AfriOre encouraged by results of due diligence of Boko Songho

Encouraged by initial results from a due diligence review, AfriOre (AFO-V) is proceeding with the acquisition of the Boko Songho copper project in the southern Congo.

To acquire this prospecting permit, AfriOre must pay about $225,000 (in cash and shares) to South Africa-based Consolidated Mining once a mining contract is in hand.

Director Warren Newfield says the Boko Songho project represents a good opportunity to get in on the ground floor of an emerging mining region. He notes that the Congo is in the process of revising its Mining Act. “It’s a bit bureaucratic at the moment, as are many other African countries, but we expect positive changes.”

The property is immediately adjacent to, and west of, AfriOre’s 50%-owned Yanga Koubanza copper project, where a prefeasibility study is under way.

Once this is complete, the company intends to proceed to a full feasibility study incorporating both properties.

50% earn-in

AfriOre intends to offer Purity Metals, its partner at Yanga Koubanza, the right to acquire a 50% interest in Boko Songho. Purity will have two weeks to exercise the offer by reimbursing half of AfriOre’s costs.

The Boko Songho project is also at the prefeasibility stage. A study by a German company has confirmed the existence of several shallow, flat-dipping deposits with drill-indicated resources of 2 million tonnes averaging 4.5% copper and 2-20 metres in thickness.

Copper occurs mostly in the form of malachite, with minor amounts of cuprite and chalcocite and negligible chrysocolla, and is believed to be amenable to either leaching or flotation.

The deposits are minable by open-pit methods with low stripping ratios.

AfriOre expects that higher-grade portions of the deposits could be selectively mined and combined with ore from the Yanga Koubanza, some 25-30 km to the east.

At last report, Yanga Koubanza contained three adjacent deposits, amenable to open-pit mining and containing a total resource estimated at of 3-4 million tonnes grading 12% lead with scattered lenses of high-grade zinc and minor copper and silver. At least 17 other lead-zinc occurrences are known within the concession.

The prefeasibility study for this project will examine metallurgical options (mineralization occurs as metal oxides or carbonates), extraction of a bulk sample, and metallurgical test work to determine recoveries.

AfriOre says both properties have good exploration potential and contain a number of known copper and polymetallic occurrences that have not been fully tested. The properties are in a historic mining district and offer good access to roads, rail links and power.

AfriOre has other projects in Africa, including a diamond project being tested by Australian partner Ashton Mining in South Africa.

In Zaire, the company has been pre-qualified for an open bid for the rehabilitation of the Sodimiza copper projet in Shaba province. AfriOre expects to make a bid before the deadline in April.