Great Quest has discovered major conductors of copper, gold, silver, and uranium below the K17 target across the Khorixas basin.
Individual rock chip samples hosted grades of 16.25% copper, 21 grams per ton gold, 37.8 grams per ton silver, and 490 ppm uranium.
The recently discovered K17 target comprises a zone of 50 km2 situated in the southern portion of the Khorixas project area.
Limited work, including rock chip and soil sampling, has identified extensive surface mineralization of copper, gold, silver, and uranium.
The conductor is interpreted to be located within the mid- to lower crust with an approximate depth between 15 and 30 km below the surface.
The least resistive part terminates at what is interpreted to be the brittle-ductile transition zone at ~15 km, directly beneath the rifted sedimentary basin.
The least resistive zone is remarkably aligned with the K17 prospect, and although the resolution of the section line is limited due to large spacing between ground stations, there is evidence of branching to surface.
The Canadian company completed a two-phase magnetotelluric survey across the K17 target area.
The first phase of the survey was aimed at carrying out a deep penetrating magnetotelluric profile across the Khorixas basin, including the K17 target.
A total of 19 ground stations were used during the survey, with running times of three days each.
Stations were positioned approximately 3 km apart for a total section length of 51 km.
The purpose of the section line was to potentially identify a deeper source for the mineralization seen closer to the surface.
The second phase of the survey consisted of a grid of 22 ground stations with stations positioned approximately one kilometer apart.
This survey was aimed at identifying conductors immediately beneath the surface mineralization at K17.
The most prominent of these conductors (C1 & C2) can be traced from 100 meters below the surface to approximately 5 000 meters below the surface.
These conductive zones will be the primary focus for immediate follow-up work.
The mineral assemblage and proximity of a major crustal conductor indicate a possible iron oxide copper gold ore deposit.
Great Quest will shortly proceed with a drone-based imaging and magnetic survey, targeting structural and magnetite mapping.
This will be followed by a ground-induced polarisation survey shortly after targeting sulphides.
Data-driven drill targeting is expected to commence after a successful IP survey.
Great Quest president and vice president exploration Dr. Andreas Rompel said the discovery of a sizable conductor at depth might explain the already known multi-element rock chip anomalies.
“This discovery, together with the anomalies, allows for many possible mineralization models, but we believe it is likely the iron oxide, copper, and gold model, with the presence of gold, copper, and uranium with magnetite in the mix, is more likely,” he said.
Rompel said it encourages the company to continue to develop exploration programs to arrive at drill targets in the short term.
Great Quest Gold Ltd. is a Canadian mineral exploration company focused on the development of African gold projects in Namibia, Morocco, and Mali.
The company’s flagship asset is the Sanoukou Gold Project, encompassing 24 km2 located in the Kayes region to the west of Mali and developing the Tilemsi Phosphate Project, a 1,206 km2 parcel in northeastern Mali, containing high-quality phosphate resources amenable to use as direct application fertilizer.
