Nyota Minerals to start regional exploration across all of its Ethiopian licence areas

Nyota Minerals (LON:NYO, ASX:NYO) announced its plans to commence regional exploration across all of its Ethiopian  licence areas, broadening its focus now that it is confident of the potential at its flagship Tulu Kapi gold project in the country.  

UTS-Aeroquest of Australia will undertake a 44,700 line kilometres fixed wing airborne geophysical survey of Nyota's exploration properties in Ethiopia which is scheduled to be completed during the fourth quarter 2010.

Information from this will be used to guide Nyota's regional exploration program that will commence in October. The program will consist of rock and soil geochemical sampling, mapping and trenching and reverse circulation drilling. The regional exploration program will systematically advance each of the targets identified.
Nyota's Ethiopian exploration properties are currently made up of seven individual claims blocks: Mendi (previously Brantham), Bambasi, Gombe, Dura (previously Towchester), Billa Gulliso, Yubdo and the Tulu Kapi claim group. In total the properties cover an area of 3,550 square kilometres.

CEO Melissa Sturgess commented: "We are broadening the company's focus to begin serious exploration of our entire Ethiopian portfolio now that we are confident of the potential at Tulu Kapi.  Nyota is one of the first movers and fastest explorers in Ethiopia and we hope that our exploration efforts over our regional tenements identify projects for future development.”

“We remain excited by the area’s potential and note recent exploration successes in the region. At a recent conference in Addis Abbaba a private company conducting advanced exploration activities 2.5 km north of Mendi  announced a discovery of over 0.5 million ounces of gold," she added.

All the properties have excellent prospectivity for new mineral discoveries. The claim blocks show favourable geological settings, structural settings and good mineral indications. There are a number of good gold mineralization showings in the area both as primary and alluvial indications with some of them associated with base-metal anomalous zones, Nyota said.

At Tulu Kapi, an ongoing drilling programme is designed to expand and upgrade the current Inferred JORC resource of 1.38 Moz (million ounces).