Geology & Mineralization
The Sabodala-Massawa Project is located in the West African Craton, within the 2,213 Ma to 2,198 Ma age Kedougou-Kenieba inlier. The Sabodala and Massawa Mining Concessions and exploration permits straddle two major divisions of the Inlier; the volcanic-dominated Mako Supergroup to the west, and the sedimentdominated Diale-Dalema Supergroup to the east.
The Sabodala-Massawa Project district occurs in the West African (Birimian) Paleoproterozoic metallogenic province, which extends from Senegal and Mali through north-eastern Guinea, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Burkina Faso, and as far east as Niger.
The region includes several world-class gold deposits such as Loulo and Sadiola in Mali, and Ashanti (Obuasi) in Ghana and the Sabodala-Massawa Complex in Senegal.
The properties comprising the Sabodala-Massawa Project can be subdivided into three project areas:
- The Sabodala Mining Concession (also referred to herein as the Sabodala Mining License (ML)) comprising the original Sabodala mining concession, the additional Gora ML Expansion area and the former SOMIGOL Mining Concession.
- The Massawa exploitation permit (referred to herein as the Massawa Mining License).
- The Sabodala-Massawa Project regional exploration permits comprising Sounkounkou, Bransan (Lots A, B and C) and Kanoumba.
Gold deposits in the West African metallogenic district, including those on the mining concessions comprising the Sabodala-Massawa Project and the adjacent exploration permits, show many characteristics consistent with their classification as orogenic (mesothermal) gold deposits and prospects. Orogenic gold systems are structurally controlled deposits formed during regional deformation (orogenic) events.
Orogenic deposits are typically localized adjacent to major faults (shear zones) in second and third order shear zones within volcano-sedimentary (greenstone and sedimentary) belts between granitic domains (commonly for Precambrian deposits such as the West African Birimian, Abitibi Greenstone Belt of Canada, and Yilgarn region of Western Australia) or in slate belt turbidite sequences (many Phanerozoic deposits). Fluid source for these systems remains controversial: they generally involve a dominant metamorphic fluid component, consistent with their setting and relative timing, however, in many districts, there is evidence for a contributing magmatic fluid inducing early oxide-rich alteration assemblages, as is seen at Sabodala-Massawa Project.
For further information on the geology and mineralization of the Sabodala-Massawa Mine License, please refer to the Sabodala-Massawa Project Pre-feasibility Study NI 43-101 Technical Report dated August 21, 2020 and found on the company website at www.terangagold.com or on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.