Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - September 10, 2020) - Tembo Gold Corp. (TSXV: TEM) ("Tembo" or the "Company") is pleased to provide this geological information on the Tembo Project.
Highlights
Sukumaland Greenstone Belt
- The Sukumaland Greenstone Belt, an arcuate sequence comprising an inner and outer arc of metavolcanics and metasedimentary greenstone lithologies extensively intruded by gneissic granites, is host to the Lake Victoria Goldfield.
- The Tembo Project is located on the inner of two arcuate greenstone sequences, the outer containing an interbedded sequence of banded iron formation and metasediments forming prominent ridges within metavolcanics, the inner largely comprising peneplained greenstone lithologies with minor metasediments.
- Both inner and outer arcs host gold mineralisation with Geita Gold Mine to the north, and Nyanzaga to the northeast in the outer arc, and with Bulyanhulu to the southeast and Buckreef and Tuluwaka to the east in the inner arc.
- The inner arc consists of a number of greenstone fragments, the Tembo Project located on the Bulyanhulu fragment, a separate extension of the Ushirombo belt to the west, host to Buckreef and Tuluwaka
- Outcrop within the inner arc is generally poor to entirely obscured, with a veneer of transported cover comprising silty soil underlain by lateritic soil and hardpan laterite with commonly at the base a variously worked coarse alluvial horizon containing up to boulder size angular to well-rounded fragments, pebbles and boulders.
- Due to the lack of outcrop, geological understanding is limited to deep trenching and drilling, supplemented by the excavated material of artisanal workings and rare outcrops.
Artisanal Discovery and Exploitation
- Due to the lack of outcrop and the concealed nature of the geology, the artisanal discovery and mining to date on the Tembo Project can only be described as fortuitous and opportunistic.
- It is self-evident that local residents have from time to time unearthed quartz fragments in the topsoil during tilling activities and have identified that these often contain gold, leading to more extensive and deeper excavation and searching and the subsequent exploitation of quartz vein rubble lags and eventually locating the quartz vein source structure leading to hard rock mining along these.
- The project has more than 13km of linear arrays of vertical artisanal shafts that have exploited quartz vein shears in hard rock.
- These shafts define linear trends in northwest, northeast and east-west directions and single arrays vary in length up to 1.5km.
- The adjacent 20Moz Bulyanhulu Mine deposit of Barrick Gold was host to 1km of vertical shafts along Reef 1 and approximately 500m of vertical shafts along Reef 2, a total of 1.5km prior to exploration drilling and discovery.
- These workings are what kicked off early exploration drilling by Stamico and Outokumpo around 1990, subsequently followed up by Placer Dome, Sutton Resources and ultimately Barrick Gold's subsidiary Kahama Mining and the discovery of about 20Moz, which continues at present.
- The artisanal workings on the Tembo Project, together with the historical exploration results, coupled with the experience of the neighbour mine, provided the incentive and early information to define and prioritise targets on the project.
Tembo Project Targets
- The LIDAR DEM-orthophoto survey and 13km of artisanal workings together with the historical exploration results defined seven initial target areas, Ngula 1, Ngula 2, Buly Trend, Iyenze, Nyakagwe Village, Nyakagwe East and Mgusu targets.
- The historical data, comprising airborne magnetics, soil geochemical sampling, including convention soils, pitting and RAB cover-bedrock interface drilling, defined.
- All targets comprised of airborne magnetic lineaments, coincident linear artisanal shaft arrays and scattered but commonly high-grade gold in soil/bedrock cover geochemistry.
- The Ngula 1 target consists of a 600m long, 150-200m wide corridor of massive and locally intensely sheared mafic meta-volcanic rocks and thin intercalated meta-sedimentary units. This package contains numerous intensely deformed, veined and altered shear structures that typically have elevated gold values.
- The initial Tembo (Phase 1) drill program at Ngula 1 consisted of alternating 100m-spaced diamond and reverse circulation drill hole sections drilled from the south targeting the zones at vertical depths of approximately -50m, -100m, -150 and -200m, and 100m-spaced diamond hole drill sections drilled from the north to similar depths. A total of 16,730m have been completed.
- Two distinct parallel zones of artisanal workings, separated by dolerite dyke (some 6m thick) characterize the Nyakagwe East target, each with working along a strike length of greater than 500m. The mineralized zones are associated with shearing within mafic to intermediate meta-volcanic host rocks, strong quartz veining and semi-massive, stringers and disseminations of pyrite. Higher grades are distinctly correlated with quartz veining and abundant sulphide. The zones strike northwest and are interpreted to dip at 60° to the southwest.
- Drilling at Nyakagwe East was initially on a similar pattern to that of Ngula 1, 100m-spaced sections and holes inclined to intersect at -50m, -100m and -150m. 9162m has been completed on this target.
- The Nyakagwe Village target is located at the southern edge of the broad, semi-arcuate belt of active artisanal workings (up to 1000m wide) stretching eastwards through the Mgusu target to the Nyakagwe East target area (a distance of some 1,500m). The main artisanal workings at Nyakagwe Village comprise a 100m x 100m 15m deep pit within an area containing numerous vertical shafts within a rectangular area some 200m by 100m.
- Other targets have had minimal drilling and to date only between 10% and 15% of the entire greenstone area has been tested by any form of drilling.
Drilling Results
- The drilling results achieved to date have highlighted the potential of the Tembo target, with some exceptionally robust grades and widths intersected and all targets.
- The drill results have previously been released but following this release we will communicate these once again, in preparation for the outlining of a short to medium term exploration programme of drilling which we anticipate commencing during the fourth quarter.
David Scott, President & CEO, stated "Work to date on the Tembo Project has not disappointed and it is with more than a little excited anticipation that we envisage recommencing drilling shortly on this premium gold project."
About Tembo Gold Corp.
Tembo is a Canadian publicly listed mineral exploration company with a 100% interest in the Tembo Gold Project. Tembo's focus is the discovery and development of gold projects in Africa. The Company has assembled a highly experienced team with a proven history of developing, financing, and operating mining projects in Africa. The Company's exploration strategy is to discover mineral resources as well as continue to look for additional opportunities that can bring value to the Company and shareholders.
The above information has been prepared under the supervision of David Scott, Pr. Sci. Nat., who is designated as a "Qualified Person" with the ability and authority to verify the authenticity and validity of the data.
On Behalf of the Board of Directors of Tembo:
David Scott
President & CEO
Phone: 255-767-366146
Email:
For more information please contact:
Simon Benstead
Director & VP Corporate Development
Phone: 604-685-9316
Email:
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
Certain information set out in this news release constitutes forward-looking information. Forward looking statements are often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "seek", "anticipate; "plan", "continue; "estimate; "expect", "may, "will", "intend", "could", "might", "should", "believe" and similar expressions. This news release contains forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, the anticipated filing date for the Required Filings. Forward-looking statements are based upon the opinions and expectations of management of the Company as at the effective date of such statements and, in certain cases, information provided or disseminated by third parties. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions, and that information obtained from third party sources is reliable, they can give no assurance that those expectations will prove to have been correct. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.
These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from results contemplated by the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include that the Company does not file its Required Filings by the anticipated date. Accordingly, the actual events may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. When relying on forward-looking statements to make decisions, investors and others should carefully consider the foregoing factors and other uncertainties and should not place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements, except as may be required by applicable securities laws.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its regulation services provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.
To view the source version of this press release, please visit