PROJECTS
MGUSU
Key facts
- Ownership:
- One prospecting licence wholly owned
- One primary mining licence wholly owned
- One primary mining licence hold though a JV agreement
- Extent:
- One prospecting licence covering approx 0.4 km²
(1 January 2012) - Location:
- Ilemela Administrative District in the Mwanza region of north-western Tanzania
- Project status:
- Advanced
Project potential and prospects
Although Mgusu enjoys advanced project status in the Shanta portfolio, work has been delayed owing to the presence of artisanal miners adjacent to the property who are hindering access. The Company in conjunction with the Government, continues its efforts to gain access.
The company has allocated substantial budget expenditure during 2010, should access be gained. Planned activities include thorough sampling and mapping of the tenement, structural interpretation as well as reverse circulation drilling program.
Exploration summary
To date the following geological exploration work has been completed:
- Grab, soil, pit and trench geochemical sampling programs
- Detailed geological and structural mapping programs
- Aerial survey
- Reverse circulation and diamond core drilling programs.
Total in situ Resources to date
The resource* comprises five prospects.
- Indicated Resource (0.0 g/t lower cut-off grade) = 127,000 oz @ 3.5 g/t
- Inferred Resource (0.0 g/t lower cut-off grade) = 614,000 oz @ 3.8 g/t
- Total Resource (0.0 g/t lower cut-off grade) = 741,000 oz @ 3.7 g/t
Reverse circulation and diamond drilling conducted by Pangea Minerals Ltd, resulted in Cheston Minerals (Pty) Ltd producing a SAMREC-compliant mineral resource statement (MRS) during 2005.
Shanta Gold’s Mgusu portfolio of properties consists of two prospecting licences which comprise a cumulative surface area of approximately 1.7 km². The prospecting licences are located within the Ilemela Administrative District which is located in the Mwanza Region of northwestern Tanzania.
Regional geology
The Mgusu prospect is located in the Geita Greenstone Belt (GSB) which forms part of the Achaean granite-greenstone terrain of the Tanzanian Craton. The Geita GSB is bounded by the granite gneisses to the north and south and is transected by several large shear structures. The Sanza Shear to the south and the north east trending Nyankanga dyke swarm are the most significant structures.
Numerous granitic, syenitic and doleritic intrusions of various ages occur throughout the Geita GSB. These are commonly related to mineralisation.
Gold mineralisation in the Geita GSB is usually located in one of the following geological settings:
- Banded iron formation hosted sulphide replacement mineralisation commonly associated with felsic intrusives e.g. Ridge 8, Geita Extension and Lone Cone;
- Shear related mineralisation where the intersection of local folding and regional shearing has produced saddle reef style mineralisation in the fold hinges e.g. Kukuluma; and
- Quartz porphyry hosted mineralisation in which sulphides occur along shear structures that have developed along the competence difference between quartz feldspar porphyry and the banded iron formation e.g. Allways/Mgusu and Selous at Nymalima Hill.
The Lower Nyanzian stratigraphy consists of predominantly oxide facies banded iron formations and subordinate felsic volcanics. The banded iron formations occur as prominent ridges of isoclinally folded sequences flanked by felsic tuffs and cherts.
