The ASIA Miner - Reporting Important Issues to Mining Companies in the Asia Pacific Region
Issue link: https://asiaminer.epubxp.com/i/830355
34 | ASIA Miner | Volume 14 • Issue 2 | 2017 Cambodia ANGKOR Gold Corp has renewed five exploration licences for an initial three year term with the option to extend a further four years. The Cambodian Ministry of Mines renewed the licences, which to- tal 983sqkm and cover the Andong Meas, Banlung, Koan Nheak, Oyadao and Oyadao South prospects. Andong Meas licence totals 187sqkm, Banlung 150sqkm, Koan Nheak 189sqkm, Oyadao 222sqkm and Oyadao South 235sqkm. The company chose not to renew the Banlung North and Trapeang Kraham licences as part of its policy to pursue only areas showing the best mineral potential. At Oyadao South the company has entered into a joint exploration agreement (JEA) with Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corpora- tion (JOGMEC). This gives JOGMEC the option to acquire 51% of the licence for an investment of US$3 million in exploration expendi- tures over a three year period with Angkor as operator. Angkor recently received notification of the effective date of the JEA with the two parties establishing a management committee. "The Angkor team had been working towards renewing the Oyad- ao South licence, and with that completed, we are focused on initi- ating our first work program with JOGMEC," said Angkor CEO and chairman Mike Weeks. "The Halo prospect represents a cornerstone asset for the com- pany and we worked very hard to find a world-class partner to help build our understanding of its potential. JOGMEC's extensive ex- perience in working with large porphyry systems globally will be ex- tremely valuable to us moving forward." Angkor's VP of Operations JP Dau said, "Planning is under way to initiate a first-round Induced Polarisation (IP) program followed by plans for drilling once targets are identified. Angkor has initiated a Request For Proposals process for the IP work, and the manage- ment committee will review the responses." Angkor's previous exploration at Halo identified the potential of copper-molybdenum-gold mineralisation as expressed by hydro- thermal alteration covering approximately 7.25sqkm. Meantime, recent trenching work by Angkor at the Okalla West prospect revealed visible gold, prompting the company to expand the trenching program. This prospect is within the Banlung exploration licence and work there is done under an agreement with Blue River Resources, which has the right to participate in up to a 50% interest after completion of an investment of US$3.5 million in exploration expenditures over four years. EMERALD Resources expects a positive outcome for a definitive feasibility study (DFS) for the Okvau Gold Project. The company believes the study will demonstrate enhanced project economics when compared to a pre-feasibility study (PFS) completed in 2015. It says that this will primarily be due to lower waste to ore strip ratio driven by improved geotechnical parameters, a slight increase to in pit ounces and reduced capital costs. In a statement on April 3, Emerald said it was undertaking final review and optimisation of mine scheduling and capital cost inputs, which were the only outstanding DFS items. Emerald said it was likely to release the DFS results along with a maiden JORC reserve estimate by the end of April. The previous PFS was completed by Renaissance Minerals, which was the sub- ject last year of a successful takeover by Emerald. The Okvau and adjoining O'Chhung licences cover about 400sqkm and are within the core of a prospective Intrusive Relat- ed Gold province in the eastern plains of Cambodia, about 265km northeast of Phnom Penh. An independent indicated and inferred resource estimate of 15.8 million tonnes @ 2.2 g/t for 1.13 million ounces of gold was com- pleted for the Okvau deposit in July 2015, with 85% of this in the in- dicated category. The deposit remains open and there is significant potential to define additional ounces from shallow extensions along strike to the northeast and at depth. A shallow drilling program of 77 holes for 7424 metres was com- pleted in the December quarter to infill the top 120 vertical metres of the deposit. Best results were: 16 metres from 19 metres @ 2.90 g/t, 5 metres from 74 metres @ 13.16 g/t, 31 metres from 81 metres @ 3.11 g/t, 9 metres from 34 metres @ 5.69 g/t, 3 metres from 81 metres @ 17.99 g/t, 34 metres from 14 metres @ 2.27 g/t, 24 metres from 93 metres @ 3.06 g/t, 8 metres from 81 metres @ 10.25 g/t, 2 metres from 14 metres @ 33.91 g/t, 2 metres from 109 metres @ 25.38 g/t, 9 metres from 35 metres @ 15.09 g/t, 18 metres from 83 metres @ 4.53 g/t, 20 metres from 93 metres @ 2.53 g/t, 17 metres from 45 metres @ 4.72 g/t and 5 metres from 135 metres @ 10.34 g/t. Angkor renews exploration licences The exploration camp at Emerald Resources' Okvau Gold Project in eastern Cambodia. Emerald expects positive Okvau DFS