JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Africa-focused miner GoldStone Resources has initiated a project to potentially revitalise the old Akrokeri underground mine, in Ghana.
The mine is situated within the Akrokeri prospecting licence, about 1.5 km south of the proposed AK01 South pits.
According to the Ghanaian Minerals Commission, the Akrokeri mine produced some 75 000 oz of gold between 1904 and 1909, from about 104 000 t of ore, equating to a recovered grade of about 0.73 oz/t, equivalent to 24 g/t.
However, the mine closed in 1909, owing to a high inflow of water.
The mine was developed from two shafts 426.7 m apart, to a maximum depth of some 152 m. The gold-bearing quartz vein was recorded as being about 1.2 m in width and produced free milling nonrefractory ore.
It is situated within the sediments near the contact of a suite of greywackes/ phyllites and the Akrokeri granite.
Drilling campaigns were undertaken by Birim Goldfields in 1996, comprising nine diamond drill holes totalling 2 000 m and by Pan African Resources in 2008, comprising ten diamond drill holes totalling some 3 200 m.
These holes were located north and south of Akrokeri town along the known quartz vein.
The Aim-listed company highlighted that, from the historic data, it was recorded that the drilling encountered unknown narrow high-grade quartz veins within the granite, with samples up to 51 g/t.
This indicated the potential of a high-grade deposit within the entire contact zone.
The review of data and assets in 2017 highlighted that the core stored at the company’s core shed on site was incomplete.
GoldStone has, however, managed to locate the entire 5 200 m of core drilled by Birim and Pan African Resources and has relocated it to the core shed.
The company noted that relogging was currently under way and, if appropriate, further assaying of the core may be undertaken.
GoldStone is currently reviewing the possibility of opening up the old underground workings at the Akrokeri mine to explore the potential mineralised zones along strike extensions and within the old workings, as substantial areas remain untested.
CEO Emma Priestley said the company would continue to review the historical data for its licences.