Having terminated its silver joint venture in Mexico, Silvrex has re-focussed its efforts on gold and silver projects within Africa. Silvrex has previously entered into a joint venture agreement on several Tanzanian gold properties and, in December 2009, entered a further joint venture over a large exploration licence within a highly prospective area in southeast Sénégal. Four licences have also been applied for in Mauritania.
Sénégal Gold
Property/Agreement
Silvrex has entered into a Joint Venture Agreement with Energy and Mining Corporation of Sénégal relating to the Dalafin licence in the east of the country. The licence covers 704km2 in the Kédougou-Kéniéba Gold Belt which straddles Mali and Sénégal and in which a significant number of discoveries have recently been made. Silvrex will earn a 75% interest in the property by spending US$3 million over five years.
Project Summary
Mali-Senegal Greenstone Belts are highly prospective - Mali is third largest gold producer in Africa. The Kédougou-Kéniéba Gold Belt encompasses part of western Mali and southeast Senegal and is one of the most strongly gold endowed regions in the world – current resources of >44Moz. The potential of Senegal has only recently been recognised – 3 major discoveries have been made to date, one is now in production (Sabodala). Several other significant prospects are known – see table. Senegal has a progressive minerals law and the ground in the Kédougou-Kéniéba Gold Belt is tightly held. Senegal minerals law guarantees security of tenure and a fully automatic award of exploitation title after successful exploration.
The Dalafin property, located within the Kédougou-Kéniéba Gold Belt in southeast Senegal, was acquired through joint venture with a local Senegalese partner. The Dalafin permit was issued to Energy and Mining Corporation (EMC), a local Senegalese company, on 14th August 2007. While the Principal of EMC has a background in the resource sector, EMC’s main activity is in supplying logistical support and services to the resource and other business sectors in West Africa. Prior to signing the agreement with Silvrex EMC had not undertaken any field work at Dalafin, but had carried out geological and other data compilation on the property and had acquired the regional Fugro airborne geophysics dataset for southeast Senegal.
Despite its strategic location within a very productive gold field, no previous commercial exploration for gold has been carried out over the permit area prior to Silvrex’s involvement.
Property Description and Location
The Dalafin permit covers an area of ca. 636km2 within the Palaeo-Proterozoic Birimian terrane of southeast Senegal. The permit is elongated north-south and of irregular shape. The adjoining ground to the east and north is held under permit by Randgold and IAMGOLD and Bassari Resources. The bounding co-ordinates of the permit area are shown in Figure 2 below. The property is situated about 60km northeast of the regional centre of Kedougou and immediately east of the town of Saraya, where Silvrex has a field base. The Mali border is located some 20km to the east and the southern boundary of the property adjoins the border with Guinea.
The Mali-Senegal Greenstone Belts are highly prospective for gold. Mali is the fourth largest gold producer in Africa. The Kédougou-Kéniéba Gold Belt, encompassing part of western Mali and southeast Senegal and northern Guinea, is one of the most strongly gold endowed regions in the world – current reserves and resources are estimated of >54Moz. The potential of Senegal has only recently been recognised, nevertheless two major discoveries have been made to date, with one (Sabodala) going into production in 2009. Several other significant prospects are also known. Further information is given under ‘Adjacent Properties’ below.
The Dalafin permit was awarded to EMC in August 2007 and a further three-year extension was granted in August 2010 covering an area of 636km2. The permit was previously held by IAMGOLD but, due to pressure of work elsewhere on their extensive ground holding, they did not undertake any exploration before relinquishing the ground. EMC acquired the regional airborne geophysics dataset and completed a desktop compilation, but did not carry out any exploration on the permit.
Joint Venture Agreement
In December 2009 Silvrex signed a detailed Heads of Agreement with EMC to explore and develop gold deposits within the permit area. The Agreement was approved by the Direction des Mines et de la Géologie on 17th December 2010. The main elements of the Agreement are summarised below:
o US$1.5m over a maximum of 3 years to earn 51%o US$1.5m over a further 2 years maximum to earn an additional 24% (75% in total)Among the financial incentives for exploration/mining companies operating in Senegal are:
• Fiscal incentives allowing the holder of a mining concession to benefit from exemptions from company taxation for a seven year period.
• Total exemption of all taxes for the holder of an exploration licence during the period of validity of the licence and any renewals.
• Exoneration of all customs duties and taxes, including VAT and withholding tax on equipment, materials, supplies and replacement parts.
Exploration Programme Plan
The following first phase exploration programme is underway:
• Airborne geophysics, satellite and air photo interpretations to develop and prioritise targets;
• Geological and regolith mapping, regional stream + soil geochemistry and reconnaissance litho sampling;
• Follow up field programmes on priority targets involving detailed mapping, soil and litho geochemistry;
• Completion of multi-phased programmes on specific targets including trenching, pitting and reconnaissance drilling.
 Location map of Senegal Gold Belt area |
Click on the image below to enlarge it.  Dalafin permit area with multiple, highly prospective N-NE structures interpreted from recent airborne geophysics + alluvial gold showings. |
 Location of Silvrex Dalafin JV licence within Gold Belt |
 Current advanced gold projects within Kédougou-Kéniéba Gold Belt |
 White argillic alteration from diggings in weathered bedrock up-slope from alluvial gold workings at Dalafin |
 Artisanal alluvial gold digging on Dalafin permit |