North Atlantic Resources has acquired nine gold projects comprising 1,378 square kilometers (340,387 acres) of mineral rights in the Republic of Mali, ("Mali") West Africa. Since 2002, the Company has made gold discoveries at the Kantela project (2004), FT project (2005), and Kourouba project (2007).
North Atlantic’s long term vision is to continue to identify and acquire new gold exploration prospects as we continue to explore and expand our existing projects in Mali.
Africa’s 3rd largest gold producer
The FT GOLD PROJECT is the Company’s most advanced gold discovery. The preliminary resource calculation includes 241,000 ounces of gold at a grade of 0.95 grams gold per tonne in the Indicated category, and 353,000 ounces of gold at a grade of 1.05 grams gold per tonne in the Inferred category. FT (523 sq km) lies 50 kilometres southwest of the Morila Gold Mine (Anglogold-Randgold) and 225 kilometres south of the capital city of Bamako and is in the same geologic environment as the Morila and Syama gold mines in southern Mali. Plans are underway for continued exploration of the deposit and on several untested targets at FT. The expansion of the gold resource at FT will include resource modeling, pitting, geological mapping and infill drilling.
The prospective Birimian rocks of Mali host the 13.1 million ounce gold deposit (Iamgold-Anglogold) and 4.3 million ounce Loulo gold deposit (Randgold) in western Mali and the 11 million ounce Morila gold deposit (Randgold-Anglogold) and 5 million ounce Syama gold deposit (Resolute) in southern Mali.
Moreover the Birimian rocks in nearby Ghana have produced in excess of 120 million ounces.
Detailed GOLD History in Mali
Southern and western Mali are underlain by exceptionally well preserved Birimian greenstone sequences similar to those in nearby Ghana where large scale gold mining has been active for the past century. In spite of the presence of well endowed Birimian rocks, Mali is still an immature jurisdiction in its first cycle of sustained, detailed gold exploration. This is emphasized by the fact that the first modern geochemical survey was completed in 1989 and the first modern airborne geophysical survey was released in June 2004.
Exploration and large scale gold production in nearby Ghana on the African gold coast has been continuous since the 1890’s. The gold production in Ghana is from lower Proterozoic Birimian rocks which trend north through Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast to Mali. In the Birimian rocks of Mali, there are currently five large gold deposits in production (Sadiola, Morila, Yatela, Loulo and Tabakoto), and several advanced projects (Syama, and Kalana). The Loulo deposit (Randgold Resources, 11 MM oz. gold) began to pour its first gold in 2005 and Nevsun began to pour Tabakoto-Segala earlier in 2006 (3 MM oz. gold) in western Mali. The ore deposits occur in association with first and second order faults between supracrustal blocks of sedimentary and volcanic rocks and near the edges, or within, late granitic intrusions and their metamorphic aureoles. In western Mali (Sadiola and Yatela deposits), the control structure is the north-trending Senegal-Malian fault and its northeast-trending fault splays. In southern Mali (Morila deposit), the control structure is a northeast-trending cross structure within a northwest structural corridor containing a sedimentary outlier within a granitic terrane.
The Kantela, Diokeba and Sitakili gold projects are in the same structural and stratigraphic position as Sadiola and Loulo gold mines in western Mali. The Dalakan, Kourouba, Massala and FT gold projects are in the same geologic environment as the Morila and Syama gold mines in southern Mali.
The first modern geochemical survey of Mali was published in 1990. The first major gold discovery was the 1993 discovery of the 13.7 million ounce Sadiola Deposit (Anglo Gold-Iamgold) which was quickly followed by the 1996 discoveries of the 2 million ounce Yatela deposit (AngloGold-Iamgold) 20 km north of Sadiola and the 11 million ounce Morila deposit (AngloGold-Randgold) in southern Mali. Since 1990, Mali has become Africa’s third largest gold producing country.
The rate of discovery and size and grade of the deposits suggests that the country is in an explosive phase of discovery and growth of its gold mining industry, much like that of Canada a century ago.
Uranium Exploration project in the Republics of Niger
On February 6th, 2008, North Atlantic Resources Ltd. and Orezone Resources Inc. announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding to form a new uranium exploration company, Brighton Energy Limited., which would have a combined land holding of 4,000 square kilometres in the heart of Niger's uranium producing region. Each company will hold a 50% interest in the new entity. Management of the Company believes this is an excellent opportunity to pursue the strategy of capitalizing on the uranium exploration potential in Niger.
North Atlantic Resources Ltd. is the first public Company to have been granted a uranium exploration permit in the Republic of Niger which is the world's 4th largest uranium producer. The Abelajouad uranium exploration permit, acquired in 2006, comprises 1,963 square kilometers (485,068 acres) and in the following year two additional uranium exploration permits were granted so that the total land position comprises 2,963 sq km along the Arlit fault, which is the dominant control structure for Uranium production in Niger. The Company anticipates that it will begin exploration work on its uranium exploration projects in the first half of 2007.
Oil and Gas Exploration project in the Republic of Mali
In 1985, the United States Geological Survey conservatively estimated that 4.84 billion barrels of oil were recoverable from Niger and Chad (i.e. excluding Mali), of which 1.25 billion barrels have been discovered. Accordingly there are likely several billion barrels of recoverable oil yet to be discovered in the region.
In February 2007, North Atlantic Resources’ wholly-owned subsidiary, Selier Energy Ltd., was granted the rights to the Macina Hydrocarbon Project. The northeast-trending Macina graben is approximately 250 kilometers long and 100 kilometers wide (25,000 square kilometers, or 6.25 million acres) in the southern part of the vast Taoudeni basin of Mali, Algeria, and Mauritania, which covers an area of over 1.8 million square kilometers (450 million acres).
The Taoudeni basin is a virtually unexplored sedimentary basin in northwest Africa. Several multinational oil companies have recently moved into the area and acquired oil and gas exploration permits. The Company will seek the most appropriate and advantageous method to finance the exploration of the Macina project, and exploration has begun.
CorporateDate of Incorporation: May 8, 1997
Exchange: Toronto Stock Exchange www.tsx.com
Symbol: NAC
Stock Quotation: StockHouse www.stockhouse.ca
Shares Issued: 22,190,408
Fully Diluted: 27,132,525
Public Documents: Sedar www.sedar.com
Legal Counsel: Beach, Hepburn LLP, Toronto, Ontario
Auditor: Stern and Lovrics Chartered Accountants, Toronto, Ontario
Transfer Agent: Equity Transfer & Trust Company, Toronto, Ontario
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