The Tongon Deposit, Cte DIvoire Randgold Resources Latest

Discovery In West Africa.

Babacar Diouf

Randgold Resources Ltd, Jersey, Channel Islands

ABSTRACT: The Tongon Project is located in northern Cte dIvoire in the centre of the Senoufo
greenstone Belt, some 628km north of the capital Abidjan within the 671 km2 Nielle permit. Tongon is at the feasibility stage and benefits from nearby access to relatively well-developed transportation, telecommunications and power systems. The total inferred resource base is 35.96 million
tonnes at a grade of 2.69 g/t Au for more than 3 million ounces of gold. The mineralization at Tongon occurs within two zones, the Northern and Southern Zones (NZ and SZ), over a cumulative
strike length of 3.5km. The NZ Mineralization is found within a single zone, hosted in the immediate hangingwall of a 2 kilometre-long continuous graphitic shear zone which trends 250 to 260
and dips 80 to 70 northwest. This gold mineralization grades between 1.5g/t and 4.5 g/t over
widths of 3 to 24m, and is associated with increased silicification, sulphidation and fine brecciation.
The SZ mineralization is more complex and consists of multiple bodies, between 5 and 50 meters in
width and grading 2 to 9 g/t over 1.5km of strike length. The mineralization is associated with a
broad envelope of biotite-silica-tremolite-diopside-sericite-carbonate alteration within which occur
brecciated and sheared bodies of disseminated arsenopyrite-pyrrhotite-pyrite-gold. In both zones,
the mineralization is still open along strike and at depth. As part of the re-entry strategy in the
northern zone of the country, an 8 hole (1,992m) tactical diamond coring programme was completed at the Tongon project, from June to August 2006. A 30,000m diamond drilling programme
started in March 2007 to form the basis for the final feasibility study which will allow a production
decision and financing arrangements to be made within 2 years. Another 10,000m RAB programme
will test the potential for the 10 other targets of the Nielle permit.
KEYWORDS: Tongon, Cte dIvoire, +3Moz, Northern Zone, Southern Zone

INTRODUCTION

The Tongon Project is located within the

671 km2 Nielle permit (PRA 92) in central
northern Cte dIvoire, some 628km north of
the capital Abidjan and about 200km south-east
of Morila Gold Mine (Mali). Randgold Resources Ltd, together with its country partner
New Mining CI, owns 100% of the rights of
Nielle permit. This area has historically been a
zone of ancient prospectors activity with numerous small pits throughout it. BHP under
Joint Venture with government agency Sodemi
has carried out Regional work and limited detail exploration over an eight-year period (from
1988 to 1995). The original 1000 km Randgold
Nielle Exploration Permit was granted by DeProceedings of the Ninth Biennial SGA Meeting, Dublin 2007

Figure 1: Location of Tongon project

997

cree No. 96-922 on the 29 November 1996..

Randgold exploration activity on the project
has occurred in several phases (Table 1) with
total expenditures amounting to US$ 7.2 million from October 1996 to December 2006.
Since its initial appointment, the permit has
been renewed on two occasions, and the second
renewal granted on the 24 January 2002 for
three years from the 1 December 2001 in which
time Randgold Resources was required to complete a Type IV Feasibility and commit minimum expenditure of 1.4 billion CFA (US$2
million). Drilling was interrupted in September
2002 by the political conflict in the country.
Method
Trench
Rab
Ddh
Aircore
RC
Water bore hole
Exploration pit

Count
49
477
59
141
28
1
339

Metres
8,418m
11,437m
12,095m
3,208m
2,556m
75m
1,176m

Table 1: Work completed at Tongon grid

A stand still agreement is presently in force

with respect to the expiry of the permit. In
2005, following encouraging moves towards a
resolution of the conflict, all aspects of the
Tongon project were reviewed, updating the
June 2002 pre-feasibility parameters to reflect
December 2005 market conditions. An Inferred
Resource of 35.96 Mt at a grade of 2.69 g/t for
3.11 Moz has been estimated at the Tongon
project (Table 2) using polygonal wireframe estimate (NZ) and ordinary kriging and inverse
distance squared methods (SZ).
Zone
NZ
SZ
Total

Category Mt
Inferred
5.27
Inferred
30.69
Inferred
35.96

g/t Au
2.92
2.65
2.69

Moz
0.49
2.61
3.11

Table 2: Tongon mineral resources

A limited strategic coring programme (8 diamond holes for 1992m) was successfully completed in 2006.

SZ
NZ

Drill line
spacing
50m and 100m
up to 300 meters

deepest mineralized
intersections
200m below surface
120m below surface

Table 3: Data spacing at Tongon grid

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For the feasibility drilling programme, interhole spacing will be reduced to 50 m x 50m for
both the SZ and NZ, and mineralized intersections will regularly reach 150mBS for the NZ
and 200mBS for the SZ. The RAB programme
will test the potential of the 10 other targets of
the permit.
2. REGIONAL GEOLOGY
Cte dIvoire is situated entirely within the
Leo Rise of West Africa. The western edge of
the country is underlain by the 3.1 2.7 Ga.
Archaean Man Domain whilst the remainder of
the country comprises Palaeoproterozoic
Birimian lithologies of the Baoule-Mossi Domain, which was affected by a major tectonothermal event around 2.1 Ga.
The Ivorian Birimian consists of NEtrending litho-structural domains (Ashanti,
Bondoukou, Bouake, Korhogo, Syama, and
Odienne) separated by metasedimentary belts
(overlap sequence) and affected by 3 main
episodes of deformation. The D1 fabrics,
probably developed during NE-SW to N-S
shortening, were later rotated anti-clockwise
during D2. The complex D2 event is responsible for the main NNE trend and overall geometry (with NE to ENE thrust faults) and has involved major WNW - ESE shortening, which
resolved at times into dextral transpression (for
example, associated late N-S trending folds).
The overlap sequences shows evidence for D2
deformation only.
The Senoufo belt is a more than 200km long
zone of NNE-trending greenschist grade supracrustal lithologies that extends across the
country border into Burkina Faso. The belt
which is bounded on either side by variably tectonised granitoid and gneisses has a distinct
change in the S-N direction from 045 to 030.
Syn to late Birimian felsic to intermediate intrusive bodies occur throughout the region. The
plutons may have intruded dilation zones (flexures in second order structures or at extensional
intersections between first and second order
structures).
Within the Tongon grid, the contact of the
host rocks with the intrusive bodies is a classic
intrusive cooling margin or is sheared, generally striking 230 in the SZ and 250 in the NZ,
with 45 to 75 dips. Minor interbedded intermediate and mafic extrusions are mapped in the
lower half of the belt.

"Digging Deeper" C.J. Andrew et al (editors)

Figure 2: Nielle permit structural map

3. NIELLE PERMIT GEOLOGY

On Landsat/Spot and airborne geophysical
data, the dominant feature within the permit is a
NNE trending Central Linear Belt (CLB)
which is characterised by a relatively uniform
magnetic low signature running along the axis
of the Birimian package. A NNE to NE trending
fabric is prevalent throughout the CLB while
linear magnetic high margins are bounding the
CLB both to the east and west. These are a series of regional first order belt bounding dextral
shears that horsetail into and away from the
contact with the surrounding granitoids and
gneisses, particularly along the western margin
of the belt. In the centre and south of the permit, the belt margins deflect around prominent
elliptical magnetic highs termed the Magnetic
Bodies (Figure 2), which acted as more competent rigid packages. The competent bodies are

strongly dissected by anastomosing NE to ENE

second order structures which splay into and
away from the principal NNE shears. A late
stage post-Birimian structural activity is
thought to be associated with the presence of
abundant NW trending cross-cutting faults
which have resulted in minor sinistral dislocation.
For the presence of gold mineralization at
Tongon grid, it is thought that a period of
oblique structural reactivation may have occurred and preferentially localized along the
pre-existing NE belt parallel first order structures. Progressive dextral shearing may have
caused some clockwise rotation in the centre of
the belt. This re-activates and step across the
ENE second-order structures resulting in them
adopting a more E-W orientation. Best dilations
occur where ENE structures run at the margin
of pluton due to contrast competency.

Proceedings of the Ninth Biennial SGA Meeting, Dublin 2007

999

4. TONGON GRID GEOLOGY

The NZ and SZ gold mineralization is located in a dislocated segment of the component
core zone in the centre of the Senoufo Belt.
Gold mineralization shows a spatial relation
with the sheared margins to the intrusives.
Various regolith domains occur in the Tongon
grid and outcrops are limited. An erosional domain is mapped on the northern portion (with
minor outcrop, subcrop and residual soils)
while the south is dominated by masking transported material (clays, silts and gravels, up to
10m-thick) associated with the Badeni River.
The Northern Zone mineralization locates on
the immediate hanging wall of a strongly foliated graphitic shear, and is associated with increased silicification, sulphidation and fine
brecciation. The main shear zone is represented
by wide zones of pervasively foliated and altered mafic volcaniclastics, now transformed
into sericite schist, and variably altered black
shale and graphite. Within the highest strained
zone the main foliation (250-260 / 080-070
dip) is itself folded on a small scale and contains folded quartz veins. Prominent structures
include quartz veins (trending 240 to 250
with 70 to 80 dips), graphitic shears (260 to
270 with 70 to 80 dips) and silicified shears,
of which the quartz veins and graphitic shears
are dominant.

Figure 3: Typical section of the Tongon NZ

The Southern Zone is more geologically

complex with multiple zones, lensoid in shape,
with variable strike and depth continuity,
hosted within 045 to 070 brecciated volcaniclastics dipping 055 to 70 to the NW. Adja1000

cent to the ore zones, the host rock primary

character is often totally obliterated by the alteration assemblages, has a fragmented appearance, and is strongly veined by quartz carbonate or calc silicates (diopside, tremolite,
calcite, silica, sericite, and opaque minerals).
Highly mineralized quartz veins (240 to 250,
40 to 70 dips) bounded by minor shearing are
mapped in the mineralized zones. Silicified
shears form a significant component with a
strike direction of 020 to 030 with a dip of
mainly 50 to the east. Graphitic shears are less
common than in the NZ, and have variable directions between 040 to 070 with both SE and
NW dips.
Late
narrow
calcite-chlorite-amphibole
shears cutting both the above veins and the host
rocks are also present. Sulphide veins (closely
related to the alteration events and the first two
phases of veining) when caught in late microshears are deformed. These structures are
offset by later stage of faulting.
4. PETROGRAPHIC STUDIES
Several petrographic studies (thin sections
and polished blocks) have been undertaken
from 1998 to 2002 from selected diamond core
samples of the Tongon ore body and host rocks.
The dominant sulphide, arsenopyrite, appear
as individual crystals or composite arsenopyrite-pyrrhotite-chalcopyrite grains. This second
type shows distinct overgrowths over an early
anhedral phase, and often contains inclusions of
silicate material and the higher percentage of
occluded gold. Pyrite is sporadic and appears
late. Oxide phases include ilmenite, rutile, leucoxene and magnetite.
A high percentage of the observed gold
grains (approximately 80%) are between 1 to
200 microns and occur within individual arsenopyrite crystals or within the composite
grains or at the contact between the two phases
of arsenopyrite. About 17.5% of the gold grains
are free (average size of 16 microns, with large
grains up to 50 by 40 microns) and occur in the
gangue immediately adjacent to arsenopyrite
grains.
About 2% of the observed grains are found
in veins and fractures and are also free with the
maximum grain size being 10 by 5 microns.
The balance of the breakdown corresponds to
very fine gold, generally less than 1 micron observed within the alteration silicates.

"Digging Deeper" C.J. Andrew et al (editors)

5. CONCLUSION
Since Randgold Resources acquired the
Nielle permit in 1996, it has discovered and
partially defined a significant gold deposit at
Tongon.
To date this discovery is considerably larger
than any other gold deposit discovered in Cte
dIvoire and potential exist to further add to the
size of the deposit. Subject to a positive outcome of the bankable feasibility study and the
current political process, the Tongon deposit
will be developed as the companys third gold
mine in West Africa.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The writer acknowledges Randgold resources for permission to publish this extended
abstract and also to all previous Randgold staff
who have contributed to the understanding of
the deposit
REFERENCES

Report on Tongon Prefeasibility Type 2 - June

2002
Internal Monthly, Quarterly, and Annual reports
and presentations

Proceedings of the Ninth Biennial SGA Meeting, Dublin 2007

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1002

"Digging Deeper" C.J. Andrew et al (editors)