Avocet Mining PLC Prospectus December 2011

Avocet Mining PLC
West African Projects
Local people graze their animals in the area and undertake slash‐and‐burn farming practices
growing primarily maize, manioc, cotton, corn and small cashew orchards.
A number of areas within the project area have been identified with artisanal workings,
locally called “orpaillage”. This is one of the main forms of income for the local population.
Artisanal miners typically hand mine shafts up to 15m deep with a diameter of 1m to zones
below the ferricrete, or down to paleo‐channel terraces in old river channels. Recovered ore
(clay and quartz fragments) from the saprolite is washed, crushed and then panned or
sluiced to recover the gold.
6.3 History
6.3.1 Artisanal Mining
The following is taken from the Ashanti Alliance Report on Fieldwork Summary Report,
August 1997:
“… Gold mining has been one of the main activities of the indigenous population for over
1,000 years. The gold has been extracted from various hosts – quartz veins, decomposed
bedrock, lateritic soils and gravels, supergene deposits in ferruginous laterite and lateritic
clays and stream alluvium.
“Artisanal mining occurs throughout the year, moving from high to low ground with the
change of season. Visible evidence of artisanal workings can be seen at thousands of sites
through the Mandiana Prefecture – varying between a few circular pits to areas of several
square kilometres.
“There are many ancient gold refining sites throughout the area, where crucibles made from
clay lined, hollowed out tree‐trunk lengths were fired in clay ovens.
“The main target of the local miners is now supergene gold nuggets found under the laterite,
usually in decomposed bedrock and between 4m and 10m deep. The largest nugget seen in
the last two years weighed 1.4kg.
“The impression is that all that the visible evidence of artisanal mining activities date from
the last two centuries.
“No industrial mining has been undertaken within the (Mandiana) concession.”
In 1997, the Ashanti‐AGEM Alliance estimated 1,000‐2,000 people were working in the
artisanal mining sector in the Mandiana Project Area.
6.3.2 Exploration History
The following has been taken from the Ashanti Alliance Report on Fieldwork Summary
Report, August 1997 and summarises the exploration history of the project area:
1937: 1:500,000 reconnaissance geology map by R. Goloubinow of I.G.N
Report No: R253.2011 121
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