In March 2022, the Group announced that it had been awarded five prospecting concessions (or exploration licences) in north-eastern Sudan (the Block 12 concessions), covering an area of almost 1,100km2, located 70km north-west of Port Sudan on Block 12A North, Block 12A South, Block 12D, Block 12E and Block 12K. These licences, awarded by Sudan’s Ministry of Mines, are valid for a period of three years, with the option to extend for a further two years.
The concessions are located within the Arabian-Nubian Shield in the highly prospective Nakasib Suture Zone, where gold has been mined for over 5,000 years. Currently, the only large-scale gold mine in Sudan is the Hassai Mine, operated by Ariab Mining Company, which is located approximately 170km south-west of the Group’s Block 12 exploration concessions. The vast majority of gold in Sudan is extracted by artisanal miners. Block 12 is of interest to Pan African as it is located on the same shear zone as the Hassai Gold Mine and has significant artisanal mining (hard rock vein and alluvial).
The Group has successfully commissioned the first fire assay multi-element analytical laboratory in Sudan. This laboratory will be used for the analyses of all of the Group’s exploration samples being extracted from the Block 12 exploration concessions. A fit-for-purpose mobile, tented exploration camp, which is completely powered by solar PV renewable electricity, was constructed some 100km from the laboratory within the highly prospective Block 12A South.
Currently, geologists are conducting soil geochemistry and hard rock chip sampling within Block 12A South and Block 12A North in order to further define the identified exploration targets. Initial assaying received from the exploration target identified in the south-eastern corner of Block 12A South averaged 1.7g/t from 12 samples taken from quartz veins, rock debris and soil with some of the samples having grades in excess of 6g/t. Similarly, an additional exploration target, Sataib South, yielded an average of 1g/t from 10 samples on the surface, with the highest grade sampled thus far being 9.4g/t.
