The Amapari mine is located in the state of Amapá, Brazil in the Vila Nova Greenstone Belt, part of the Precambrian age Guyana Shield that covers much of northern part of Brazil, the Guyanas, Suriname and eastern Venezuela. This region is host to several world class gold projects (>5 Moz gold) such as the Omai mine in Guyana, Rosebel mine in Suriname and Las Cristinas, Brisas and Choco 10 projects in Venezuela.
The Amapari area has been mined by artisanal miners (garimpeiros) for many years but has only undergone modern exploration since the mid-1990’s when Anglo-American mining company discovered the deposit beneath an area of active garimpeiro workings. Anglo’s systematic application of soil geochemistry and geophysical methods in combination with diamond and reverse circulation drilling resulted in the delineation of a near surface oxide mineral resource amenable to open pit mining methods and a deeper sulfide mineral resource that continues to offer good potential for future development via underground mining methods.
Gold mineralization at Amapari is hosted in Banded Iron Formation (BIF), a rock consisting predominantly of iron-bearing minerals that is also one of the world’s primary sources of iron ore. Gold mineralization occurs along fold and shear structures that deform and cross-cut the BIF. Tropical weathering and oxidation has transformed the upper near surface portions of the deposit into a soft weathered bedrock, or saprolite, which is readily amenable to open pit mining methods. Gold mineralization within the deeper unweathered and unoxidized portions of the deposit occurs in fresh bedrock as free gold in close association with the sulfide minerals pyrite and pyrrhotite. To date, exploration along the 7 kilometer Amapari mine trend has resulted in the delineation of measured and indicated resources containing approximately 1.2 million ounces of gold plus inferred resources containing an additional 1.1 million ounces of gold.
Four gold resources were delineated and mined by open pit methods at Amapari - Urucum, Taperebá AB, Taperebá C and Taperebá D. The Taperebá AB, C and D pits occur within 1 to 3 kilometers of the Amapari ore processing and recovery facilities; the Urucum resource is located approximately 7 kilometers to the north of the ore processing and recovery facilities.
There is excellent potential to discover and develop additional gold resources at Amapari both along the 7 kilometer Amapari mine trend as well as in prospective targets elsewhere within the project land holdings. The Amapari project currently includes mining and exploration tenements totaling approximately 244,800 hectares and extending over a 120 kilometer trend of prospective greenstone terraine. Reconnaissance exploration in the region has identified several prospective areas with geophysical and geochemical signatures similar to those hosting the known gold resources currently being mined. Work to further evaluate these areas is currently ongoing and will continue to be a primary focus of the exploration effort during 2009.
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