200805071210 | Gold discovered in Ibanda

Gold discovered in Ibanda

A CANADIAN firm, Magnus International Resources, has signed an earn-in agreement with Canmin-Gold Ltd, a subsidiary of IBI to explore gold in Ibanda district.
The firm specialises in identifying, acquiring and developing precious and base metal properties.

“The Ibanda exploration license fits the company’s strategy of acquiring and developing projects in areas that demonstrate potential for quality gold deposits,” Gavin Conway, the vice president for exploration, commented.

“Ibanda covers the eastern portion of the Buhweju Plateau, which has historically provided over 200,000 ounces of gold from surface artisanal sources and is the most prolific gold producing area of Uganda,” he said.

“Magnus considers the Buhweju plateau and surrounding area as highly prospective for gold mineralization,” Conway explained. Under the agreement, Magnus has the right to earn a 5% interest in the property for each $150,000 of expenditures that it makes.

The firm may earn up to 80% interest by making an aggregate of $2m in expenditures on the property within five years.

Upon Magnus earning 80% interest in the property, the parties will form a joint venture under which each party will be required to contribute its proportionate share of further expenditures or have its interest be diluted.

The Ibanda property is comprised of one exploration license covering an area of 332.70 sq km located some 300km southwest of Kampala.

The execution of the agreement adds potentially valuable ground to the current portfolio of tenements held by Magnus in the Buhweju area.

The Buhweju region is already being explored by Magnus for gold and platinum group metals, top officials disclosed.

There are known occurrences of gold in the region, which is evident from a number of artisanal gold workings in the form of alluvial diggings and shallow underground adits.

The Ibanda license is situated in a favourable geological setting underlain by early-Proterozoic meta-sediments which have been intruded by late stage reduced granites.

The Karagwe-Ankolean system, considered to be a northerly extension of the Kibaran Belt, forms an un-conformable cover on the western side of the licence. Geological maps also indicate a prominent north-south trending fault system running through the centre of the property.

Through its wholly-owned subsidiary, African Mineral Fields, Magnus has rights to six Ugandan gold projects.

The Company has a 100% interest in four of the projects, is earning a 60% interest in a fifth property and now has the right to earn an 80% interest in the sixth property.

Magnus also retains a 90% interest in a Sino-foreign joint venture gold exploration project at Huidong in China.