P934B - West African Exploration Initiative Stage 3
Value
USD $2,448,000
Commencement Date
September 2014
Duration
4 years
Program Manager
Adele Seymon
Research Providers
Centre for Exploration Targeting - University of Western Australia - Dr Mark Jessell; Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies; GET Geosciences Environnement Toulouse; Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD); Institut National Polytechnique Félix Houphouët-Boigny; Monash University; Nancy Universite; ONG-D, Association "Le Soleil Dans la Main" (ASDM); Teng Tuuma Geoservices (TTGEO); TUT Tshwane University of Technology; Universite de Bamako; Universite de Cheikh Anta DIOP de Dakar (UCAD); Universite de Cocody-Abidjan; Université de Toulouse ; University of Ghana; University of Liberia; University of Ouagadougou; University of the Witwatersrand
Sponsors
Acacia Mining plc; Bureau des Mines et de la Géologie du Burkina; Direction de la Geologie Ministere des Mines et du Developpment Niger; Direction des Mines et de la Geologia Senegal; Direction Generale des Mines et de la Geologie du Togo; Direction National de la Géologie République de Guineé; Direction Nationale de la Géologie et des Mines - Mali; First Quantum Minerals Ltd; Geological Survey Department - Ghana; Gryphon Minerals Ltd; IAMGOLD Corp.; Ministry of Land, Mines and Energy - Liberia; National Minerals Agency of Sierra Leone; Newcrest Mining Limited; Newgenco Pty Ltd; Newmont Ghana Gold Limited; OMRG l'Office Mauritanien de Recherches Geologiques; Qatar Mining; Resolute Mining Limited; Rio Tinto Mining and Exploration Ltd; Sarama Resources; Toro Gold Limited
PROJECT SUMMARY
A four-year program planned for WAXI Stage 3 commenced in September 2014. After canvassing existing and potential new sponsors, a program for Stage 3 was designed that will further enhance the exploration potential of the Leo-Man Shield through an integrated program of research and data gathering into its “anatomy’. The initiative covers the whole of the Leo-Man Shield, which includes the following countries: Burkina Faso, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Ghana, Mali, Senegal, Niger, Sierra Leone and Togo. Key motivations for undertaking this initiative are to assist exploration companies in focusing their activities in areas of maximum prospectivity and to help local Geological Surveys in the region in their role of providing pre-competitive data and information.
HIGHLIGHTS/DELIVERABLES/ADDITIONS
Achievements from the WAXI program to date have included:
- An improved knowledge of the tectonic history and metallogeny of the craton
- 3D models of mineralised terranes and of the entire West African craton
- The assembly of a 250Gb craton-wide GIS product bringing combining over 200 distinct themes, 50 of which are unique to the WAXI project
- New harmonised 1:500 000 integrated geophysical and geological maps of key zones
- New models for regolith and landform evolution
- 500 km Magnetotelluric Survey down to 300 km across southern Burkina Faso and Northern Ghana
- Over 100 new geochronology ages
- An Atlas of West African Ore Deposits
- The founding of a collaborative international research and training network in the Stage 1 WAXI dedicated to better understanding the West African Craton
- Delivering 15 training courses covering Geophysics, Geochemistry, Field and Mine Mapping, Exploration Targeting and Research Management.