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2.5Existing Environmental Issues
The main environmental concerns in the license area are annual bushfires, indiscriminate felling of trees for charcoal burning, intensive hunting and galamsey mining activities. Most of the streams beds have been worked on by galamsey activities in the area. Many streams in the area have very thin or absent vegetative buffer, exposing them to direct sun rays and excessive evaporation. The area comprises mainly farmlands. The soils have been locally mined by both the Russians during the 1960’s and the artisanals, which continue to winnow gold from them. This has resulted in large scale destruction of topsoil horizons and the associated seedbeds contained therein.
The prospect is located between Yakombo Forest Reserve to the North-East and Lanka and Banda Forest Reserves (Bui National Park) located due South-West part of concession. Mostly, the flow regime of the streams is due south, and towards the Black Volta.
3.EXPLORATION AND GEOLOGY 3.1General 3.1.1Environmental Compliance
Birim Goldfields conducts its exploration and prospecting activities in conjunction with the E3 Principles as set out by the PDAC initiative and in accordance with the environmental regulations stipulated at the time of granting of the license.
3.1.2Logistics
Birim Goldfields policy is to establish a fly camp on or close to the project area, and to employ labour locally on the concession. Birim had a team consisting of one geologist, 2 field technicians and a driver, this team was equipped with a Toyota land cruiser 4x4, satellite phone and exploration equipment. The companies’ base camp located at Nsawkaw, Tain district, Brong Ahafo region supplies logistical and sample preparation functions to the field teams.
3.1.3Social Relations
It is Birim Goldfields policy to meet with government officials, traditional leaders, elders, opinion leaders and the general public to fully inform the local population of the Birim’s position, motives and plans for the property. Lines of communication were established with relevant authorities to enable rapid resolution of any problems.
3.1.4Occupational Health And Safety
Birim Goldfields demonstrates strong safety policy administration throughout its operational conducts. This is managed by the Head of Occupational Health and Safety and a comprehensive safety policy statement.
In order to ensure the speedy recovery and treatment of its employees, Birim Goldfields (Ghana) Ltd has engaged the services of West African Rescue Association (WARA), an international para-medical team, for emergency evacuation, safety training and monitoring.
The company maintains sound camping practices, defensive driving, and use of protective wear in the fields and conducts periodic safety meetings and audits. In all its operations the company makes use of satellite communication.
3.2Geology 3.2.1Regional Geology
The Maluwe Basin is approximately 50 – 60 kilometres wide, and located between the Bui Belt in the south and Bole Volcanic belt to the north. The area consists mainly of low rolling hills with elevations largely in the range of (150 – 250) m ASL.
The Basin geology is made up of mainly Birimian Metasediments and a considerable variety of Eburnean of intermediate intrusive rocks of batholitic proportions. Birimian Metasediments consists mainly of phyllites, schists and metagreywackes. The Metasediments are hosts to numerous lenses of chemical sediments, commonly graphitic types, cherts and quartzitic are also prominent in places.
The Maluwe Basin units are intensively folded and exhibit relatively high-grade regional metamorphism and quite extensive contact metamorphism along the margins of the major plutons. Most of the units are steeply dipping with apparent NE regional trends and late-stage N-S faults and fracture systems.
The Birimian Series of West Africa host some of the largest gold deposits in the world, including Sadiola, Yatela, Morila and Syama in Mali, Siguiri in Guinea, and Obuasi, Bogosu, Prestea, Bibiani, and Tarkwa in Ghana. West Africa’s Birimian Series has been the site of many impressive projects, including the recent Newmont 18.0 million ounce discovery (Akyem and Ahafo) and is comparable to other Archean and Proterozoic shields in Canada, Australia and Southern Africa.
The majority of the Birimian gold occurrences are associated with quartz-carbonate-sulphide mineralisation located on the flanks of volcanic belts. The mineralisation itself tends to be localised within shear or thrust structures in which dilational features formed preferential pathways for fluid flow.
3.2.2Concession Geology
The concession area is underlain by a series of leuco-mesocratic granitoids. On the remote sensing datasets it can be seen that the concession area consists of a central concentric structure, this has an anomalous potassic rim, and is cross cut by both a north-south trending dyke swarm and a number of other structures. The main trend of these subsidiary structures are ENE to NE. The main ovoid body is also strongly reflected in the radiometric plan. The low K, U, and Th levels indicates mafic rocks. It is pertinent to note that these intrusive plugs are located at the intersection of major N-S and E-W basement structures. This is a common feature in the area.
These ovoid plugs have been intruded by biotite rich granitic dykes and gabbroic to peridotitic dykes and sills.
It is interpreted that the Tinga Far East gold mineralisation occurs at a lithological boundary within the concentric granitic plug. A north-east trending shear has exploited this lithological contact and subsequent mineralising fluids have then precipitated within this structurally prepared zone.
The mineralisation at Far East consists of a Si-Fe-pyrite alteration assemblage, which has totally to partially replace the existing hornblende gneiss. The mafic minerals within the shear zone act as traps and seem to have caused the sulphidic fluids to precipitate pyrite proximal to more mafic bands. The main shear zone varies in width from 1-2 meters to over 15m in places. This is enveloped in a haematised silicified alteration halo.
The remaining prospects on the Tinga license are comprised of hornblende gneiss to granodiorite units which have been crosscut by milky quartz veins of various ages. Mineralisation associated with the quartz veins can be associated with the vein contact or can be located within the vein itself.
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