United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region, with an area of 947,303 square kilometers. It borders Uganda to the north, Kenya to the northeast, Comoros and the Indian Ocean to the east, Mozambique and Malawi to the south, Zambia to the southwest, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of Congo to the west.
IDERA Mineral Resources has started gold prospecting in Tanzania, which is among five largest African gold producers, with Ghana, South Africa, Sudan and Mali. Tanzania has stable political environment and investment friendly policies what makes this country very appealing and safe for business. Idera’s initial prospection works conducted in early 2021.
IDERA commenced prospecting works in southwest Tanzania. This territory belongs to the Lupa Goldfield, second largest gold producing area in Tanzania and location of many colonial and artisanal mine activities. Likewise, this area is highly prospective due the fact that it is under-explored compared with Lake Victoria Goldfield.
The Lupa Goldfield, located within the Ubendian model belt, is a triangular shaped block of approximately 2,600 square kilometers, including the Rukwa rift fault to the southwest, the Ufipa fault to the southeast and a near east–west trending fault to the north form the respective boundaries. This goldfield comprises a network of auriferous quartz veins and greenschist facies mylonitic shear zones cutting a suite of Archaean–Palaeoproterozoic granitic–gabbroic intrusions.
The geology of the Lupa Goldfield is characterized by deformed, folded, sheared and metamorphosed paleoproterozoic rocks with major fold axes trending east southeast to west northwest. Main lithological units that occur in this region are:
· Ilunga Granite Formation, comprised from the Ilunga Granite, located in the northern part of the Lupa Goldfield.
· Saza Formation, comprised from the Saza Granite, which is located in the central portion of the Lupa Goldfield.
· Gneiss Formation, the main ore bearing host, is the dominant rock unit within the Lupa Goldfield.
Within this region, there are three main types of gold mineralization known: alluvial, eluvial and auriferous quartz veins. Almost half of gold production came from alluvial deposits. Eluvial deposits from this region usually found to be rich but small in size, while auriferous quartz veins are broadly distributed in this area.