Ngoutou Permit, Gabon, Central Africa

Permit and Location

The Ngoutou permit in eastern Gabon is 515 km2 in size and can be reached from the provincial capital Lastoursville on gravel roads (Figure 1).  The permit was granted to GoldStone’s 100% owned Gabonese subsidiary GoldStone Resources Limited Gabon S.A.R.L. in April 2011 for a period of three years and can be renewed twice for a period of three years.

Prospectivity

The Ngoutou permit contains a robust gold in soil anomaly which is in excess of 15 km long (Figure 2).  This anomaly was detected together with several other anomalies during the period from 2005 to 2009 when 14 million Euros of European Union funding was applied in a survey (‘Sysmin Survey’) by the French, South African and Gabonese Geological Surveys to outline the mineral prospectivity of Gabon.  The Ngoutou permit was applied for after the area was “cherry picked” from the Sysmin Survey results by GoldStone’s geologists.  Many of the streams which drain the anomalous area have been targeted by artisanal gold miners and mining of alluvial gold is the principal source of income of the locals living in three villages on the north-western flank of the gold anomaly (Figure 3). The gold anomaly coincides with elevated levels of iron, vanadium and tungsten and covers gold-prospective Archean amphibolites (Figure 4).  The results of an airborne magnetic survey (Figure 5) show that these amphibolites are marked by a magnetic low (blue) and indicate good agreement between the outline of the gold anomaly and the contact between amphibolites and the surrounding rocks.  This would point to a model where gold was precipitated from mesothermal solutions at lower crustal levels as a result of neighbouring rock types that differ in competence and chemistry.  The magnitude of the soil anomaly together with a plausible geological model make this permit highly prospective.

GoldStone’s Exploration

Geological follow-up work during the remainder of 2011 may include trenching, shallow drilling and in-fill soil sampling over the central part of the anomaly.

Figure 1:  A map of Gabon showing the location of the Ngoutou permit in the eastern  part of the country.  The permit area can be reached from Lastoursville on gravel roads.

Figure 2: The Ngoutou gold in soil anomaly is in excess of 15 km long and coincides with elevated levels of iron in the soil.

Figure 3: Mining of alluvial gold in the streams which drain the gold anomaly is the principal source of income of the local people that live in the three villages on the western flank of the gold anomaly.

Figure 4:  Rock types in the area of interest include Archean gneisses (pink), granites (red) and gold-prospective amphibolites (green).

Figure 5:  The results of an airborne magnetic survey.  It can be seen that the outline of the soil anomaly coincides with a magnetic anomaly (blue) which is probably caused by the contact between the amphibolites and the gneiss. This would point to a model where gold was precipitated from mesothermal solutions at lower crustal levels as a result of neighbouring rock types that differ in competence and chemistry.