Chunya property locations map
(PDF – 192KB)

Key facts

Ownership:

Wholly owned by Shanta Mining Corporation Limited (SMCL)

Extent:

Five prospecting licences covering approx 199 km²
(as of 1 January 2012)

Location:

Chunya Administrative District in the Lupa goldfields, Mbeya region, south west Tanzania, the second largest gold producing region in Tanzania

Project status:

Advanced

Project potential and prospects

A JORC compliant Preliminary Resource Assessment, compiled by independent modeling consultants, was released during 2009.

The company has recently completed an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Feasibility Study on the Chunya Gold Project in the Lupa Goldfields – the announcement was released on 6 July 2010. A mining licence application has been submitted to the relevant authorities and approval thereof is expected shortly. The aforementioned is in line with the company’s intention to develop the project into a profitable mining operation.

Budget allocations for 2010 include:

• A phase three reverse circulation drilling program and metallurgical studies on the Chunya Gold Project tenement;
• Follow-up soil geochemistry and geological mapping is planned at the company’s tenements to the northwest of Saza.

Related articles

2010

• Shanta clears final enviro hurdle for Tanzania gold project 26 August 2010
• Shanta Gold announces positive progress for Chunya Gold project in Tanzania 26 August 2010
• Shanta aims to be profitable gold producer in next two years 16 August 2010
• Shanta plans to start building Tanzania gold mine before year-end 6 August 2010
• Shanta Gold studies new Tanzania gold mine 6 July 2010
• Results of Chunya Feasbility 6 July 2010
• Latest surface exploration results and drilling mobilization at Chunya 30 June 2010
• Shanta Gold starts 2010 work programmes 31 March 2010
• Further exploration results from Chunya 30 March 2010
• Further mineralised strike excavations and new targets identified and tested at Chunya 25 February 2010
• Chunya project metallurgical optimisation study results show optimum recoveries of 90% 25 January 2010

Exploration summary

To date the following geological exploration work has been completed:

• Conventional stream sediment geochemical sampling
• Grab, soil, pit and trench geochemical sampling
• Detailed geological and preliminary geological and structural mapping
• Airborne radiometrics and magnetics
• Two phases of drilling carried out PL2787/2004 comprising 7,800 m reverse circulation (RC) and 1,925 m diamond cored (DC)

Total in situ Resources to date

The resource* comprises five prospects.

• Indicated Resource (0.0 g/t lower cut-off grade) = 357,402 oz @ 1.12 g/t
• Inferred Resource (0.0 g/t lower cut-off grade) = 488,117 oz @ 1.57 g/t
• Total Resource (0.0 g/t lower cut-off grade) = 845,519 oz @ 1.69 g/t

View detailed summary

* independently reviewed JORC compliant resource Q1 2009. The resource comprises five individual mineralised prospects located within a 3km radius on Shanta Gold’s Saza property (PL2787/2004).

More on the Lupa goldfield

The Lupa goldfield is the second largest goldfield in Tanzania outside of the Lake Victoria Goldfield; from 1935 to 1959 an estimated 650 000 ounces of gold have been extracted from the area (Harris J. F, (1981) Summary of the Geology of Tanganyika, Part IV: Economic Geology, Reprinted by the Government Printer, 63pp). The Lupa goldfield, located with the Ubendian model belt, is a triangular shaped block of approximately 2600 km². The Rukwa rift fault to the southwest, the Ufipa fault to the southeast; a near east–west trending fault to the north form the respective boundaries.

Regional geology

The regional geology is characterised by deformed, folded, sheared and metamorphosed paleoproterozoic rocks with major fold axes trending east southeast to west northwest. The following rock formations occur in the region:

• Ilunga Granite Formation

  The Ilunga Granite is located in the northern portion of the Lupa Goldfield and is mostly comprised of a medium to coarse grained leucogranite (aplogranite). Biotite and muscovite are commonly associated secondary minerals.

• Saza Granite Formation

  The Saza Granite is located in the central portion of the Lupa Goldfield and consists of numerous rock types including hornblende rich granites and hornblende-biotite rich granodiorites.

• Gneiss Formation

  The Gneiss Formation, the main ore bearing host, is the dominant rock unit within the Lupa Goldfield. The Gneiss Formation has been subjected to at least three granitic intrusive events that have given rise to a variety of  rock types such as felsitic gneiss, biotite and hornblende granite gneiss, leucocratic granular gneiss. Diorite, granodiorite and granite rocks are evident within the Gneiss Formation.