The scorching sands of Morocco, in West Africa, just across the Strait of Gibraltar from Spain, are perhaps not as well known for producing gold and silver as, say, more temperate areas of the world like Quebec or Yukon or even California.
But one company, headquartered in Quebec, is making hay by extracting ore for gold and silver from precisely that country.
It was in late July that Maya Gold & Silver Inc. (TSX-Venture:MYA) announced significant gold results from diamond drilling on its Amizmiz property in Morocco. One assay in particular, measuring 7.05 grams per ton gold (Au) over eight metres, was intersected within a 20-metre wide zone averaging 3.02 g/t Au.
In all, MYA reported eight samples which were prepared and assayed at Laboratoire Reminex (ISO 9000) at Guemassa while check assays were performed at Laboratoire ONHYM, in the Moroccan capital of Rabat. Assays reported readings as rich as 13.99 g/t gold.
The work commenced on Amizmiz in March, with two drill rigs, consisting of 35 to 40 diamond drill holes for approximately 6,000 metres. Untested high priority targets are to be followed up and a numerous rich gold and silver showings will be tested.
Located in the town of Blainville, Quebec, MYA focuses on the exploration and development of gold and silver deposits. The firm’s mission is to create shareholder value by achieving growth through exploration and acquisition. The company incorporated soon before Christmas 2007, and has besides Amizmiz in Morocco, the Baluarte gold-silver property in Mexico.
Baluarte is situated on the western flank of the Sierra Madre Occidental geological Province.
The Mid-Tertiary Sierra Madre Occidental is the largest silicic igneous province in North America. It is 200-500 km wide and extends for more than 2000 km south from the U.S.-Mexico border to its intersection with the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt.
Extensive gold-silver mineralized structures have been proven, returning grab sample values up to 41.7 g/t gold and 704 g/t silver.
The news of the progress in Morocco caused a surge in the price of MYA stock, which climbed more than 10% in late afternoon trading on July 27 to 22 cents, on volume of nearly 80,000 shares.
The price is slowly making its way out of a 52-week trough to which it fell in June at 18 cents, after peaking last September at 56 cents. Investors looking for more gold exposure would be well advised to look at this company, which is finding precious metals in the most unusual places.
