The Rafiatokana Gold Project, located approximately two hundred and forty kilometers west from
Antananarivo, occurs within the west coastal province of Toliara. The project comprises twelve
squares, and the area under tenure totals seventy-five square kilometers. Project title is one
hundred percent (100%) in the name of PAMM.
Access
Access to the project area is west from Antananarivo, along the Route Nationale-1, for a
distance of two hundred kilometers, to the regional town of Tsiroanomandidy, then west along
rough Route Secondaires, for a distance of approximately one hundred and fifty kilometers,
to the small town if Ankavandra. Ankavandra is located approximately ten kilometers southwest
from the project area. There is an Air Madagascar weekly flight to Ankavandra. The area is
isolated and infrastructure is considered weak.
The project is located on the western edge of the central high plateau, and occurs within
the west-northwest to east-southeast trending Rafiatokana Belt. The Rafiatokana Belt is
approximately thirty kilometers in length and varies to twelve kilometers in width. The
belt is bounded to the north, east and south by granite and granitic migmatite, and to the
west by Phanerozoic sediments of the western coastal plain.
The Rafiatokana Belt occurs as a series of intercalated, west-northwest to east-southeast
trending, bands of alternating granitic migmatite and potassic gneiss. The average width of the
bands of granitic migmatite is approximatelt one to two kilometers, whilst the average width of
the bands of potassic gneiss is approximately one to three kilometers.
Both the granitic migmatite facies and the gneissic facies belong to the System du
Vohibory (Besairie, 1966), and from Besairie (1973), both rock types can be constrained to
the age 2.7 to 3.0 Ga.
The prospect was first documented by French Engineer Levat; this was in 1912
(from Besairie, 1949). Levat (1912) describes a ten to fifteen metre wide zone of quartz
veinlets, and Levat's map shows this zone extending for approximately three kilometers
(refer Besairie, 1949). Mining excavations occurred over a zone eight hundred metres in
length, and all workings showed gold with "très encouragement."
An excerpt from Levat (1912), in Besairie (1949), describing the Rafiatokana
prospect follows:
"The gold bearing mineralisation occupies a ten to fifteen metres width, in the
middle of micaschists quartzose which are strongly dipping. We have hit a rich
layer which has from 1.20 to 1.50 thickness with an eminently rich vein, with
visible gold located on the hanging wall. A thirty metre long working is present.
We have taken some rich micaschist by means of shafts. The micaschists from surface,
very decomposed, did not need grinding. The great work was the water exhaustion which
has determined the abandonment of the works.
Some superficial works show the continuation of the mineralisation for eight
hundred metres. All the Malagasy workers gave contents of gold, not precise but very
encouraging." (finish excerpt).
From the Ambararata–Bepoaka Geological map (1964), there are a total of eleven reported gold
occurrences on the prospect. These gold deposits predominantly occur within a linear
west-northwest to east-southeast trending band of altered gneiss, and are reported over
a strike length of some eight kilometers. Additionally, within the gold mineralized
trend, occurrences of filon argento – cobaltifère and monches de pyrite are noted. From
the Ambararata Topographical map (1959), and within the project area, an Anciens Mine
D'Or is noted.
The Rafiatokana Gold Project presents as an extremely attractive gold exploration
target. The area has recorded mining activity dating back approximately one hundred years,
and this mining activity occurs over significant strike length. The noted occurrences of
silver and cobalt are of interest.
The Rafiatokana Project forms part of the Rafiatokana Mineral Field. Within this
mineral field, there are numerous recorded colonial era gold prospects (fig. Raf-1).
The Company considers that the Rafiatokana Gold Project has potential to host open cut
gold mining.
Choose another Property/Project in Madagascar
Located ~240km west from Antananarivo; Occurs within the west coastal province of Toliara.
