Afcan picks up rest of Mt. Kakoulima

Afcan (AFK-T) has bought the 47% interest it didn’t already own in the Mt. Kakoulima nickel-sulphide project in Guinea, West Africa, from Semafo (SMF-T).

For the stake, Afcan will pay 1 million shares to Semafo-subsidiary Les Mineraux SGV.

While Afcan now has a 100% interest in the Mt. Kakoulima project, FNX Mining (FNX-T) and Maple Minerals (MPM-V) formed a partnership in February that has an option to acquire a 100% interest in the property by carrying out several stages of exploration.

Under this latter agreement, Maple can earn a half interest in the Mt. Kakoulima project from FNX by spending US$2.4 million on exploration over 5 years and, together with FNX, completing a feasibility study or spending a further US$2 million on the property. At least US$400,000 must be spent during the first year of the agreement, and FNX is project operator during the earn-in period.

Once Maple exercises its option, a 50-50 joint venture will be formed and future expenditures will be funded on a pro rata basis. An additional expenditure of US$2 million will allow the joint venture to exercise an underlying option agreement to acquire a 100% interest in the 193-sq.-km Mt. Kakoulima property, subject to a 3% net smelter return royalty to Afacn.

In the fall, Maple and FNX launched a 5,000-metre drilling program which Afcan says has already confirmed an initial concept of a basal contact structure with disseminated sulphide zones.

The initial high-grade, nickel discovery at Mt. Kakoulima was made by Afcan and Semafo in 1997 when surface drilling cut narrow, high-grade nickel-copper-cobalt-PGM massive-sulphide veins in the upper sequence of the Kaloum igneous complex. The best historic drill intersections graded 4.72% nickel, 1.51% copper, 0.22% cobalt and 3 grams combined platinum-palladium per tonne over 0.51 metre.

Meanwhile in China, Afcan is a month away from completing a bankable feasibility studay at its 85%-owned TJS gold project at Tanjianshan in Qinghai province. The company believes that mine construction can begin early in the new year.