Perth-based mineral miner Canyon Resources Limited said last week that initial exploration at its Makan Bauxite Permit has been promising to date, but more samples must be taken before mining operations can begin.
Canyon says the Makan Permit has not been as thoroughly explored as its other permit areas, but the aim will be to find a quantity of bauxite mineralization to create a long-term Direct Shipping Ore (DSO) operation. The DSO will ultimately be included in the firm’s adjacent Minim Martap Bauxite Project.
Working under the permit expansion granted in February, the play has been mapped and sampled. Exploration in three areas has identified over three dozen pits dug sixty years ago by the French Geological Survey (B.R.G.M), eleven of which had appropriate representative coverage.
A further eight pits are planned in the near future following up on surface mapping that indicates mature lateritic material.
Chief Executive Officer, Jean-Sebastien Boutet elaborated on the state of exploration in a related press release.
“Our Camalco team on the ground in Cameroon has diligently been working to ensure that we maintain the research lease to the Makan Permit neighbouring our flagship Minim Martap Bauxite Project. The Makan Permit has excellent prospectivity to host significant bauxite mineralisation but given the past exploration and definition success on the neighbouring Minim Martap Permit, it has not been necessary to explore as extensively. The Company aims with this program to improve our understanding of the orebody within the Makan Permit which ultimately aim to add additional years to the mining schedule released as part of the Bankable Feasibility Study for the Minim Martap Project. At the same time, this work will satisfy the requirements for minimum expedition to maintain the Permit.”
“In parallel, during a recent site visit to Cameroon, multiple productive meetings have been held with the Prime Minister of Cameroon, the Minister of Mines and the Tibati Lamido. The Tibati Lamido has personally met with the Prime Minister in support of the Company’s Mining Convention application. This is a highly supportive gesture from a high-ranking dignitary in Cameroonian culture.”
“We will continue to lobby at all levels of government for the signing of the Mining Convention and while we haven’t yet received the signature we wanted during this trip, we have been pleased with the positive reception and progress on the ground,” he concluded.
