EXPLORATION ROUNDUP — Azco sets sights on gold prospects in Africa and S.E. Asia

With a strong cash position following the sale of its primary assets, Azco Mining (AZC-X) has changed its focus to become an international gold exploration company. To that end, the company has taken steps to begin exploring in Africa and Southeast Asia.

In December 1995, the company received US$40 million from the sale, to Phelps Dodge (PD-N), of the Sanchez copper deposit in Arizona and a 70% interest in the Piedras Verde copper deposit in Mexico. The companies also struck a deal to form a new joint venture on the Suaqui Verde copper project in Mexico’s Sonora state.

The sale enabled Azco to concentrate more on exploration and less on development. It formed a gold company in September to conduct work in West Africa, and acquired 51% of SANOU Mining, which owns the Medinandi and Danoko concessions in western Mali. The government of Mali retains an option to earn a 15% working interest upon the completion of a feasibility study.

The two concessions cover 54,400 ha in the Kenieba mining district. Previous exploration on the properties, by Malian, French and Russian groups, includes core drilling, auger drilling, trenching, underground workings and geochemical sampling.

In October, the company received a favorable geologic evaluation of the Medinandi concession. Using available data to a depth of 70 metres, the property was estimated to contain a resource of 2.6 million tonnes grading 5 grams gold per tonne, equivalent to 424,010 oz.

Azco has also planned core drilling to verify and expand the resource by the beginning of the new year.

SANOU has also applied for another concession to the west, across the border into Senegal.

On the other side of the globe, Azco recently acquired a contract of work (CoW) in Irian Jaya, Indonesia. That country’s ministry of mines granted Azco a CoW for 83,350 ha, little of which has been explored. The land package lies 90 km east of Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold’s Grasberg and Ertsberg East mines.

Azco paid US$416,750 as security to Indotan, a local company that will hold a 15% participating interest in the property. Azco is currently negotiating for other ground in the area.