Canada-based Centurion Minerals Ltd’s “slate belt” and “bandi” mineral exploration concession applications have been accepted by the Myanmar’s Ministry of Mines, the company said.
The company, which focuses on the exploration and development of gold and other precious metal projects in Southeast Asia, will now initiate a property wide exploration reconnaissance program while it seeks approval from the regional government, it said in a statement.
Myanmar’s exploration and mining permits are currently issued by the central government and allow a mineral concession to be explored for up to five years followed by 25 years of production.
Subject to receipt of all regulatory approvals, Centurion will hold an 80 percent interest in the Myanmar mineral concessions with 20 percent held by its Myanmar partner, Crown Minerals Co.
“Our technical team will be implementing a reconnaissance exploration program shortly in order to generate priority prospects and finalise mineral concession approvals,” Centurion CEO David Tafel said.
The team includes several geologists who have previously explored the prospective areas of central Myanmar, he added.
The mineral concessions under application are road accessible and exploration activities can be carried out year round, Centurion said.
The slate belt concession, located south of Mandalay city, is approximately 692 square kilometers in size. It is bordered by the Moditaung gold mine in the south and the Lebyin gold and polymetallic mine in the east, both discovered by another Canadian mining giant Ivanhoe Mines Ltd in the late 1990s to early 2000s.
The slate belt concession was included in the area operated by Ivanhoe and historical exploration work yielded a number of gold prospects and anomalies within the concession boundaries, Centurion said.
The bandi concession is located north of Mandalay city and is approximately 943 square kilometres in size. The area is flanked by two operating gold mines, one of which is the Phayaungtaung mine located to the south. The bandi concession geology consists of granitic intrusions, marls and other sedimentary rock types, all of which are cut by north-trending structures. Adjacent to the bandi concession, gold skarn deposits are reportedly controlled by these structures.
The two concessions fall within the major gold and associated mineral belts that strike through central Myanmar. Numerous gold occurrences at varying stages of exploration have been noted within the belts, but few have been explored systematically using modern methodology.
