VINDALOO DEPOSIT

 Project Location and Access

The Hounde region Vindaloo deposit is situated in the south-western region of Burkina Faso at 260km of Ouagadougou the capital city and just south of Semafo’s Mana mine. The project area covers 1,600 km²

          

Infrastructure at Hounde is excellent, with access by a 3 hour drive on paved highway from the capital city of Ouagadougou and grid power available nearby.

The Hounde project comprises a total of 6 exploration permits and Vindaloo deposit is located on the Kari north license.

HISTORY

.    BRGM and BUMIGEB explored the area intermittently from 1939 to 1982
.    The Kari occurrence was investigated by the UNDP in 1997 and outlined 40,000 oz gold.
.    The Kari prospect was explored by Oxford Inc in years 1999 to 2000.
.    Resolute / Goldbelt secure the land available around in 2003. Exploration leads to the discovery of 7 km anomaly in the Gnabere area (now called Vindaloo).
.    Two permits Kari North and South were awarded to Barrick Exploration Africa in 2005 at the expense of Resolute.
.    In October 2007, Goldbelt taking control of the Kari Nord license after an agreement signed with Barrick. Exploration drilling at Vindaloo Prospect yielded very exciting results over the initial strike length of 500m.
.    January 2010, Avocet Mining (of which Goldbelt is a subsidiary) divests Hounde Group of Licenses that was acquired by Avion Gold Corporation.
.    In 2011, Avion Gold announces an estimated Indicated mineral resource of 63,000 ounces gold and an Inferred mineral resource of 547,000 ounces gold.
.    August 2012, Endeavour bought Avion Gold and became the owner of Vindaloo project. After a drilling campaign the new resources estimated returned 1.5 Moz of gold.
.    Jan. 22, 2013 Endeavour Mining announces the results of a positive NI 43-101 Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) for Hounde Gold Project together with an increase of the project resources to 2.2 Moz.

Project Geology

Vindaloo deposit is located regionally in Hounde birimian age Greenstone Belt in Western Burkina Faso that also hosts the SEMAFO Mana deposit. The main rock types in the Hounde district are Proterozoic supracrustal units intruded by a series of granitoids and dolerite dykes.

The main Vindaloo site corresponds to a big pit from intensive ‘orpaillage’ activity with altered and foliated rock hosting quartz vein and veinlets.  Drilling allow identifying two main lithology’s in the deposit: The highly silicified, leached gabbro and the mafic volcanics.  There is a distinct contrast between sheared and massive rocks. The boundary between the two structural styles is typically sharp. Shearing is observed in both types of rocks.  At Vindaloo mineralization form hydrothermalysed zone developed in NNE-SSW trending structure. It consists of veinlets and veins forming stockworks. Some veins are folded with the foliation and are lying in the hinge surface of the folds.

DEPOSIT TYPES

The classic structurally-controlled or shear-hosted quartz, sericite schist gold mineralization model with alteration halo appears to the Vindaloo and Madras NW deposits (epigenetic lode or stockwork mineralization related to major shear zones with native gold). There is a partial lithological control on the gold deposition as it is mainly in the quartz rich gabbro unit.

 MINERALIZATION

The mineralized zones are closely related to a highly silicified, leached gabbro of varying thickness with mineralization occasionally extending into the adjacent volcanics. This rock behaved in a brittle manner during deformation. Within these massive zones, the mineralized Quartz-carbonate veining typically occurs in en echelon vein arrays of differing orientations. It is often quartz stockwork-style of mineralization, intrusion-hosted, and weakly to moderately pyritic.

This unit is hosted within an altered mafic volcanic or altered and intensely deformed, volcaniclastic package.

Mineralization is thus structurally controlled and corresponds to the zones of highly silicified, leached gabbro with quartz veins and strong alteration (silicification, chlorite/epidote, strong pyritization). The entire mineralized package strikes NNE and generally dips steeply to the W.

Mineral Resources

The mineral resource estimate for the Vindaloo deposits is reported as part of the PEA, prepared by SRK Consulting and is NI 43-101 compliant (VANCOUVER, Jan. 22, 2013 /CNW/). The resource is contained within a conceptual open pit shell and has an effective date of October 31, 2012. (source: company web site / press releases).

NB: Some of the figures are modified from company public data

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