About Cote d’Ivoire
Cote d'Ivoire
- Under-explored country with high prospectivity.
- Now democratically elected government as of April 2011.
- Active gold mining in Randgold Tongon Mine, Newcrest Bonikro Mine, Cluff Gold Angovia Mine & La Mancha Resources Ity Mine.
- Legal system similar to other Francophone West African Countries, eg Burkina Fasa and Mali.
Mankono and Tortiya Projects (application for exploration licences), Cote d’Ivoire
- Mangkono – 1,000km2 licence area – artisanal workings, no previous drilling.
- Tortiya – 870km2 licence area – application along strike of the Mangkono area.
- Very limited modern exploration completed within licence area.
- No previous drill testing within licence area.
Taruga, through its wholly owned foreign subsidiary, has submitted licence applications for two large projects within Cote d’Ivoire – the Mangkono Project and Tortiya Project. The Mangkono project is located in central Cote d’Ivoire approximately 410km away from Abidjan by road through Boake.
There is a bitumen road from the Abdijan to the village Agbao from which the remaining 59km into Mankono is via a dirt track. The town Mankono is located 5km outside the permit area.
There is an elaborate network of dirt tracks and footpaths that access various portions of the permit. The Mankono permit was visited on the 11th and 12th of May 2010. Activities carried out over the area within the period included traversing, geological and structural observations and general observations with regards to infrastructure and all other attributes that contribute to the overall prospectivity of the permit.
Tortiya occupies an area of 1,000km2 and is located in the northern central portion of Cote d’Ivoire, approximately 600km from Abidjan. No field visit has been made to the Tortiya permit area as the ground is in application, and no review of the permit area is provided here. A brief comment on proposed exploration following grant of the licence is provided.
Mangkono
The climate is sub-tropical to semi-arid with the greatest annual rainfall, about 2,000mm, along the coast and in the southwest. The coastal region has a long dry season from December to April, followed by heavy rains from May to September. Farther north, there is only one wet and one dry season, with rainfall heaviest in summer, culminating in September, and lightest in January.
The country’s lightest rainfall is in the northeast, averaging 109cm annually. Average temperatures along the coast range from 24° to 32°C in January and from 22° to 28°C in July. At Bouaké, in the centre of the country, minimum and maximum temperatures in November, the hottest month, average 21° and 35°C; the range is from 20° to 29°C in July, the coolest month.
In the far north, temperatures range from 21° to 36°C in March and from 17° to 30°C in November. The climate has significant bearing on the exploration season, as it affects access. Exploration activities commonly run from October to July. The Cote d’Ivoire projects are regarded as greenfields exploration proects with limited previous exploration.
The proposed exploration strategy is well focused and appropriate for the exploration level of the projects, geological setting and regolith environment present. The expenditure is appropriate given the prospectivity of the area and is sufficient to achieve the stated objectives of providing sufficient geological data to rapidly assess the projects, delineation of drilling targets. The following exploration methodology is recommended, and it is noted that these recommendations are consistent with the proposed exploration program:
- Systematic mapping and sampling of outcrops.
- Wide-spaced soil sampling (400m × 200m).
