Report: Algeria Has 200 Tons of Potential Gold Reserves

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The World Gold Council (London, England) has stated that Algeria has one of the largest gold reserves in the Middle East-North Africa region, along with Lebanon and Saudi Arabia. Algeria's Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources says that gold deposits are concentrated in the Hoggar area, in the southern part of the country, and are distributed as follows:

• At the Tirek deposit, located at 400 kilometers from Tamanrasset, geological reserves are evaluated at more than 730,000 tons, at 18 grams per ton.
• At the Amesmessa deposit 460 kilometers west of Tamanrasset, geological reserves are estimated to be 3.38 million tons, with an average grade of 18 grams per ton.
• At the Tiririne-Hanane deposit located 450 kilometers east of Tamanrasset, geological reserves are estimated to be 481,000 tons, with an average grade of 17 grams per ton.
• The Abegui deposit has reserves of 2.8 million tons and a grade of 3.59 grams per ton.

These reserves represent about 100 tons of gold, while other deposits bring the country's total potential up to 200 tons

GMA Resources plc (LSE:GMA) (London) has a 52% controlling interest in the 1,425-square-kilometer Tirek-Amesmessa gold concession in southern Algeria. The remaining 48% is owned by state-owned oil and gas company Sonatrach (Algiers, Algeria). According to non-official reports, the Amesmessa mine in Algeria produced 3,037 ounces of gold in February 2009.

This month, GMA announced that it has commenced a reverse circulation drilling program at the Amesmessa gold mine in southern Algeria. The primary objective of the exploration program in the coming months is to test mineralized zones identified in the recent geochemical and trenching work carried out within the concession.

Ken Crichton, the acting chief executive officer of GMA, said: "It is very positive to see our exploration program starting to take shape, especially now that we have our own drilling rig operating at the site."

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