Turkey and Africa-focussed gold exploration and development company Stratex reported on Monday that, following its announcement on 1 March, it has received governmental approval in Senegal for its option agreement with AGEM Senegal Exploration.
The AIM-traded firm said AGEM Senegal was a wholly-owned subsidiary of IAMGOLD Corporation, with the option agreement in respect of the Dalafin gold project (the 'Project') in Senegal.

It said government approval was was the only condition in respect of the agreement, with Stratex and AGEM now heading to site to fast-track exploration at the project.

The initial work programme would focus on the southernmost Madina Bafé prospect, located 12 kilometres to the west-southwest of IAMGOLD's Boto Project, which had NI 43-101 indicated and inferred resources of 1.92 Moz at 1.6 g/t Au and 0.59 Moz Au at 1.7 g/t Au, respectively.

That included a probable mineral reserve of 1.42 Moz at 1.6 g/t Au.

As the company had previously announced, the work programme would primarily look to prove the continuity of high-grade mineralisation at depth and along strike, with the intention of developing resources for either a stand-alone deposit or a satellite deposit for Boto.

Exploration could also be extended to other areas within the licence, including the Faré prospect, where the majority of work to date had been focused.

"We are delighted to have had this agreement formalised so quickly by the Ministry, enabling the work programme at Dalafin to begin in earnest," said Stratex CEO Tim Livesey.

"We look forward to working with IAMGOLD and to keeping our shareholders updated on ongoing developments at the project."

Related share prices
Stratex International (STI) share price