Pan African secures five exploration licences in Sudan

Pan African Resources has secured five prospecting concessions, or exploration licences, in north-eastern Sudan, it announced on Monday, dubbed the ‘Block 12’ concessions).

The AIM-traded firm said the licences cover an area of almost 1,100 square kilometres, and are located about 70 kilometres north west of Port Sudan.

It said it was awarded the licences by Sudan’s Ministry of Minerals for a period of three years, with the option to renew for a further two years.

Exploration rights to five individual, “highly prospective” areas were obtained in the Arabian-Nubian Shield (ANS), and more specifically, the Nakasib Suture Zone (NSZ).

Those blocks comprise Block 12A and B of 394 square kilometres, Block 12D of 189 square kilometres, Block 12E of 298 square kilometres, and Block 12K of 200 square kilometres.

The company said Block 12, and the regional area in general, contains a “large number” of artisanal workings and gold tolling operations.

A total of 14 rock samples were obtained during site reconnaissance, which yielded an average grade of 13.6 grams of gold per tonne.

“Our management team has been visiting Sudan for the last two years to identify prospective gold mining sites,” said chief executive officer Cobus Loots.

“We believe that the Block 12 concessions are highly prospective, and we look forward to reporting exploration results from these properties in due course.

“Our exploration programme will be phased, with expenditure of approximately $7m expected to be incurred during the first three years, to ensure we limit the group’s financial risk.”

Loots said additionally, before making any material investment decisions, the firm would “need to be comfortable” with the country’s operating environment.

“Recently announced investments in Sudan by other international mining companies, including Perseus Mining’s recently announced $155m acquisition of Orca Gold, validates our views on the region’s prospectivity for gold exploration and mining.

“In the medium to longer term, these Sudanese exploration activities have the potential to further add production growth to Pan African’s already impressive project pipeline.”

At 0911 GMT, shares in Pan African Resources were down 0.88% at 21.01p.