Africa-focused mining group South East African Mining says its gold exploration project in northern Malawi is producing encouraging results.

The company’s operations director, Mike Yeomans, says the company has exploration licences for two blocks in the north of Malawi: Chitipa-Kameme and Misuku.

Reconnaissance work carried out in these blocks has unearthed the existence of crack-seal quartz veins, stringer zones, skarnoid horizons and narrow disseminated sulphide belts, which are prospective for gold,” writes Peter Pitfield, the company’s chief geologist, in a progress report that was recently presented to Malawi government officials.

He says the company plans to undertake follow-up work which may involve soil and rock chip sampling, detailed surveying and geological mapping, trenching, pitting and, possibly, drilling.

Yeomans says the area under exploration was not considered to be prospective, based on data held by Malawi’s Geological Survey Department.

“We are pleased with progress made so far, considering that this project is starting from scratch,” says Yeomans.