Altus Strategies’ wholly owned subsidiary Aterian Resource has secured new zinc and copper exploration licences in Morocco.
The newly granted licences cover the Ammas, Takzim Est and Arfa projects over a total area of 87.55km².
Located 3km along the Hajjar VMS zinc-copper mine, Ammas comprises two exploration licences, covering an area of 31.75km² in the Guemassa Massif, 30km south of Marrakesh in northern Morocco.
The Takzim Est licence is located 6km east of the company’s Takzim zinc project, and the Arfa licence is situated in the Oriental province in the north-eastern part of the country.
Altus Strategies chief executive Steven Poulton said: “The award of these strategically located exploration licences in Morocco is an exciting addition to our exploration pipeline.
“The licence areas were selected on the basis of our remote sensing programmes across terrains considered to be prospective for zinc, copper and other base metals.”
The company has started an initial reconnaissance phase of exploration at Ammas, which is located in a mining district that hosts several ‘VMS type’ deposits, including the Hajjar zinc-copper-lead mine.
Poulton added: “Encouragingly our geologists are reporting the discovery of quartz stockworks and gossanous material in outcropping meta-volcanics and meta-siltstones at Ammas.”
Upon completion of the exploration at Ammas, the field team is expected to move to Takzim Est and Arfa.
All the licences are valid for an initial three-year term, with option to renew for a further term of four years.
Takzim Est comprises three exploration licences, totalling 39.8km², located in eastern Jebilet, 35km north of Marrakesh, while Arfa contains one exploration licence, covering an area of 16km².
