Tajiri Delineates Giant Poly Folded Gold System at K4 - 5 Spanning 14km x 6 km With obvious potential to host a Giant Gold Deposit

 

System on scale and of form comparable to those hosting known Proterozoic Large to Super Giant poly folded gold deposits Such Homestake, Sukhoi Log, Kibali, Telfer and Wassa

VANCOUVER, BC, March 7, 2023 /CNW/ - Tajiri Resources Corp. (the "Company") (TSXV: TAJ) is pleased to report further results of power auger drilling at its K4-5 Prospect, Burkina Faso, West Africa (Figure 1: Location) and an extensive re-interpretation of all data that indicates mineralisation outlined to date forms a giant poly-folded gold system spanning ~14km x 6km (Figure 2). Given the scale of the K4-5 system and the fact that many of the known large to supergiant Proterozoic gold deposits are dominated by a strong fold control of mineralisation the K4-5 prospect has potential size and form to host a large to supergiant gold deposit (Figure 3).

Independent of its interpreted potential to host a large to super giant gold deposit, the geochemical anomalism now outlined by the saprolite auger campaign is of a scale that is between 2 and 9 times the size of similar tenor saprolite gold anomalism associated with other West African gold deposits with known resources of between 4 to 7 Moz (Figure 15 & Table I).   

Adding further weight to the indications that at least a large gold deposit is present at K4-5 is the scale of artisanal mining that has been undertaken at K4-5, in which the areas of both surface lateritic and bedrock shaft sinking are between 1.5-5 times the size of workings overlying West African deposits of between 4-7 Moz.  

An extensive review of all data which included the construction of a new lithology map for the project, interpretation of multiple satellite images, and interpretation and re-processing of all propriety geophysical data sets and a review of publicly available gravity and magnetic data, has revealed several features that control the form and potentially influence the scale of mineralisation present at K4-5. 

The setting of the K4-5 gold system is shown in Figure 2. Key features of this are in accord with potential for the discovery of a major gold deposit:

• It lies at the complex triple point junction of the Hounde, Boromo and Goren Greenstone belts and associated great structural complexity
• It lies within a region of major regional crustal scale trend change and flexure
• It lies on the flanks/at the tip of a major intermediate- basic volcanic complex which appears to be complexly infolded / thrust transported extension of the Hounde Belt. This location on the flanks of a major volcanic centre is associated with the many of the larger Birimian gold deposits.

Another key finding of the review was the recognition of a strong fold control to mineralisation at K4-5 which appears to be associated with complex compound type II interference patterns (See Appendix I Figure D for explanation), formed by the superposition of at least three phases of folding. A late phase F3 which strikes NNW, F2 which is tightly to isoclinally folded around F3 and an earlier phase of folding F1 which is difficult to trace for any distance, but is quite observable through the formation of fold interference patterns from F1 interactions with both F2 and F3.

Given the newly discerned structural controls (evident across many data sets) much mineralisation is now seen to strike subparallel to principal sampling directions - soil and saprolite auger samples were taken on mostly 400m -200m spaced NW oriented lines and historic drilling on either NW or NS oriented lines.   

This leaves a lot of further potential at the K4-5 prospect which exhibits long kilometric scale zones of low order anomalism striking NW- NNW that may be representative of significant but poorly sampled mineralisation.

Results

Results of our saprolite auger sampling campaign that immediately extends mineralisation reported previously at K4 South is presented in Figure 4 and Figure 5. This includes the prospects K4 North and West which combined with South comprise the K4 Prospect. Of note is that considering our recognition of the larger K4-5 Gold system, close spaced auger sampling by the Company has covered less than ~20% of the total prospect.  

Interpretation

An interpretation of results to show a mineralised envelope containing substantively >100ppb saprolite auger results and >250ppb intersections in historic drillholes is shown in Figure 6 and Figure 7. Here, given that sampling is in substantial part oriented subparallel to interpreted strike of mineralisation, we have extended mineralisation to follow the form of interpreted lithological contacts which are largely influenced by F2-F3 folding and F2 and F3 fold axes (See Figure 7 for our provisional interpretation of major fold axes at the K4 prospect).  

In the above mentioned Figures, we show a side by side comparison of K4 to the 13Moz Wassa deposit, which as noted in our previous announcement is the only other documented example of a poly folded gold deposit hosted within the Birimian of West Africa. Both look remarkably similar in form yet K4 (representing ~ 20% of the larger K4-5 system) has a footprint that is ~ 3-5 times larger than Wassa's. 

Clearly K4 has significant potential to host a large gold deposit    

It should be noted that the interpreted mineralised envelope at K4 cannot be expected to be all ore. Rather, something similar to the distribution of mineralisation at Wassa could be expected. At Wassa, high grade ore is concentrated around fold closures or sometimes within axial planar shears. Away from fold closures, fold limbs are extenuated and exhibit weak and narrow <10m zones of gold mineralisation. In contrast mineralisation in fold closures is >3.0g/t, tends to be or in excess of  25-30m thickness (up to 80m), has dip extents of ~150-200m, and enormous contiguous down plunge extents that exceed at least 2,000m.

Another good example of expected style/form of potentially better mineralisation at K4-5 is shown in Appendix I Figures E, F, G & H which shows an area of intense artisanal bedrock workings not far from K4-5 has exploited gold mineralisation which appears in all respects to be hosted by similar, Type II fold interference patterns as K4-5.   

Evidence

The interpreted fold scheme for K4-5 has largely been based on interpreting visible folding evident in multiple satellite images as documented in Appendix I notes to Figure 7. Evidence to support our interpretation that the K4-5 system is a large poly-folded gold system is documented in the following Figures:

• Figure 8. Workings at K4 South are configured into the distinct arrowhead shape of a Type II fold interference pattern. This is made particularly evident in later Sentinel 2 imagery which post-dates imagery shown in our October 26, 2022 press release (Also see Appendix I Figure B). In addition, forms evident in a gradient array IP section line, which is near co-incident with the central F3 controlling fold axis of the K4 South workings appear strongly supportive of the interpreted fold scheme.
• Figure 9. A new lithological map of the area has been constructed, based on a discriminant analysis of XRF multielement ratios. The new lithological map is broadly and at larger scales supportive of the interpreted fold scheme.
• Figure 10. Overall form of the K4-5 gold anomalism as expressed in more dispersed soils is supportive of the fold scheme and echoes regional forms visible in magnetics.
• Figure 11. Horizontal gradient magnetic data measured by gradiometry- a good way to examine lithological contacts in higher resolution than filtered TMI data alone is strongly in agreement with the fold scheme interpreted from satellite data. As this data is from a survey flown at 100m line spacing on N-S lines it does lack some resolution of tighter folding and is in part somewhat aliased by the NS line orientation being subparallel to NNW F3 fold axes.

Comparatives and Workings

As part of an extensive review of K4-5 we have mapped and aggregated all workings visible in 13 publicly available high resolution satellite images dating between 2008 and 2023 with supplemental mapping from lower resolution Aster and Sentinel images. This allowed a compilation of the outlines of all workings, both surface lateritic and bedrock shafts from over 13 years of near continuous artisanal activity to be compiled. All workings are shown in Figure 13 and a logical relationship to interpreted folding appears evident.

For the purposes of comparison, a similar exercise, reviewing multiple satellite images and compiling evolving outlines of artisanal workings, was conducted at a number of gold deposits with reported resources/reserve throughout Burkina Faso and Northern Ghana.  An example of such review and comparison to current mining and drilled resource outlines is presented in Figure 12.

In general, a high correspondence between areas of mineralisation outlined by artisanal bedrock shafts and later drilled resource outlines was found. Figure 12 shows M1 South and Sanbrado demonstrates the very close correspondence between areas outlined by artisanal shafts and the outline at surface of drilled resources. In this case the variance is <10%. This finding allows a reasonable indication of potential deposit size to be gleaned from the extent of bedrock shaft workings. 

A comparison of artisanal workings overlying example 4-7Moz Burkina and Northern Ghanaian gold deposits and K4 is shown in Figure 14.

During the course of the comparison of the exercise, it was found that both the K4 North and K4 South areas of bedrock shafts are much larger than any one image might show. At K4 South because shaft sinking has been episodic but with near continuous periods of lateritic surface working – including mechanical working which tends to back fill or otherwise disperse shaft spoil obliterating evidence of earlier shafts. While at K4 North, all shafts since 2015 have been sunk off the bottom of a large 5-10m deep pit of about ~ 100,000 m² from which all lateritic material was removed mechanically and sluiced at nearby creeks. This rather sizable pit floods during the wet season, with shaft sinking now only taking place for ~ 4-6 months of each year during the dry. After each wet season many artisanal shafts are found to have collapsed and shaft spoil is often masked by a coating of lateritic clay obscuring the true extent of shaft workings at K4 North in any one image. Of note the more extensive shaft workings at K4 South, than initially suspected, may have negatively impacted the tenor of results returned by our auger drilling as it is possible that extensive areas of higher-grade mineralisation has been removed.  

Across Burkina it was also noted that shaft workings that exploited mineralisation known to be of higher grade were generally deeper as shown by the darker colouration of surrounding shaft spoil (i.e. shafts had gone deeper into less bleached saprolite chasing higher grades) and higher grade areas were generally (but not universally) surrounded by large areas of shallow lateritic surface workings. The later feature is possibly a result of the greater coarse gold content of higher-grade deposits which upon weathering forms an extensive deflation lag far more amenable to the crude wind winnowing method used for recovering gold from surface workings in Burkina.  

Of note the K4 North shaft workings show the features indicative of potentially high grade mineralisation which is further supported by the fact that shafts have been worked for a long time- continuously from 2010-2015 and then seasonally from 2015- present. Further in support of the high grade potential of the K4 North shaft workings is that the area has due to sample orientations hardly been sampled but the one historic drill hole which did interest the edge of these workings returned 4m @ 16.2g/t from 4m.

Finally, Figure 15 compares the size of saprolite geochemical anomalies present at K4-5 with those overlying known 4-7Moz deposits and with reference to Table I it is clear that K4-5 is of a scale at various threshold levels that is between 1.5 and 9 times the size of those peers.

Table 1 Comparing areas of saprolite auger defined anomalism at various gold cut-offs as reported for other Brimian Gold Deposits. Area of K4-5-Dassa Anomalism is compelling 1.5-9 times that of other bread and butter 4-7Moz Birimian Deposits.    

Where blank either we have not yet interpreted the K4-5 system at that threshold or data is not reported by other companies

President's Comments

"After such a detailed review of not only the results from our own 18,000+ metres of auger drilling but all relevant proprietary and publicly available data the Company is extremely excited to release to market its new geological model for the K4/K5 prospect. Given the Reo Project's rich history of exploration successes there was certainly a lot of work to be done to put this together and we are supremely confident that what we have presented here today clearly illustrates the world class upside of the Reo Project, specifically as it relates to the size and scale potential of the gold discoveries already made at K4/K5. With the recent renewal for a full 9 years of the permit hosting the K4/K5 prospects there will be plenty of time for the Company to test, assess and hopefully confirm what has been presented today enroute to the discovery of a world class gold deposit - but I can assure you we will waste none - as we look forward to commencing further exploration work as soon as possible."

Qualified Person

The Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects for this news release is Dominic O'Sullivan a geologist, member of the AusIMM, Executive Chairman of Tajiri who has reviewed and approved its contents.  

On Behalf of the Board,
Tajiri Resources Corp.

Graham Keevil,
President & CEO

Tajiri Resources Corp. is a junior gold exploration and development Company with exploration assets located in two of the worlds least explored and highly prolific  greenstone belts of Burkina Faso, West Africa and Guyana, South America. Lead by a team of industry professionals with a combined 100 plus years' experience the Company continues to generate shareholder value through exploration.

www.tajirigold.com

Technical Details

Results reported today are from a program of ~ 18,000 metres completed in 4,125 auger drillholes drilled between November 2020 and May 2021 at the K4-K5 Prospect. Auger drilling was conducted to infill historic 400 x 100m spaced saprolite auger sampling at varying infill grids; predominantly 200 x 50m regionally and 100 x 25m and 25 x 25m over the K4 South Target. Regional 200 x 50m lines were oriented NW-SE while the 100 x 25m and 25 x 25m auger grids were oriented E-W.

Drilling with hollow stem power auger was conducted and supervised by Sahara Natural Resources and whole samples of 1-4kg were assayed by 50 gram fire assay with a DIBK extraction at SGS laboratories, Ougadougo, Burkina Faso along with standards, blanks and duplicates making up 10% of the assayed samples. Assay sensitivity was 1 ppb Au. 

The top metre of textured saprolite was sampled and auger drill holes ranged from 3 to 29m in depth. As saprolite was sampled by our auger program and lateral chemical dispersion of gold in saprolite in the Sahel region of West Africa appears to be minor, detected gold anomalism should be in-situ as confirmed in places by underlying historic RAB and RC drill results. 

All samples will be subject to multielement analysis by XRF to allow identification of elements consanguineous with gold mineralisation and the discrimination of lithologies by major and minor element associations.

Source Materials:

For Wassa figure showing Wassa drilling and age of Wassa Mineralisation: Perouty, S et al. The Wassa deposit: A poly deformed orogenic gold system in southwest Ghana- Implications for regional exploration. Journal of African Earth Science 2015 

Wassa gold endowment is the total of all resource categories Measured, Indicated, Inferred and past production as reported in: "Wassa Gold Mine NI-43-101 Technical Report March 2021 (M+I = 3.537Moz; Indicated 8.183Moz) Past production ~ 2.197Moz

Sanbrado Resources: Resource Source West African Resource/Reserve Statement 9 March 2021

M1 South Auger results: West African Resources  Press Release 15 June 2015.  

Namdini Auger Results: Cardinal Resources,  Presentation 15 November 2017. 

Namdini Resources: Cardinal Resources  Ltd. – "NI 43-101 Namdini Gold Project Feasibility Study" November 27 2019.

Banken NE Auger Results: Predictive Discovery ASX press release, 13 October 2020. "92M at 1.9g/t Gold- Diamond drilling Expands Bankan Project."

Kiaka Resource:  West African Resources, Press Release August 3, 2022

SOURCE Tajiri Resources Corp.

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