Package Includes Licence Contiguous South of the Otjikoto Gold Deposit
Auryx Gold Corp. is pleased to announce that the Namibian Ministry of Mines and Energy (“MME”) has granted the Company five new Exclusive Prospecting Licences (“EPLs”) covering approximately 500,000 ha. The locations of the Licences are show at http://auryxgold.com/projects/project_locations/. With the new licences, Auryx now has eleven EPLs covering approximately 900,000 ha, an area more than eleven times the size of New York City. Auryx has a 100% interest in all of the new licences except one, in which case the interest is 92%.
Auryx’s CEO, Mr. Searcy comments: “The granting of these licences is significant because it confirms the MME’s comments from 12 May 2011, that no pre-existing EPL applications will be affected by the proposed change toward government exclusivity. Furthermore, it confirms the view of Auryx’s management that the proposed changes to policy will have no or limited impact on Auryx’s business going forward. We welcome the government’s stance on existing tenure and believe this demonstrates the Namibian Government’s appreciation of foreign investment and their intent to manage natural resources pragmatically.”
Auryx has been granted a 92% interest in EPL 4309 with the Company’s local partner, EVi Mining Ltd, having an 8% interest. EPL 4309 is part of the Otjikoto – Otavi exploration project. It borders Auryx main licence, EPL 2410, is 25 km south of Auryx’s Otjikoto gold deposit, and like EPL 2410, it is bisected by the paved highway B1, and the Walvis Bay to Tsumeb rail line. Furthermore the EPL is criss-crossed with rural powerlines and nearby a major powerline right of way. Auryx believes that EPL 4309 has very prospective geology as the host rocks at Otjikoto strike onto the new EPL. The Otjikoto gold project and the surrounding Otavi exploration project, now consist of four EPLs covering 275,000 ha.
The remaining EPLs granted by the MME combine with some previously granted EPLs to form two new distinct projects – the Accretive Terrane (“AccTer”) and Top Hat. Both of these new projects are located 250 km due east of the Otjikoto gold deposit. The AccTer project consists of five EPLs covering approximately 480,000 ha. The ground was applied for on the same basis that the Otavi licences were applied for, it is in a prospective position from a tectonics perspective, it is distal to a known mining jurisdiction, but it has seen no previous work due to the lack of outcrop. The project is considered by Auryx to be prospective for various styles of mineralization including Sedex, VMS, IOCG, and Otjikoto style gold deposits.
The Top Hat project is 50 km north of the AccTer project and it consists of two EPLs covering approximately 180,000 ha. The EPLs cover a large, top hat shaped magnetic anomaly. One of the lobes of the mag anomaly is coincident with a large gravity anomaly, which is bounded on all sides by intersecting regional structures. The geology of the area surrounding the target is interpreted by government geologists to consist primarily of Karoo flood basalts and the anomaly is interpreted by Auryx geologists as a feeder zone for the mafic volcanics. The analogy for the mineralization target is Noril’sk style Ni, Cu, and PGE mineralization.