Project: Forécariah

The Forécariah permit (1,468 km2) covers a number of iron ore formations with significant exploration potential on the basis of geophysics and geological modeling. Historical work on the Forécariah permit led to the discovery of the Sambalama iron ore formation by Soviet geologist. Soviet geologists in the early 1970’s calculated a historical resource of 750 million tonnes, which is not compliant with modern standards.

Historical work beginning in the early 1960’s identified four horizons of ferruginous quartzite with lengths varying from three to 11 kilometres and widths from 30 to 400 metres.

In March 2010, WAI’s fully owned subsidiary Sky Alliance Ressources Guinée S.A. (SAR Guinée) conducted a 9,464-line-kilometre high-resolution helicopter-borne magnetic survey, which clearly identified a series of linear highly magnetic zones, the largest of which has a width of up to 1,500 metres and a strike length of over 16 kilometres. Follow-up ground mapping by SAR Guinée and SRK Consulting Ltd has confirmed that these magnetic anomalies coincide with sub and outcropping magnetite quartzite (metamorphosed BIF).

Testing these coincident geophysical anomalies and BIF horizons are the focus of the company’s 2011 program.

In April 2011, WAI started the first phase of a 15,000 metres drilling program. Three inclined holes have been drilled in a northeast direction on the Kalyadi target to down hole depths of 300 metres.

SRK Consulting has been engaged to provide an NI 43-101-compliant report on the Forécariah permit. Based on a preliminary report, SRK has advised that both the magnetic data and ground mapping suggest that the mineralized units are steeply west dipping to sub vertical, while 3-D inversion modeling, along with other magnetic interpretation, gives confidence that the magnetic sources from the magnetite mineralization extend to at least 200 metres below the surface.

Based on these interpretations and a set of reasonable assumptions (200 metres vertical depth and an average density of 2.85 to 3.2 tonnes per cubic meter), an exploration target size of between 2.9 and 5.1 billion tonnes at between 25 and 35% Fe can be proposed for the magnetite mineralization in the main targets (Kalyadi and Sambalama) at the Forécariah tenement.

The potential quantity and grade of this exploration target are conceptual in nature, as there has been insufficient exploration at present to define a mineral resource. SRK notes that it is uncertain whether further exploration will result in targets being delineated as a mineral resource.

Surface samples collected on 10 identified iron ore formations within the Forécariah permit return results with an average grade of 36 per cent Fe (from 186 samples). Davis tube recovery analysis for 10 surface samples gave separate grades of between 66.5 and 70.0 per cent Fe. SRK notes that these encouraging results are based on a very limited data set, surface samples only, and that full understanding of the chemistry and metallurgy of the mineralization, especially at greater depths, awaits additional work.

SRK recommended drilling of magnetite horizons, concentrating at first on the Kalyadi and Sambalama targets, with the aim of defining an inferred resource.

An initial drilling program of 34 reverse circulation (10,200 metres) and 17 diamond holes (5,100 metres) is planned. Sixteen additional RC holes are planned on targets outside the main Kalyadi target.