Altus Strategies has identified more than 50 alluvial gold mining sites at its 100%-owned Zolowo project in Lofa County, north-western Liberia.

The development comes after the company recently completed the first phase of an exploration programme at the project.

The company completed the initial reconnaissance exploration programme in a bid to verify several potential artisanal mining sites, as interpreted from the remote-sensing programme.

Altus Strategies chief executive Steven Poulton said: “We are very encouraged by the significant number and scale of the artisanal alluvial gold mining operations discovered at Zolowo.

“It seems likely that the primary source for the gold is associated with the Archaean age greenstone belt that transects the licence for approximately 33km.”

The company is planning to undertake a follow up systematic stream sediment programme.

“It seems likely that the primary source for the gold is associated with the Archaean age greenstone belt that transects the licence for approximately 33km.”

Of the more than 50 separate workings, 35 were found to be active and the largest extended for around 250m.

The 466km² Zolowo exploration licence is located 190km north-east of the capital, Monrovia.

It sits on the same regional geological trend as the New Liberty gold mine, which is owned and operated by Avesoro Resources.

The exploration licence for the Zolowo area was granted in November last year.

Originally, the company submitted an application to explore an area covering 732km².

In addition to gold, the company intends to undertake the exploration of diamond, base metals, and silver in Lofa County.

Altus will initially hold the licence for three years, with two options to secure extensions each for a further two years.