ME) acquired 12 prospecting licences on the island group, which lies east of New Guinea and separates the Coral Sea from the Western Pacific. The licences are prospective for gold, nickel and copper and comprise about 6,500 sq. km (or one-fourth of the country’s total land mass).

In a news release, Acabit stated that the package contains all of the best available prospects in the country, and “provides a high-quality platform for Acabit to become the major force in exploration in the region.” Gold exploration is not new to the Solomons. A deposit containing a 4-million-oz. resource was found on one of the islands, but development, for one reason or another, never took shape.

Acabit has high expectations for the area since its team there has a proven track record in dealing with the country’s government and indigenous cultures. And unlike earlier explorers to the area, Acabit has arranged for plenty of helicopters and charter boats to aid its exploration efforts.

Located on Acabit’s properties are five areas with epithermal caps that will be initial drill targets for gold. Acabit reports that geochemistry and alteration patterns at each location are identical to those found at the large Lihir epithermal gold deposit in nearby Papua New Guinea. A target in the New Georgia island group is one of the largest unexplained geochemical anomalies in the Southwest Pacific region.

The 125-km-long New Georgia chain comprises islands formed from Quaternary-age volcanics, one of which contains an advanced gold project not owned by Acabit. All other areas of known mineralization there, however, are held by Acabit.

North of New Georgia are the Vella Lavella, Mbava and Simbo chains, which are also islands of Quaternary-age volcanics. Within this group are 10 mineralized calderas, three of which Acabit holds.

Acabit’s most advanced project is in southeastern Guadalcanal, Solomon’s main island, in an area with gold, nickel and cobalt potential. Two past-producing gold mines lie west of the property.

Stream sample grades there ranged from 0.244 to 2.662 oz. gold per ton, though less than one-third of the property was included in the sampling program. Although the dimensions of the occurrence are not known, government records show nickel mineralization, with at least one grab sample that graded 2.75% nickel.