Azegour (Mo, Cu, W)
Maya has a 100% stake in the property and an exploitation permit. The mine, operated periodically since 1931, has been a significant producer of base metals.
The site was most intensively mined between 1931 and 1947. Historical documents report the processing of approximately 500,000 tonnes of ore during that time. The cut and fill method used at the mine yielded an average of 2,270 tonnes of ore per vertical metre over 200 metres of elevation. A 2006 historical resource estimate for molybdenum, copper, and uranium produced the values cited below:
Mineral | Tonnage (t)* | Mined (t) | Grade (wt. %) | Historical Resources (t)* | Grade (wt. %) |
Molybdenite | 1,500,000 | 500,00 | 0.35-0.40 (Mo) | 1,000,000 | 0.35-0.40 (Mo) |
Chalcopyrite | 1,200,000 | 800,000 | 3.00 (Cu) | 400,000 | 3.00 (Cu) |
Scheelite | 329,000-500,000 | 50,000 | 0.35(WO3) | 270,000-450,000 | 0.35(WO3) |
Uraninite | — | 120 | 1.00 (U3O8) | — | — |
* These resources are considered historical as per NI 43-101 standards of disclosure for mineral projects. A qualified person has not done sufficient work to classify the historical estimate as current mineral resources, the issuer is not treating the historical estimate as current mineral resources, and the historical estimate should not be relied upon.
The Azegour mine is located in the Occidental range of the High Atlas mountains, 60 kilometres southeast of Marrakech. It is 12 kilometres south of our Amizmiz property.
From Marrakech, a paved highway runs across the Haouz Plain to the town of Amizmiz from which a narrow paved road branches westward for eight kilometres to an intersection near the village of Azegour. The old mine entrance is located 400 metres north of the intersection on a dirt road (Figure 1).
The property consists of one exploitation permit (183208) that covers 16km².
Molybdenite, scheelite, chalcopyrite and accessory mineralization that contain uranium, nickel and cobalt are all located within the metamorphic aureole surrounding the Azegour pluton. The Mo-W-Cu mineralization is impregnated in calc-silicate rocks formed by grenatites and pyroxenites. It presents itself as irregular pods extending in a N-S direction. Molybdenite is associated with grossular-bearing hornfels (Figure 3), scheelite is present in phaneritic andradite- bearing grenatite (Figure 4) and chalcopyrite is found in pyroxene hornfelses (Figure 5).