AFRICA SPECIAL — Eden Roc poised for turnaround at African gold mine

Production problems at the Afema project in Ivory Coast have taken their toll on African gold producer Eden Roc Mineral (EDN-T).

The heap-leach project is owned by Somiaf, a company held 68% by operator Eden Roc. The remaining interest is held by joint-venture partner, Sodemi, a mining agency of the Ivorian government.

In 1996, heavy rainfall and agglomeration-related problems hampered the open-pit operation, which produced only 19,000 oz. gold — well below projections. As a result, Eden Roc posted an operating loss of $3.7 million for the first nine months of 1996, compared with a profit of $363,000 for the same period in the previous year.

Mining analysts, however, say the beleaguered company may be poised for a turnaround now that Alfred Powis (formerly of Noranda) and Quebec mining executive Mario Caron have been brought on board as chairman and president, respectively.

Also, the company has commissioned a new adsorption/desorption plant, which is expected to double the process capacity of the gold-bearing cyanide solution. As an added advantage, problems with the agglomeration system were recently rectified, and, as a result, production in November 1996 increased to 2,250 oz. from 1,638 oz. in September.

The Afema project hosts oxide reserves of 6.1 million tonnes grading 2.82 grams gold per tonne (equivalent to 544,000 contained ounces), plus a sulphide resource of 8.8 million tonnes grading 5.04 grams (1.4 million contained ounces). Mineralization is hosted in a 3-km-wide belt known as the Afema shear. Eden Roc’s 1,200-sq.-km permit, much of which remains untested, covers 33 km of that shear.

The company recently raised $8.3 million, some of which will be used to fund ongoing exploration at the property. Eden Roc intends to focus on the sulphide potential of seven oxide deposits in the hope of outlining a resource of 3-4 million oz. gold.

In addition, the company has reported ore-grade sulphide intersections at depth on its mining permit. One of the targets tested was the Aniuri zone, where a hole returned 13 metres (from 157 to 170 metres) grading 8.73 grams gold.

Drilling continues at the Adiopan zone, where a recent hole returned 5 metres (from 65 to 70 metres) of 8.45 grams gold. Reconnaissance and detailed geochemical surveys, aimed at defining new drill targets, are also under way.

In addition, 10 new gold anomalies were defined at three target areas. The Koffikro B anomaly measures 800 metres long by 100-200 metres wide, and sampling there returned values as high as 4.4 grams gold.

Meanwhile, trenching is under way at a newly discovered oxide zone where sampling has returned up to 9.2 grams gold. The surface anomaly, which measures more than 400 metres long by 100 metres wide, is near the processing plant.