The Tchibanga Licence could be located in a mineral hot-spot given that IronRidge Resources (AIM:IRR) recently raised £9.7 million (A$18.7 million) to fund its iron ore projects, which include the nearby Tchibanga project.

Adding to the interest, Gabon is presently focusing on upgrading all major roads and the launch of a massive port modernisation plan that will cater for 90% of commercial traffic.

Previous exploration work has been carried out on all three licences, which are prospective for a number of commodities and also close to third party projects.

“We are delighted to have been awarded these licenses in the Republic of Gabon by Presidential Decree, demonstrating the strong relationship that Waratah has with the Government,” executive chairman Ben Kirkpatrick said.

“Having acquired these licences, the company now covers 6,000 square kilometres in highly prospective locations in Gabon.

“These licences are served well by the Trans-Gabon Railway and our mission now is to develop these areas to maximise their investment potential in tangent with our existing Gabon asset.”

Tchibanga Licence

The 1,606 square kilometre Tchibanga licence is located in the south of the country approximately 50 kilometres from the newly developed coastal infrastructure for the proposed port of Mayumba.

It is highly prospective for copper and gold.

Exploration work was undertaken in the area between 1930’s to 1960’s by the French Government’s geological Department, Bureau de recherches géologiques et minières (BRGM).

The Tchibanga licence is also located near Metals of Africa’s (ASX:MTA) Mboungou base metals project.

IronRidge recently raised £9.7 million (A$18.7 million) to fund their Gabon iron ore projects.

Waka Licence

The 818 square kilometre Waka licence is located in central Gabon.

Work conducted by BRGM between the 1930s and the mid-20th century confirmed the existence of gold, niobium (used in alloys for steel, especially in gas pipelines) and cassiterite (tin).

The Trans Gabon railway passes near the licence area and is currently operated extensively for manganese mines throughout the country.

Waka licence is near Metals of Africa’s Lastourville project, as well as established manganese mines.

Gabon is currently the world’s third largest producer of manganese behind South Africa and Australia. 95% of the Gabonese production is for the steel industry.

Deposits are mostly located in the south-east of the country in the Francevillian basin of Proterozoic age.

Eramet’s Comilog operates the Moanda mine in Gabon’s southeast that provides nearly 25% of the world’s production. This contains reserves estimated at more than 150 million tons with an average grade around 44%.

The Complexe Métallurgique de Moanda, a modern metallurgical complex is currently under construction and likely to begin producing in 2015.

Makokou Licence

The Makokou licence covers an area of 2,289 square kilometres and is situated 300 kilometres east of the capital of Libreville, 250 kilometres south west of the company’s Mekambo East project and within 100 kilometres of Booue, a station located on the Trans Gabon railway.

Originally the rail was to reach Makokou to service iron ore mines, plans are for the spur to extend from Booue to Belinga are still under consideration.

Belinga is the world’s largest undeveloped iron ore deposit.
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Chinese owned Sinohydro is constructing a hydro-electric project at Makokou. They are also upgrading the road and in conjunction with Makokou Airport provides logistics and a long term infrastructure solution to the area.

Sampling in the 1930s by BRGM revealed Makokou contained the existence of different minerals including nickel, chromium and rare earth minerals.