African Queen Mines Commences Airbourne Geophysical Survey at Rongo Gold Field Project in Kenya′s Lake Victoria Greenstone Belt
AFRICAN QUEEN MINES LTD. (the 'Company?) is pleased to announce
that it has now commenced a detailed airbourne geophysical survey on its
Rongo Gold Field Project, which covers an area of approximately 112 sq.
km in the Kanango gold mining area of the Migori District of Nyanza
Province in Southwest Kenya near Lake Victoria. The survey is
anticipated to highlight areas of structural interest such as faults and
shear zones. Terrascan Airborne GmbH & Co Kg, based in Germany, has been
contracted to carry out the program on behalf of the Company and has had
extensive experience working in remote parts of Africa.
Both magnetic and radiometric surveys are being carried out over the
license area. Preliminary tests and orientation were carried out during
the last few days and flying has now commenced. The first day of data
acquisition was successful. The survey is being conducted on 100 m line
spacing with lines directed at 045o and a flying height of 70
m. Approximately 2700 line kilometres are planned. Data will be supplied
to the Company on a daily basis and detailed interpretation will
commence within the next few weeks.
The area of the license covers Archaean age metavolcanic lithologies,
including basalts, andesites and rhyolites. These are all included in
the Nyanzian System within which a number of gold mines are known.
Migori, one of the earliest gold mines in Kenya, is situated to the
immediate south of the Project. Importantly, the license area is not
well blessed with outcrop and is considered to be underexplored even
though artisanal mining is presently occurring on the Kamwango area of
the license. Regional field mapping has been completed over the last
three weeks and a very good understanding of the underlying geology has
been developed. Magnetic susceptibility was measured on all outcrops and
this will provide valuable information in integrating the geophysical
survey data with the sub-surface geology.
Detailed geological mapping and trench sampling of the Kamwango area is
presently being carried out by Remote Exploration Services of Cape Town,
S.A. ('RES?) on behalf of the Company. Overall project management is
being provided to the Company by Senior Consulting Geologist Pete
Siegfried (M.Sc., MAusIMM), a qualified person, who has approved the
contents of this press release.
Saprolite is generally encountered after 2 meters of surficial,
clay-rich soils are excavated, and therefore it is believed that
geochemical sampling of these trenches should reflect the mineralisation
of the underlying rock. Highly silicified and epidotised mafic volcanic
lithologies as well as a number of quartz veins have been encountered.
Sampling is being carried out with the appropriate methodologies and all
samples will be submitted to accredited laboratory with the necessary
CRM′s (certified reference material), blanks and duplicates as demanded
by N.I. 43-101 reporting standards.
The Project is subject to an Earn-In and Joint Venture Agreement (the
'Agreement?) between the Company and Abba Mining Company Limited
('Abba?), pursuant to which the Company may earn up to an 85% interest
in the Project, by funding prescribed optional stages from exploration
through feasibility. The present airbourne geophysical survey is part of
the Phase 1 Exploration Program to assess the overall geologic structure
of the License area and the likelihood of a commercially viable gold
deposit within the License area, as well as to identify discreet drill
targets for a Phase 2 core drilling program.
About African-Queen
The Company is an exploratory resource company with diversified mineral
properties in Southern and West Africa. It is exploring its properties
in Mozambique, Kenya and Ghana for gold and other metals and it is
exploring its properties in Botswana and Namibia for diamonds. The
Company′s licenses in Botswana and Namibia comprise approximately 9208
sq km of diamond prospects. In Mozambique it has approximately 230 sq km
of gold and other metals licenses under an agreement with another
company. In Kenya it has approximately 112 sq. km. of gold and other
minerals licenses under an agreement with another company. Its
operations in Botswana are carried out through its operating subsidiary,
PAM Botswana (Pty) Ltd.; its operations in Namibia are carried out
through its operating subsidiary PAM Minerals Namibia (Pty) Ltd.; its
operations in Mozambique are carried out through its subsidiary PAM
Mocambique Limitada and its operations in Ghana are carried out through
its subsidiary AQ Ghana Gold Limited. Its operations in Kenya are being
carried out through its operating subsidiary AQ Kenya Gold Limited. The
Company has its executive offices in Vancouver, Canada.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF
AFRICAN QUEEN
MINES, LTD.
'Irwin Olian?
Irwin
Olian
Chairman & CEO
The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept
responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of the content of the
information contained herein. The statements made in this press release
may contain certain forward-looking statements that involve a number of
risks and uncertainties. Actual events or results may differ from the
Company′s expectations.
African Queen Mines, Ltd.
Irwin Olian, 604-899-0100
President
and CEO
Fax: 604-899-0200
tigertail@africanqueenmines.com
or
Carrie
Howes, Corporate Communications
Phone: Düsseldorf - +49 (0) 1722
1234 47
Phone: London - +44 (0) 7780 602 788
carrie@africanqueenmines.com